THE INSTANT #1 BESTSELLER!FEATURED ON 60 MINUTES and FRESH AIR“So surprising and moving and true that I became completely unstrung.” – The New York TimesNamed a best book of the year by: The New York Times, NPR, TIME, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Entertainment Weekly, Southern Living, Publishers Weekly, BookPage, A.V. Club, Bustle, BuzzFeed, Vulture, and many more!JOHN GREEN, the acclaimed … Weekly, BookPage, A.V. Club, Bustle, BuzzFeed, Vulture, and many more!
JOHN GREEN, the acclaimed author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, returns with a story of shattering, unflinching clarity in this brilliant novel of love, resilience, and the power of lifelong friendship.
Aza Holmes never intended to pursue the disappearance 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 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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Love all of this author’s books.
sad, honest. Classic John Green. Gives a real and relatable voice to those struggling with mental illness and the difficulties of growing up.
Not his best book
If you know anyone with anxiety and/or bipolar disorders, read this book!
An incredible read for teens and adults!
This is a. YA book
A fascinating and real world look at what it’s like to live with mental illness, and maybe even more importantly, what it’s like to love someone who struggles with making her way in the world. John Green is a master at dealing with tough issues with humor and empathy; his writing is wonderful. I highly recommend this book.
This book is about 16 – year old Aza. She has mental health problems which cause her to have thought spirals. She is kind of a germophobe and gets freaked out about that. She has a best friend, Daisy. Daisy is an open person who talks a lot. The duo decides to pursue the mystery of the missing billionaire Russel Pickett. The father of Davis Pickett, an old classmate of Aza. David is really into astrology and he and Aza have long talks. Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good friend, a good daughter, a good student and maybe even a good detective. But her unending thought-spirals make her life really complicated. If she gets close to people, she bans all intimacy and this gives people the wrong impression. Aza doesn’t want people to feel that way so she’s usually quiet. But maybe sometimes it is best to talk…
I was very impressed by this book. As someone who has family and friends with mental health issues and who suffers from anxiety, this book felt very real. It wasn’t sugar coated and it definitely wasn’t solved by some ‘guy’ that makes everything better. This was really great to read because now people can sort of ‘experience’ what it is like to be in the head of a person who suffers from mental illness. I thought that the plot was very well written and that not just the mystery was the most important thing, but how Aza copes with social situations and juggling all these things. I do think that we spend a lot of time reading about Aza and I think that some of the characters maybe deserved a little bit more of a backstory. The ending was really beautiful (If you don’t want spoilers, stop reading now!) because Aza finally finds a way to become the boss of her illness and to learn to cope with it. She describes her expectations for life in a positive way instead of a downwards spiral so you can definitely see the growth there. Aza is a character who really evolves during the story but in the end (of course) she isn’t really over her illness, but she decides that the illness is no longer her boss, but a part of her which she accepts and that will probably make her life easier. The plot was well written and the mystery kept it a page-turner book, but I think we could have had a little bit more mystery. Overall I give this book a 4/5 because I loved reading it and I am a big fan of John Green. I would totally recommend this book because it also makes you think, and is an accurate portrait of life with a mental illness.
This book is about me and every book u write. Thank you
A beautiful story about a girl who suffers from a mental illness, and the people in her life who try to understand it.
Turtles all the Way Down by John Green is a very good book! It has a low-key mystery and romance. I couldn’t stop reading! I would recommend this for age 14 and up. This book is inspiring and down to earth. It’s original and has a good conflict. There is a little swearing once in a while.
Turtles All the Way Down John Green’s book has been putting me to sleep and Turtles All The Way Down did it again! The approach to the mental health issues is appreciated.
This is what mental illness looks like. Sixteen year old Aza is trying to be a good person, but she is stick in her mind. She is convinced that she is going to get sick (especially from C Diff). She has a cut on her finger that she will not let heal – sure it will be infected, and she cannot stop spiraling and convince herself it isn’t. She lives constantly in fear of germs.
In this story, a billionare goes missing. His son, Davis, is a childhood friend of hers, and she decides to look him up to see what the story of his dad’s disappearance might be. There is a $100,000 reward for anyone with information in finding his dad. Aza never intended to get involved, but when she sees Davis, she can’t stop herself. She starts to fall for him, but is so tortured with her own thoughts, that she struggles to have a relationship with him. Instead, she helps Davis and his brother find what happened to their dad and with that – come to terms with her own demons.
I have read all of John Green’s books. And I have to say – I find them hit or miss. Some of them are fantastic, and others are….fine. This one was fine. I loved many parts of it. Seeing into the mind of a truly mentally ill person is fascinating. (is that the right word?) I found myself gripping the book as Aza spiraled out of control with her thoughts, wanting to shake her and tell her to “get a grip”. But she can’t. She can’t help it. She would give anything to not have these irrational fears and thoughts, but she cannot stop them. And no matter what it looks like to us in the outside world, to her it is very real.
The “eh” part for me was, well….mostly the rest. Her best friend is a bit of a jerk. Her mom seems to only parent about 50% of the time (letting her daughter stay out until 11pm on school nights without much care, even though her mom is a teacher). There isn’t much background to Davis’ father – we never really hear the whole story, but I guess to be fair – that is a very minor part of the book. The book felt a little jumbled and scattered, but maybe that was the style he was going for.
I read the book in one day. It is a quick read with not a lot of dialogue. It is definitely geared toward the YA crowd, and I know for a fact my 14 year old daughter would love this book.
Hard to say, hard to say. If you like John Green – give it a go. I think it has enough value – especially in the world of mental illness – to not be passed up.
This book was absolutely astounding. I love the way John Green writes, and I was sucked in immediately. This book is about a girl who is very cautious and almost goes crazy in her mind. I read this book in one day, and couldn’t put it down. There are a few swear words here or there, such as ‘f–k’ or ‘s–t’. Would recommend to ages 13+ or 12 if parents read it first or child is a mature reader.
I loved the story and the development, but what I most enjoyed was the realistic description of the main characters mental health problems. As a person with severe anxiety, I found the main character very relatable and I found the story to be very interesting.
As a person with severe anxiety, I really found the main character relatable and an accurate depiction of someone with the disorder. I loved the story and the characters, it’s very easy to get invested in the story. A very good read for almost anyone to enjoy.
I enjoyed that this story wasn’t about a big romance, but focused on very real issues for the main character, Aza. Hearing her inner monologue in dealing with her anxiety and O.C.D. was enlightening and added real depth to the story.
The mystery going on in the story is enjoyable, but also made me angry. Without spoiling anyone, I just can’t imagine how a person can do what Davis’s father did. And my heart hurt for Davis and Noah. Sometimes, being a parent makes certain stories even more emotional for me. When reading books like this as a child, I obviously identified with the child. Now that I have kids of my own, I generally end up identifying with the adult, and I just couldn’t see how this man behaved in this manner.
The dynamic between Aza and Daisy was different from other friendships I’ve read about and I think that the fanfic that Aza finally read ultimately gave them a stronger bond. Daisy’s feelings about her friendship with Aza made me reflect on my own friendships and how my anxiety might color people’s opinions of me. I think in the future I will be more conscious of how that anxiety manifests itself when hanging out with friends.
Like all Green novels, I did enjoy it. It was deep and meaningful. Some YA is what I call ‘fluffy,’ it’s easy to read and light and fun. Those books are awesome, but so are the ones like this. If you want more than a sweet romance, this book might be for you.
Extremely well written and a very important message within the story… I loved it
I loved it!
I was hoping for another Fault in the Stars when I began this book. But it wasn’t. I didn’t find the plot very engaging or the characters well developed. I did come away with a better appreciation of mental illness and OCD. But with the way the book began and the premise of going on a hunt for a missing billionaire, I expected a bit more action.