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.
Review:
(Non-spoilery part:)
I went into this book only knowing what the synopsis told me: a 16 year old with mental health problems goes on this quest with her best friend to solve a mystery about a missing billionaire. I thought it was a weird mix when I first heard about it, but I said, it's John Green! It has got to be AMAZING. Well...
It did turn out to be a weird mix. And a kind of badly executed mix in some ways.
First of all, I want to say that I actually didn't hate this book. I'm a slow reader, and when I don't enjoy a book it can take me months to finish it, but I finished this one in a span of like 5 days (although anyone could probably read it in 2 days, since it is only 290 pages long). So, I read it quite fast and something about it just made me keep reading. I think it was John's writing, and the fact that it probably reminded me of The Fault In Our Stars' writing. I know, I know, I hate comparing these two books too, since they tell different stories and they are their own individual thing, but I need to warn everyone that if you go into this book wanting to read a second TFIOS, you are only going to end up disappointed. In fact, the only aspect that is kind of similar in both books, is the writing.
I personally didn't want a second The Fault In Our Stars, but I did want another incredible story. I expected a story with a lot more humor, because of the title of the book, and more adventure. Constantly while reading the novel I just felt like I was reading someone's real life, and that is actually one of the reasons why I kept reading and why John Green is a fantastic author, but at the same time, I just needed a plot twist or something unexpected to happen to make the story a little more interesting. Just give me one plot twist. Please?
Something that didn't make the story feel so real to me though, were the (way too) intellectual teenagers that everyone always talks about in John Green's books. I've actually never had a problem with this, since in Paper Towns and The Fault In Our Stars it felt appropriate. Hazel, for example, was so smart because she had to learn a lot about life growing up with cancer, and she read so much that she kind of adopted an intellectual, literary way of speaking, if that makes sense. In this book though, all the verbal flamboyance and the philosophical conversations just have no point and they just seem a lot more exaggerated than in his other books.
What I want to say is, that it was an okay-book and that I didn't hate it, but I expected a lot more than just 290 pages of Nothing Really Happening™.
You will probably love this book if you:
- love Star Wars.
- would like to learn about lizards which aren't considered lizards.
- are interested in understanding the mind of someone with OCD.
- enjoy reading quotes and poems. Many. Quotes. And. Poems.
- like chill books where there isn't much action.
(Spoilery part:)
I actually don't really know if there's a need for a spoilery part in this review, since the synopsis literally tells you everything. In fact, it basically tells you what the first 5 chapters are about, and the rest of the book is just a lot of the same.
I feel like John just wanted to write a book about OCD, but felt like he needed to throw something interesting into the mix, so he just threw in a fugitive billionaire. Then, towards the middle of writing the book, he got bored of it and decided that there had to be more philosophical conversations, Daisy talking about Star Wars 24/7 and tuataras (actually, when I removed the dust jacket from the book and saw that there was a lizard-like animal on the cover I was so confused because it was clearly a lizard, not a turtle. Then I started reading the book and it all made more sense, but John Green just seems to really love reptiles in this novel, AND Star Wars.)
Anyways, what I mean, is that the synopsis tells the most interesting part of the book, while the rest is just kind of boring and filled with things that just don't need to be there. The only thing I was genuinely interested in were tuataras. When the zoologist was showing and telling Aza facts about the tuatara I completely forgot about Davis and his brother crying in the pool, because tuataras were so much more interesting.
The characters were also something I just didn't really like. The only one I sympathized with was Aza, because she was really struggling with her disorder, and Noah was adorable, but Daisy and Davis weren't the best characters I've read, to be honest. I guess John wanted to make Daisy the funny sidekick since Aza was constantly very serious, but even though I tried to like her, she just got SO annoying. At first I thought it was hilarious that she wrote Star Wars fanfiction, but then it turned out that a quarter of the book was just her talking about Star Wars, and for someone who has never really watched it, it just gets old really fast. And the fact that she turned Aza into a horrible character in her story is literally the worst. What best friend would do something like that and think that it's fine?
Then there's Davis. I truly believe he could have been such an amazing character, but to me he just wasn't well-developed. This character is the reason why this book didn't feel that real to me. I mean, he is the son of a billionaire, but always seems to be alone and have no friends for some reason. He also has this blog which someone his age just wouldn't write. Or at least it would be extremely unusual. John probably just wanted an excuse to include his favorite quotes/poems in the book, and I don't blame him, but this was another kind of unnecessary part of the novel.
The ending was actually great, even though I didn't even care for the mystery anymore, but it was nice to know what happened with Davis' dad. It wasn't cheesy, or too sad, or too happy. I also liked that Aza's disorder wasn't magically healed by her and Davis' relationship. The ending was definitely one of the best parts of the whole book.
All in all, Turtles All The Way Down was a book which had parts that were enjoyable and the writing was great, but there was almost no plotline and I couldn't really connect with the characters.
3'25/5 turtles for Turtles All The Way Down!
