Skip to main content

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green


Title: Turtles All the Way Down

Author: John Green

Cover: I had two concerns for this book -- its cover and that the publishers may be relying on the author to carry the book, therefore it wouldn't need an exciting cover.  The spiral on the cover makes sense once you've read the book, but going in, it seems boring and the color isn't all that great.  Relying solely on the author, if that is what they did, may not have been a great idea since it has been years since John Green wrote a book, and the young adult audience that he once appealed to has since grown up.  He still has adult fans, but this is, after all, meant for young adults.  Would this cover appeal to young adults?  We try to say not to judge a book by its cover, but as librarians, we can't deny that people do, especially young adults.  

Review: Aza, our main character, suffers from seems to be Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  It is not diagnosed as that in the book, but she has the obsessions, compulsions, and intrusive thoughts.  It is a pretty severe case, or at least turns into one, which I think is handled well in this book.  It portrays it realistically, giving young adult readers a glimpse of an illness that is often portrayed stereotypically.  Aza does try to fight against some of her intrusive thoughts, but often loses the battle and gives in to the compulsions.  Aza reunites with a childhood friend, Davis, after Davis' father goes missing.  Aza's best friend Daisy thinks that Aza can potentially receive the cash reward for turning in information on Davis' dad, but Aza begins to build a friendship and relationship with him. I'm not sure that Davis is a realistic character, in how his money and missing dad are handled, but the relationship between he and Aza is charming.  Daisy, Aza's best friend is both likeable and unlikeable at times.

John Green's writing is easy to read, yet as in his last book, he covers hard topics (the OCD here) without being afraid to go deep into the dark aspects of how it affects the lives of his characters. Despite the flawed cover, this is another great story.
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 28, 2017 at 3:24 PM

    I found the book to be hard to take at times. Aza would go into such details about how germs made her feel. I felt sick reading it at times. I agree that young adults need to see that there are solutions to problems.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shiver and Linger by Maggie Stiefvater - Slight Spoiler Alert

Review written on August 7, 2010 ** Mildly Spoilerish** Books 1 and 2 in the Mercy Falls series I read Shiver last year, shortly after it came out.  I did really enjoy the book and even voted to be sure it would appear on the list for the committee I'm on.  However, I always had one problem with the book -the "cure".  No one else seemed as bothered by this as me, but I just can't get past that.  I did like that there was some science involved with why they turned into the wolves when it was cold.  Despite the so-called cure, the book was good, so of course I wanted to read the second book, Linger . Only ten chapters in, I was highly annoyed by the book already.  The moment that Grace said that Isabel was cold and Isabel said it was Grace that was hot, I just knew that she was going to be sick and how she would be "cured".  At first I thought that Sam had gotten her sick somehow, but at least that wasn't the case.  At least what Cole d...
3 comments
Read more

Initial thoughts on Mockingjay

Don't worry, I'm going to try and stay away from spoilers, at least for now!  In my opinion, the hardest part of writing any book or story is writing the ending.  I imagine that it's probably incredibly more difficult when you are writing the ending of a book that has been a popular series.  The author always knows that some fans will love it and some fans will hate it.  Of course you can't please everyone. That said, how do I feel about Mockingjay?  As I book, I loved it, and I wasn't disappointed at all.  The action was just as fast-paced and captivating as the two previous books of the series.  Suzanne Collins has mastered the art of keeping the reader from getting bored.  Around half way through the book, I got a little teary, but I won't say why just yet.  Nor will I reveal what part of the ending of the series made me cry.  Maybe later I'll come back, when more people have finished the book, or when I figure out if there's a wa...
2 comments
Read more

Year One by Nora Roberts

Title: Year One Author: Nora Roberts Cover: A decent cover that represents the start of the plague and the crows that come with the darkness. *Mild Spoilers Ahead* Review: I will say first that I am not a typical Nora Roberts fan. In fact, I've only read three other books by her, that being the Seven Signs Trilogy that starts with Blood Brothers. If I remember correctly, those also had a fantasy/paranormal feel to them, while her typical books do not. It was the fantasy elements of this book that appealed to me. A plague strikes, first taking a family, but since it is highly contagious and they are traveling after the holidays, it quickly spreads, wiping out large numbers of the population. There are already some people with gifts before the plague hits, but after, these gifts grow stronger, and others gain powers as well. These people, from witches, elves, fairies, and more, are called the Uncanny, and some people blame them for the plague, or are just generally hateful...
2 comments
Read more