Review: Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green
Genre: YA Contemporary, Mystery
Publication: October 10, 2017 from Dutton Penguin
Series: None. Standalone.
Length: 304 pages
Format: Hardcover
Rating: ★★★★★

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Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.

Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

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When Turtles All The Way Down, I was extremely skeptical. I enjoyed his earlier books, but I was significantly younger. By younger, I mean I was quite literally twelve. I’m now sixteen, so my opinions of book have changed. However, I thoroughly loved Turtles All The Way Down. In fact, it may be one of my top books of all of 2017. I’ll decide by the time I publish my favorites blog post.

Anyway, let’s get into the characters. The entire book follows Aza ~~and no it is not Ava it is Aza~~. She’s a sixteen-year-old with OCD (more on that later). The book is written in first person P.O.V., and I really loved Aza as a narrator. She was still the stereotypical quirky and intelligent John Green character, though (although, I’ve come to learn that isn’t bad a bad thing).

While I liked most of the characters, I found Davis (the ‘love’ interest, if you will) rather forgettable. He had an interesting background, but his personality wasn’t memorable. I liked, however, that Aza’s mom is present throughout the book. Many parents aren’t present in YA books which, in my case, isn’t very true. My parents are very active in my life, and I wish YA books reflected that more.

One thing I especially enjoyed about Turtles All The Way Down was the plot. Many of John Green’s books are pretty ‘rom-com’ like. Although it did have those elements, I felt like it more like Paper Towns in the way it was a ‘mystery’. I really loved it, though!

Lastly, the reason I also enjoyed Turtles All The Way Down was for the representation. Turtles is #ownvoices for O.C.D. I don’t have OC.D., but I’ve heard from friends who do who’ve read it that his representation of it was accurate. I have listed below #ownvoices reviewers who have reviewed Turtles All The Way Down. Check them out for their full thoughts on the rep!

Overall, I really loved Turtles All The Way Down! I’m glad John Green is back writing books, and I can’t wait to see what his future projects are!

#OWNVOICES BLOGGERS/BOOKTUBERS

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screen-shot-2017-07-09-at-11-17-13-pm-e1499660320686.png Liv is a 16 year old book blogger who resides in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, petting cats, and listening to musicals.