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What Members Thought
Powerful book - I'd say it is his best one yet. It is certainly my favorite.
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I almost didn’t read this book but a friend said it was good. I found it just so-so. It was much harder for me to read a book about a character with severe anxiety than a book about teenagers with terminal cancer. I’m sure that says as much about me as it does about the book.
That being said, if you don’t experience anxiety but love someone who does, this book does an excellent job of portraying intrusive thought patterns and the ways they can take over.
That being said, if you don’t experience anxiety but love someone who does, this book does an excellent job of portraying intrusive thought patterns and the ways they can take over.
Beautifully written, John Green captures the struggle with mental illness, adolescent friendships, and loss in such a powerful yet natural way. He doesn’t romanticize OCD, much the opposite. He doesn’t bolster Aza to be a magnificent heroine who saves the world. He lets Aza be Aza, all the while she is trying to figure out how to live her adolescent life with an illness that has her constantly filled with so much painful self-doubt. I could absolutely feel her pain and fear throughout this novel
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I connected with this book a little more than I wanted to! (I read it after breaking my foot and getting various other bangs/scrapes, so all the obsessing over blood poisoning hit weirdly close to home.) I liked the protagonist, Aza; she's not a manic pixie dream girl, but a thoughtful and troubled young woman whose life is complicated by anxiety and obsessive thoughts, generally about cheery things like c. diff and human microbiota. You could say Aza is troubled because she's thoughtful; she wo
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Ha! John Green - I have mixed feelings about your books! I enjoyed Will Grayson, Will Grayson, but couldn't care less about the overhype Tha Faults in Our Stars.
Fortunately, Turtles all the Way Down is an enjoyable read. It has a perfect formula for me: family, friendship, a bit of mystery, not too much romance, and pretty relatable main character. Unlike the other Green's books, the dialogues are not that pretentious. Sure, there are some heavy discussions about life etc, but I'm pretty ok with ...more
Fortunately, Turtles all the Way Down is an enjoyable read. It has a perfect formula for me: family, friendship, a bit of mystery, not too much romance, and pretty relatable main character. Unlike the other Green's books, the dialogues are not that pretentious. Sure, there are some heavy discussions about life etc, but I'm pretty ok with ...more
I feel like I understand anxiety/OCD a little better. This story could only have been written by someone who has experienced something similar, so kudos to John Green for being brave enough to open up about a topic that is so challenging for people.
Dec 06, 2017
Cari
marked it as to-read
Jan 09, 2018
Karianne
marked it as to-read
Mar 20, 2019
Elizabeth
marked it as to-read
Feb 17, 2020
Kate
marked it as to-read
Jul 04, 2020
Kristina
marked it as to-read
