Audiobook Review – Turtles All the Way Down by John Green, Narrated by Kate Rudd (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Length: 7 hours and 12 minutes (320 pages)
Publisher: Listening Library
Release Date: October 10, 2017
ASIN: B074F3T529
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a $100,000 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.”
I am a big John Green fan and this was a good book (although I liked both “Paper Towns” and “The Fault in Our Stars” better). This was an engaging read about mental illness and a strange mystery.
Aza and Daisy ending up looking up their old friend Davis when word of his father’s disappearance is reported. While Aza is just curious to see how Davis is doing, Daisy wants the monetary reward. Aza ends up drawn deeper into this mystery when Davis’s younger brother Noah begs Aza for help finding their dad. However, Aza starts to struggle with her anxiety issues as they become tied to all this stress and chaos.
In this book Green does a great job of portraying someone with OCD and anxiety issues and the way it’s a lifelong issue. I also liked how this book shows how hard it is to be a family member or friend to someone with those issues.
Some of this book did fall a bit flat for me. The relationship between Aza and Davis felt forced and strangely incomplete. The whole mystery about Davis’s father also felt a bit thin on plot.
Overall I enjoyed this, it leaves you with a lot to think about. I thought it was sadder than most of Green’s books it had me nearly in tears a number of times. Although not one of Green’s best books, it was still really good and I would recommend if you are a John Green fan or if you like reading about mental illness.