Love-Hate Relationship with John Green: Turtles All the Way Down Book Review

Source: Verily Mag

I guess I would be included on the 5% (probably 1?) of the bookish population who does not particularly like this new John Green novel at all. I've been watching reactions from my favorite book vloggers and they've really liked it. I know exactly why I didn't and I can't ignore it no matter how hard I try.

"But the sky isn't one thing. The sky is everything. And last night, it was enough."

Title: Turtles All the Way Down

Author: John Green

Published by: Dutton Books for Young Readers on Oct 10th 2017

Genre: YA

Format: E-book

Purchase: Fullybooked [PH] | NBS [PH] | Amazon | B&N

My Rating: 3 Roses

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. 
In his long-awaited return, John Green, the acclaimed, award-winning author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, shares Aza’s story with shattering, unflinching clarity in this brilliant novel of love, resilience, and the power of lifelong friendship.

For my non-spoiler review, I would just probably say that it's not one of the books that I flew through reading. I found it really hard to finish it and if it weren't for my curiosity about OCD and anxiety and the "MYSTERY" that wasn't really present, I would not have finished this at all. 

It was a great portrayal of something that not all people understand and experience, I'll give you that. It was great writing as usual. I would recommend this book to be read in order to feel what you normally wouldn't (if you don't have OCD and anxiety), because reading this is really frustrating and to have someone like Aza would be really frustrating if you do not understand, and being able to read through someone else's mind is a refreshing take on an uncharted territory. 

I also did not like how the book was wrapped up. The ending just brought me more questions and I wasn't satisfied with the over-all book with the exception of the supposed main conflict and the most important part of the book, which is the awareness of the uncontrollable mind of a teenage girl named Aza. 

If you like to know more about how I felt and come on if you want to argue with me, please do, because there's just a lot that didn't sit well with me and I need enlightenment hahahahah. =))

--------What follows contain spoilers so read at your own risk--------

10 Reasons Why I Don't Love It

(Kind of not in any particular order)

10. Daisy-Aza Relationship. I don't particularly like Daisy because she did not make an effort to understand at all. I hate their relationship because they've been friends for like forever but they never really understood each other and being best friends means that you try to reach out to the other person when you don't understand them but I did not see that with Daisy and Aza. It made me sad to think that they knew each other for a long time I guess, but there was a huge gap between them because they don't really know each other well and their friendship is so superficial and I don't know how they've been together for such a long time. Maybe they've just really clicked because of their complete oppositeness -- Daisy talks too much and Aza does not bother to talk at all (unless necessary and spoken to directly).

Next is, Daisy is so mean and I do not really connect with her character because she was just there and she was not a support at all. She's just a character that was supposed to be there to be a fanfiction writer and a superficial friend to Aza. Bluhh Daisy.

9. Shrink-Aza Relationship. What's the role of the shrink again? Ugh. I mean, I don't understand at all how a psychiatrist should treat his/her patient but I've got a pretty good idea about how Aza's shrink is not helping her at all. She just listens half-heartedly, shoves some words to let Aza believe that it's all in her head, prescribe a treatment, and then get paid. She does not really reach out in order to understand the intensity of Aza's thoughts because she just shoves words into Aza and then Aza will throw it out on her other ear. All the shrink ever told Aza was that her thoughts are not actions. I don't know how else a person could try to fix a problem they do not understand, but first she should have understood what Aza feels in the first place. I felt like Aza's shrink was dismissing her thoughts. Aza found it hard living in her own head and with the people around her, I didn't feel that anyone understands her at all.

8. Mother-Aza Relationship. I don't know why, but I did not feel the mom's presence really significant in the story at all. She was just there, being a mother but doesn't know what to do. I guess she understands that Aza's head is not something she could ponder deeply and I know how a teenager and a mom can really get in private situations and I don't really know what I really wanted out of  Aza's mother in this novel but it's a plus points that she understands her in some level and that she will always be there for her no matter what but I just didn't really feel her at all. Oh well, adults don't really understand a teenager's mind, do they?

7. Davis-Aza Relationship. I just didn't feel like they have a true connection. It was really sweet for some moments when they're together. I guess Davis just needs a friend in that stressful moment of his life  and Aza feels like he's her childhood crush and that they should talk again or whatever. I thought that Davis would try to understand what is really going on, like to truly delve into her mind, but there's just too much happening in both their lives so the two of them just became an escape for each other. So okay, whatever.

6. Ever cringe-worthy philosophical mind of what, a teeenager? I mean, I'm not saying that teens can't be that smart and philosophical but it's just too much. They've got too much realizations that proves that this really is a novel and is a product of someone else's mind.

5. Misleading synopsis. Death of Russell. I have too much questions that went unanswered. What happened to him? Why did he die in there? That ending was a bit rushed and there were a lot of loose ends. There's just to much thread in the web of happenings that it was not really spun that well. I mean, the synopsis was well about their supposed secret detective investigation in order to get some money, but it was a novel of self discovery and friendship and love and philosophy and not at all about a missing person's investigation. Not bad, but shouldn't you put a better synopsis than what really isn't?

4. The Money. I just never understood why there was no resistance between Aza and the money. A person should have at least a little decency about refusing it even though he/she really wanted it, but I guess I just never really liked how it was told. If I were Davis, I would really be disappointed that they were really just after the money, but then again we all want what we do not have, right? And money is one of them. Next, if I were Aza, I'd be hurt about what Davis did, to think so lowly of me, but then again, I was really doing it to get the reward money, right? And I got it. It just did not sit well with me.

3. Thought spiral. I did not really enjoy this part particularly, even though this is a big part of what is supposed to be the main point of Aza and her OCD and anxiety in order for us to understand it better. I got it the first time but as the book progressed, I very much just wanted to skip on it but I cannot because I might miss something. I don't really know if I loved the way the thought spirals were represented or if I don't. Oh well, I just realized that by feeling this way, I could generally see or feel how frustrating it must be for Aza and for the people around her the way that everything just spirals and there is no way out. Should I really put it on this list or should this be down below? Anyway, this is a love-hate entry!

2. Open-ended. It's Eleanor and Park for me all over again!! ! I really hate using my imagination in order to imagine a future for the characters that I read! I hate you authors! HAHA just kidding! Aza's imagination of their future is not enough for me!! I need the real thing!!!! FRUSTRATED!!!!

1. Overall disappointment. The story. The relationships. And everything from 10-2. Ugh, it's Paper Towns all over again for me, but at least in Paper Towns, it got me hooked in all the adventure but I completely nosedived in the end. With Turtles All the Way Down, it never really got me up there for me to really dive right down.

5 Reasons Why I Liked It

5. It tackled a new side of mental illness that was really new to me. I didn't know how bad it can get and I literally had my heart on pause with the sanitizer episode and I was really scared that it can actually lead to death without ever being in control of what is happening. I was really shocked and this is an eye opener for me.

4. Open about what she is thinking. Aza is a really closed off person. She doesn't volunteer her thoughts but what is great about her is she does not keep it when she is asked. She opens herself with the right questions. So I guess we should really talk to people and be involved, sometimes it pays to wait for them to open up but there are times when they are just waiting for us to show that we care enough to ask.

3. The Blog. I love Davis' blog. I love the poetry and everything. I think he's a sweet boy.

2. A lot of quotable quotes from a teenager's philosophical mind. Yep. John Green's mind is a book of quotes.

1. Wait, I cannot think of anything anymore. I thought I could think of five. My apologies for the misleading header! hahhha