I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
Published by Dutton Books for Young Readers on 10/10/17
Genres: Contemporary, Mental Health, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 304
Format: Hardcover
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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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.

Short and Sweet Review

Aza is in her head a lot and not like the average person but she worries about things like microbes and bacteria. When her friend Daisy brings up the idea of trying to find the fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, Aza is reluctant but she ends up agreeing. Aza used to go to camp with Davis Pickett and that’s what Daisy sees as their way in. We see throughout the book Aza try to be normal and please people around her but the more she does that the more she spirals.

Aza is our main character and she’s really interesting in the fact that you can tell that she struggles with her mental health. She’s usually thinking about how unclean things are and if she wasn’t so afraid of the microbes she’d make a good microbiologist. Her best friend is Daisy and she’s more outspoken and adventurous and she gives a lot of Grace to Aza. When Aza is reunited with Davis he already knows what she and Daisy want, the hundred thousand dollar reward. Davis and his younger brother are now alone and Davis is taking care of Noah while their dad is on the run, so he just wants Aza and Daisy to be honest with him. Aza starts to spend more time with Davis and she likes him and for a while the whole search for Russell is put off. You can tell Aza likes Davis but she knows they can’t be happy while she’s dealing with her own issues. I think it was interesting to see how Aza being in her head so much affected those around her and as much as she tried to play it off she wasn’t going to get better until she realized that she does need help. The book starts off with a bit of the mystery of Russell and where he could have gone but it morphs into a contemporary romance with more of a focus on mental health. I will say that sometimes Aza is a bit much with her thoughts and she’s really lucky to have the people she does that support her.

Overall, this was a good book. This is my second time reading it and I did remember from my first reread that I didn’t like something and looking back it was because I thought Ava’s thoughts were so intense and debilitating, but the second time around I think I understood her more. I do think this book is worth reading and I’m interested to see how the movie will portray these characters.