Turtles All the Way Down by John Green - Restarting May 14th 2020

[Alaina]

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.

[Geri]

I'll definitely join in on this buddy read.

[Alaina]

Geri wrote: "I'll definitely join in on this buddy read."

YAY :)

[Anfel]

I'm DEF in!! :3

[[deleted user]]

Just got the book from my library. Starting now :)

[[deleted user]]

Chapter 1
(view spoiler)[ okay that was a pretty intense chapter. That level of anxiety seems beyond overwhelming. Thought spirals are interesting concepts. I havent heard of them before. (hide spoiler)]

[Najma]

I m joining in too

[Najma]

Chapter 1 (view spoiler)[ When I read the thing about bacteria all I could think about is when John freaked out in one his podcast episodes when Hank told him that there were more microorganisms than cells in human body. (hide spoiler)]

[Karen]

Loved Matt Haig’s review of this in the guardian.

[Haley]

I'll join! I got my copy yesterday and am currently reading Ch. 6!

[[deleted user]]

I finished this while working and wrote down some thoughts

Chapter 7 (view spoiler)[I feel so bad for Davis. He really thinks his dad doesnt love him. I do like the chemistry between him and Aza though. And that last line "Everybody disappears eventually" (hide spoiler)]


Chapter 9 (view spoiler)[Aw Noah. Breaks my heart to see him so clearly suffering (hide spoiler)]


Chapter 13(view spoiler)[They are honestly so cute together But if a boy "cures" her anxiety ill throw this book across the room. (hide spoiler)]


Chapter 18(view spoiler)[Okay Ayala is a super mean character to create for a fan fiction?? I cant believe her best friend made her. Im glad she confronted Daisy but maybe she will consider getting better with her meds (hide spoiler)]

[[deleted user]]

Finished (view spoiler)[ Kind of in the middle about this one. I think Azas anxiety felt very real and very overwhelming. I feel like Davis dad disappearing kind of fell by the wayside for most of it. There were some points where I felt like Davis was going to "cure" Azas anxiety and it made me really worried. But I enjoyed the ending. Especially Aza going to the extreme. And all the moments with her mom were really loving (hide spoiler)]

[Geri]

Ch 1-8

(view spoiler)[ Aza is interesting! Her anxieties are crippling. It’s great that she has a friend like Daisy.

It will be interesting reading this since I also live in Indiana.

I enjoy Daisy’s humor and her knowledge of so many topics.

To leave your entire estate to your pet lizard?? Crazy!

Very eloquent quotes on Davis’ secret profile.

So did Davis’ Dad leave or did someone else take him? Hmmm (hide spoiler)]

[Geri]

Ch 9-16

(view spoiler)[ I’m glad Aza felt comfortable enough with Davis to reveal some of her innermost secrets.

Stacks of money hidden all over Davis’ house! Sad that Davis felt he had to give Aza money to know for sure she wants to see him.

Glad they will use the money for college. Daisy buying a car is worrying, though.

I do agree with Aza that not being able to kiss because of the fear of germs is a problem. Not sure how their relationship will work.

The jogger’s mouth. I can’t figure that one out.

It’s a little mind boggling the thoughts Aza has. And her fear that she is actually fiction.

It has taken me a while, but I am finally appreciating the relationship between Davis and Aza. (hide spoiler)]

[Geri]

Ch 17-24

(view spoiler)[ I am beginning to think Noah knows something about his Dad. That is why he is taking things so hard.

Terrible fight between Daisy and Aza. Terrible accident.

Aza really spiraled out of control!

I am glad we got some resolution regarding Davis’ Father. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

I have a couple of books to finish today/tomorrow so I'll probably start reading this tomorrow-ish?

[Haley]

Finished!

[Haley]

Julianne wrote: "Finished [spoilers removed]"

I totally agree about the ending! I loved it too!

[Tayla]

ill join but I might be a little late!

[Abby]

Chapter 6: (view spoiler)[Daisy's got mad manipulative skills! Straight up getting that guy to send them the police report is genius. (hide spoiler)]

[Abby]

Chapter 11: (view spoiler)[That stream of consciousness with the Bandaid feels crazy real. I love how John is writing Aza's inner thoughts. Is this really what it's like for a OCD person? (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 1-5: (view spoiler)[Can I just quickly state that the cover up this book was mostly the main reason why I got it and wanted to read it. And it being one of John Green's books doesn't hurt either.

So far Aza's character is pretty interesting. Especially reading about what she goes through on a daily basis. I like her friendship with Daisy. I just think they are beyond cute together and I hope their friendship lasts. It especially helps that she knows and understands her episodes too because it's always important to have somebody on your side during hard times.

I know we briefly met Davis, it was like a chapter..which I think I can call brief...right?, well anyways, his character seems pretty interesting. Although I think it's really sad that his parents are home all the time or that he's mostly by himself. No kid should live like that.

I wonder what else will go on in these crazy kids lives. Oh, and is Davis going to be the love interest of Aza?!?! (hide spoiler)]

[Abby]

Chapter 17: (view spoiler)[Drinking hand sanitizer all the time is gonna make Aza really sick. (hide spoiler)]

[Abby]

Finished: (view spoiler)[So sad that Pickett was actually dead. And why does Davis have to move away? And that stupid tuatara gets everything. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 6-10: (view spoiler)[first question: how the hell is daisy so good at getting police reports? Did someone owe her a favor or something? Or is she just that sneaky? Or adorable? Or likable? I have so many questions about that whole situation but I’m just going to say she’s amazing for getting it.

Then there’s Davis who I completely feel terrible for. I hate that he feels so alone. But I am super happy that he has aza to talk to whenever he gets that feeling of loneliness. Or you know anytime of the day too.

Also giant baby had me laughing so hard 😂😂 (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 11-15: (view spoiler)[Aza and Davis's relationship is getting better and better. I seriously love these two. Although the thoughts that go through Aza's mind make me worry so much for her. I wonder if she will find more ways to deal with them other than using medicine.

Then there's the whole money situation that Aza and Daisy received. I was all for them saving it for college than spending it so suddenly on things they didn't really need. But then Daisy goes and starts spending her part of the money. It kind of scares me that she went and bought a car because I have a feeling she's going to keep spending her money on things she doesn't really need but on things she just wants right now because she has money.

I hope this book keeps my interest. I keep putting it down to read other books. I just want to finish it today!! (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 16-20: (view spoiler)[Okay so this book definitely picked up for me...but it could also just be addicting now that I just surrounded myself with just this book. No other book is within eye sight. Within this room. I cannot have anymore distractions - because I can and will get distracted by another book because I have so many to read.

Besides all of that nonsense, a ton of shit has happened. Daisy and Aza get into a fight while Aza is driving her car. Honestly that is their first stupid mistake as friends. Fighting while in a car will get you into a dangerous situation, like a car accident. Which they got in. Although the fight needed to happen because their friendship wasn't really a friendship. It definitely seemed sort of one-sided. However, that doesn't give Daisy permission to say the things that she did. I get that she was angry and hurt but some things you just can't take back. Especially since she already knew about Aza's problem and mental condition. It's not really fair to use that against her in every argument and call her a terrible friend. Because she had no idea that Aza was actually a great friend and that even though she gets stuck in her mind half of the time she still does care about Daisy.

Then Aza gets hurt, like really hurt, and has to stay in the hospital - which she honestly hates the idea to begin with and definitely freaks out in her own way. I mean drinking hand sanitizer makes me cringe. I wanted to throw up while she was drinking and then throwing up. I was so grossed out but then I couldn't tear my eyes off of the page.

I can't wait to see how this book ends. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 21-24, aka...
Finished: (view spoiler)[wow, what an ending! It wasn't what I expected but I didn't hate it either. I'm glad Davis and Noah decided together what to do about their dad once they had all of the information they needed. I'm also glad about getting my own closure on that subject as well.

I really like how Aza's friendships have totally mended. I really wanted everything to go back to normal between her and Daisy. Their friendship was my life. I loved everything about it.

I also really like Aza's friendship with her mom. It was just refreshing and I love how much they love each other and show it.

Great ending to an okay book. (hide spoiler)]

[Pranay]

Chapter 1
(view spoiler)[
The Spirals remind me of the labyrinth from 'Looking for Alaska'. I loved how Aza described her silent conversations with Davis, sometimes those are the best kind of conversation you can ever have :)
(hide spoiler)]

[Vendea]

Chapters 1-8:
(view spoiler)[This is my first encounter with Green's book in English and not translated so yeah... it's not what I expected it to be at all. But I like it, in positive way!
Holmesy is very nice and interesting character and I like her. I never really read anything about anxiety so this is kinda new to me as I don't know much about it irl too. And Davis! I love how he's obsessed with stars and stuff like that. He reminds me of some other Green's characters too but he is not as annoying as others are.
And the friendship between Aza and Daisy? That's beautiful.
(hide spoiler)]

[Vendea]

Chapter 9-16:
(view spoiler)[I'm a little bit scared by the fact I am enjoying Green' book in this point in book. That never happened to me before. Never.
But I am glad! It might change my opinion of him. So... Aza and Davis are life. I swear... if Green does something to this couple,
I am gonna hate him forever. I like chemistry and how Davis deals with Aza and tries to understand her. Also I really feel sorry for his little bro because... nobody should stay alone. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 17-24 - Finished:
(view spoiler)[I don't know what to say. My worst nightmare happened. First, it was really exhausting to be in Aza's head sometimes. I understand she has this germe problem but it just made me tired after a while, reading about same thing over and over and over. Might be realistic but I am not the kind of reader who would appreciate that.

Second, fight between Daisy and Aza and accident. I don't say Aza was without fault but Daisy should be more caring and she should understand her illness. Also the fanfic thing made me angry. I hated Daisy for it for a while.

I CANNOT GET OVER THAT JOHN GREEN BROKE UP ONE THING THAT WAS ACTUALLY GOOD AND MADE ME LIKE HIS BOOK FOR THE FIRST TIME. UGHHHHHH. RIP OTP.

I disliked ending. I mean... I liked the way brothers handled that thing that happened there but overall whole searching father thing was crappy and not really written down there. (hide spoiler)]

Summary:
(view spoiler)[Green keeps recycling same plot and characters in his books over and over but I could forgive that. I thought I might actually love Turtles. But... it was okay, yes. I enjoyed part of it.
I actually liked MC which is the first time in Green's books.
Daisy was annoying sometimes but I could manage not hating her. The thing I loved about this book was romance... but Green destroyed it so... ugh. I really hoped it would work out. But nooo...
I felt like the searching aspect of book wasn't really explained.
But that's okay too. In the end, I think I liked Turtles most out of all his books. Definitely more than Alaska, Katherines and Stars. (hide spoiler)]

[Pranay]

Chapter 2-5:
(view spoiler)[
Green's central characters are always connected by few similarities and others might not like it, but it always brings me back to his books.
I really liked how the characters of Aza and Davis are crafted, both are so complex and yet so beautiful. Most of us have a physical thing close to our heart, like that book your best friend gave you before leaving for a different state or a gift from grandparents to remember them by. Davis has his Iron Man figure and Aza her Harold, these little details always intrigued me.
We are slowly introduced to the 'intrusive thoughts' which later turn out to be the spiral which tightens around this story.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter 6:
(view spoiler)[
Davis's Blog. I might be a little biased but this was one of the best parts of the book. I loved the way each one of those quotes wrote a new story for him.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter 7-18
(view spoiler)[
I don't really like Daisy but I dislike most of the characters so I might be biased again. Green did a great job at building up the chemistry between Aza and Davis, allowing Aza to speak from distance and Davis to write his thoughts down was probably a good idea. As the story progresses the spiral keeps tightening, Aza loses control over thoughts and as she often describes maybe she was never in control.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter 19-24-Finished
(view spoiler)[
"You think, it's like a brain fire. Like a rodent gnawing at you from the inside. A knife in your gut. A Spiral. Whirlpool. Black Hole."
Aza's spiral keeps tightening and I don't think there is much space left. But no, those spirals are infinite.
But wait what did just happen ? Daisy suddenly changed, returned her car, she's nice with Aza again. Aza has no problem going inside that tunnel with that smell ? Where is her spiral ? Really ? now we bring back the Pickett hunt, when I don't even remember it was even a part of the story.
The ending really spoiled it for me.
(hide spoiler)]

Summary
(view spoiler)[
I really liked Aza and Davis's characters and their chemistry. I loved how Aza's thought process was displayed, and how Davis said a lot of things without actually saying much.
This book has nothing to do with any kind of 100k quest and I don't see why it was highlighted.
The book had nothing new to offer from Green.
(hide spoiler)]

[Karen]

Ch1-3. Feels like we’ve been here before in many ways. I’m guessing Davis will remember Aza...

[Karen]

Ch4-8. The hunt for dad is a handy device to throw Aza and Davis together. Daisy’s fan fiction is a little scary!

[Karen]

Ch9-14. So, Davis says she’s in Daisy’s fiction...think there’ll be an unsettling moment. Still can’t understand how they’ve just been given this enormous sum of money and nobody seems to have noticed.

[Karen]

Ch15-19. Think the situation Aza is in is inevitable. Hope she gets some further support.

[Karen]

Finished. Review on home page. A slow burner. The story, such as it is, felt of less importance than the study of Aza.

[Sarah Elizabeth]

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Date Changed. Restarting March 27th 2018. Happy Reading ☺

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[Dr. Andy]

~25% (view spoiler)[ So this is interesting but I feel a bit lost. So this dude's dad was kidnapped or ran away?? I don't get why that matters?? But this Davis kid is interesting and I like Aza. Her thought pattern is really interesting and I didn't know that's how it feels for some people. But now I understand. I don't really like Aza's friend, Daisy. She's so fucking pushy and I want to slap her (hide spoiler)]

[Dr. Andy]

~50% (view spoiler)[ Okay that was fucking weird/rude of her mom. I'm kinda mad at her. Also Daisy is such a god damn bitch. Yeah I can't completely understand Aza, but I wouldn't tell her that she needs to stop that. It's not a choice bitch! Also, I'm so hardcore judging Daisy for spending all that money and "retiring" from Chuck-E-cheese. UGh GET OVER YOURSELF. But I'm really starting to love Davis. HE LIKES ASTRONOMY!!!! BAE <3 (hide spoiler)]

[Sanah]

Mind if I join in on the buddy read?

[Dr. Andy]

Sanah wrote: "Mind if I join in on the buddy read?"

Of course not! Please join in :D

[Dr. Andy]

65% (view spoiler)[ Wow this girl needs to take her medication. But also you're not supposed to drink hand sanitizer!!! Like AZA DO NOT DO THAT, seriously you could get actually sick from that. But I'm a super fan of Aza and Davis's relationship (hide spoiler)]

[Sanah]

Andrea wrote: "65% [spoilers removed]"

So is there a format of how long we will be br this or chapters that need to be read for certain discussion days?

[Dr. Andy]

Sanah wrote: "Andrea wrote: "65% [spoilers removed]"

So is there a format of how long we will be br this or chapters that need to be read for certain discussion days?"

Nope just read at your own pace and I'll respond to any comments you post :)

[Dr. Andy]

68% (view spoiler)[ OMFG DAISY FUCKING WROTE ABOUT HER BEST FRIEND AND LITERALLY TRASHED HER WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. IM SO MAD (hide spoiler)]

[Dr. Andy]

80% (view spoiler)[ Wow I knew the hand sanitizer thing was going to be bad!!!! But I hope Aza is finally going to get the right treatment for herself. And that car crash was scary. But Daisy and Aza really needed to have that conversation. (hide spoiler)]

[Dr. Andy]

Finished (view spoiler)[ I'm glad Daisy and Aza worked out their problems, I still don't really like Daisy though. Also I'm not a fan of the ambiguous ending between Davis and Aza. (hide spoiler)]

[Lee]

Andrea wrote: "~25% [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ I'm so glad I'm not the only one who is a little lost. I feel like I either glanced over something important that was supposed to help with Davis' dad disappearing was such a big deal or it just simply wasn't in there and we were supposed to figure it out. Poor, Aza though. Anxiety is such an awful thing and she really struggles with it. :c I also agree that while I don't dislike Daisy, I'm not entirely sure how to feel about her and Davis does seem interesting. (hide spoiler)]

[Lee]

Andrea wrote: "~50% [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[Yeah.... I'm definitely not feeling Daisy. Like if she wants to quit Chuck E Cheese, fine, but if she really wants to go to college I feel like she should find another place to work and still save up especially with how she is spending like she is. But, idk. That's just me. But yeah.... she really needs to stop. And her mother like... I get it, but yeah that definitely went too far. And Davis is really swell. I do like him. (hide spoiler)]