“It’s quite rare to find someone who sees the same world you see”. This is only one of the many quotes that stood out to me in John Green’s novel, Turtles All the Way Down. This book starts out as a mystery story but quickly spins out to be about so much more. It showcases Aza Holmes’ very real struggles through daily living mixed with the highs and lows of being a high schooler.

My favorite thing about this book is that I could relate to Aza on such a deep level. Green does such a great job at describing Aza’s thought spirals in a way that showcases her struggles with anxiety and OCD respectfully and justly. This book transports you to be stuck inside Aza’s mind with her. This allows the reader to come to a deeper understanding of what Aza is going through. This contrasts Aza’s personal life where no one can seem to understand how she is feeling. 

Throughout the book, the reader sees how Aza’s mind affects her relationships with everything around her. She struggles to communicate with her mom, has fights with her best friend Daisy, and can’t figure out how to navigate the world filled with everything that fuels her anxiety. The reader gets to witness the lows of Aza breaking down, but also the highs of Aza making breakthroughs in her mental health journey. Green writes Aza’s character in a way that naturally makes you cheer for her when she is making progress and cry with her when she is struggling. Although no one in Aza’s life understands her, the reader does.

This story is beautifully written; however, the ending is not the best. The last thirty pages are too slow and not much happens. With that being said everything that comes before it definitely outweighs the disappointing ending. 

I highly recommend everyone to read this book. I really enjoyed it and think everyone can get something out of it.