Turtles All the Way Down

By: John Green

Narrated by: Kate Rudd

Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2017 John Green (P)2017 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"Narrator Kate Rudd dramatizes the quick intelligence and high anxiety of high school junior Aza Holmes.... Rudd expresses most strongly Aza's sarcastic inner voice, which is so developed that it becomes a character. The convincing portrayals makes it easy to see how Aza is hindered in loving, thinking, and living without fear." (AudioFile)

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.

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.

That was lovely. Truly beautiful.

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

Just okay.

I wasn’t crazy about this one. It was just okay. Didn’t like the narrator either.

Another real book from John Green!

I loved this book! As someone who lives with anxiety disorder, this really touched me. It was so real and accurate. The characters were funny and relatable as always. I really enjoyed the ending! However, it is not five stars. I thought it was very slow at some parts.

Interesting characters, story is lacking

What was most disappointing about John Green’s story?

The character of Aza is excellent, especially the portrayal of her mental health issues. The story of the disappeared billionaire seems too close to a plotline from Veronica Mars for me. The intended audience of teenage girls may not be that familiar with Veronica Mars. For me, I felt that the missing billionaire plot never really worked. The book became more of a chronical of Aza's mental health problems with an occasional mention of the plot that should be driving the book.

Have you listened to any of Kate Rudd’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I like Kate Rudd from Wonder and Fault in the Stars. I do agree with other reviews that speeding the audiobook up a bit helps significantly.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

At first, I liked the portrayal of anxiety. After a while, it got repetitive. The character Daisy also was very annoying. I found myself hitting the 30-second fast forward button often just to get through it.

Any additional comments?

I doubt I will re-listen to this book again. I like John Green but this book needed more substance than just an anxiety-ridden character and a recycled plot from Veronica Mars.

.Great story

I've listened it in one breath. Brilliant and motivating. And I also like performance a lot.

Couldn't stop listening.

This book was great. John Green did a good job at getting inside the head of someone living with OCD. I suffer from anxiety, myself, so it was kind of triggering, but I finished it in a day. Highly recommend.