Turtles All The Way Down (Review)

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

Hardcover, 288 pages | Published October 10th 2017 by Dutton Books for Young Readers

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5

W A R N I N G: Unpopular opinion lurks below.

I had taken a bit of a hiatus from YA literature, but when I heard that John Green, a favorite of mine, was releasing a new book, (his first in five years), I immediately pre-ordered a signed copy.

…I’m a sucker for signed copies. 😉

As a long-time lover of John Green, and fellow sufferer or anxiety, I had high hopes for this book. However, as I began the story, I found myself wanting to put it down after 10 minutes, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t let weeks pass by before picking it up and forcing myself to complete it.

My problem here was expectations. I thought I would relate; I didn’t. I thought I would be captivated by the realistic emotions John Green is usually able to convey; I couldn’t.

The plot was a bit thin, the characters a bit annoying and unrealistic, and I didn’t fall in love in the ways I usually do with John Green’s writing.

I appreciated the attempt, and I found the last quarter of the book to me more captivating than the beginning had led me to believe, but it didn’t give me the page-turner experience that I wanted.

Even with my disappointment, I still recommend this book to all John Green lovers, or to those who deal with Anxiety. Everybody is different, and even though I didn’t find comfort in it, it doesn’t mean that someone else won’t.