Turtles All the Way Down

By: John Green

Narrated by: Kate Rudd

FEATURED ON 60 MINUTES and FRESH AIR

“So surprising and moving and true that I became completely unstrung.” – The New York Times

Named 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 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.

robot?

the story was excellent, but the narrator sounded like a robot splicing words together haphazardly. the inflection and pacing were off.

Great addition to the John Green Collection

Overall a good story and Aza is a strong character but I felt like the plot could've used a driving force. While Green's writing is as smart as ever Turtles fell just short of the power his other novels have had.

Another beautifully told story- just one I couldn’t stand

John green is an amazing author and I will forever read any book he writes, but this one was hard to swallow. He writes about OCD like he’s living it, but that doesn’t negate the fact that it is exhausting to listen to. Aza’s disease makes you want to reach through the book and shake her. Her obsessive thoughts and irrational thinking is obnoxious. You sympathize with her but you hate her. And the worst part is she’s not the only one you hate!

I’m glad that John green has passed on the character of ‘manic pixie dream girl’ to a side character, this time by way of Aza’s best friend, daisy. It’s easier to see how annoying this trait is now that we’re viewing it through the eyes of a 17 year old male obsessed with her, and why it just needs to stop.

And lastly, we have Davis. The son of a youth obsessed billionaire who left all of his fortune to a lizard. Davis is quiet and unobtrusive but parts of him scream ‘r/im14andthisisdeep’. He’s a poet and a star gazer and otherwise a lot like toast. Bland and brittle.

The characters I’d like to have seen more of- Michael with his surprisingly thoughtful art project, or Noah and his attempt to process his father leaving him at the age of 13- those characters were side notes.

Overall, the writing is exquisite, and the idea is interesting, but this is a book I feel like I will love to hate and not much more.

That was lovely. Truly beautiful.

Painfully beautiful, this one is hard to resist falling in love with. Thank you John, DFTBA.

Just great!

This was a very good representation of a very difficult and varied sort of mental illness. I am a therapist, not a patient in this matter (although it's absolutely true everyone has intrusive thoughts) - and there are so many incredibly true things about this condition in this book.
It is, though, important to remember that it is A obsessive compulsive story, and the illness does manifest in so many other ways.
I loved the characters, the relationships between them, and I especially loved the narration. Kate Rudd is my favorite, and she makes the connection so beautifully!
I recommend it highly.