Written by: Himani Bhattarai - 2023017, Grade IX
Posted on: 21 December, 2020
Turtles all the way down is a popular book written by John Green. It was published on October 10, 2017. It is one of the most popular books written by John Green. The genre of the book is young adult fiction and the theme of the book is about mental illness (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). It deals with the thoughts of the main character, Aza Holmes. It focuses on the struggle of Aza or any person who is suffering from OCD.
The novel begins with Aza speaking up about her illness (OCD). She describes how she cannot control her feelings sometimes and finds herself lost in the end. She is trapped by her own thoughts. She keeps describing her Illness. Soon Daisy and Mychel are introduced in the book, Daisy, Aza’s best friend, and Mychel, one of her artistic friends. Then she goes to have food and eats a sandwich and realizes that she can hear the bacteria in the stomach and feels disgusted while eating. She struggles with anxiety and fears about bacteria. After sometime Mychel tells about the disappearance of Mr. Pickett a night before the police raid was planned on him in the case of bribery. But Aza could not speak up as she was worried if she got a parasitic infection. She couldn’t control her feelings and finds herself lost in her thoughts. Daisy was expecting her to say something but she couldn’t speak up due to anxiety. After some time Michael tells Daisy about his new project aza gets interested and tries to focus on his words but couldn't as she gets distracted by the sound of bacteria time and again. Aza and Daisy know about Mr. Pickett and his sons. We get to know that Aza had a crush on Davis and they insist on visiting him. Soon we can see the love story unfolding between Davis and aza though she gets lost by her thoughts time and again. She could hear and imagine the bacteria spreading in her stomach due to anxiety she even drinks hand sanitizer. and aza describes to us about her childhood before she was attacked by OCD. She tells how frustrated she gets time and again Aza and Daisy starts exploring things on their own and tries to solve the mystery of the unexpected disappearance of Mr. Pickett. They suspect that the billionaire Mr. Pickett had already died. Time passes and Davis and his younger brother Noah decide to move to Colorado, Aza and Davis say their goodbyes and the book ends.
This book is strong enough to show a person living who is suffering from OCD. It shows the strong friendship of Aza and Daisy and how Daisy always tries to cheer Aza up and encourage her to explore new things. The fact I disliked is how Daisy couldn't understand what her best friend is suffering from. Overall I liked the book and I would like to recommend this book as well.
