Turtles All the Way Down

“You know I love you, right?” I nodded. “My whole life I thought I was the star of an overly earnest romance movie, and it turns out I was in a goddamned buddy comedy all along. I gotta go to calc. Good to see you, Holmesy.”

I have read a LOT of YA lately. Depending on your criteria 7 of the 16 books I've finished this year have qualified as young adult novels (obvi, more reviews forthcoming) and I'm thinking maybe I need a break from the genre for a little bit. However, as a huge fan of The Fault in our Stars, I was excited to read Turtles All the Way Down, John Green's follow up novel to that smash hit, so I picked it up as soon as it landed in my library queue, despite my YA fatigue.  

Turtles centers on Aza Holmes, a young woman struggling with a significant but unspecified anxiety disorder. More than anything, Green's characterization of Aza's anxiety is what makes this book remarkable - from the way in which he describes her intrusive thoughts, to her destructive actions, and the ways in which her relationships are impacted by her anxiety - readers who have experienced similar symptoms will resonate with Aza in her ever-tightening spiral, as she navigates friendships, family, and romance, with a mystery thrown in for some extra drama. 

It's difficult for me not to compare Turtles to Stars, but I think they diverge in some significant ways. Although there are romantic storylines here, the primary relationship and driving force in the novel is that between Aza and her best friend Daisy, and I don't think I will ever tire of reading about complex female friendships. Turtles is a much more internal book, with a significant amount of the "action" occurring in Aza's mind. Although the books lacks some of the emotional punch of Stars, (I did not cry), Turtles is still well worth the read, and will hopefully be a validating and hopeful reading experience for those struggling with anxiety.