The Bespectacled Reader: Turtles All The Way Down

After finishing a book of academic nature, all I wanted was to to relax, get back to my teens and flip through the pages carefree - 'Turtles All the Way Down' was the perfect choice!

It a book categorized under 'young-adult fiction' and truly so with the mix of all right ingredients - teen friends and a little test on their friendship, childhood crush turned boyfriend, and a bit of mystery and investigation to top it all.

What I liked

- The main character in the book - Aza Holmes has a condition called OCD which makes hers and her dear ones' life challenging. The author, as I read on Wikipedia, suffered from a similar condition growing up and thus throughout the novel we can see that personal touch. We grow on 'Aza', her helplessness, at the same time we feel for her Mom and best friend Daisy as they have to put up with her. The details are well crafted giving the readers a blueprint to their state of mind.

- This book got me into writing after a long gap. Pretty sure its personal, but only some books, some writings inspire me to write and this one sure did; especially to open up and write my heart out - if interested this is the latest piece I penned down - https://catchingarainbowinthemountains.blogspot.com/2023/06/unfinished-stories.html

- The author, John Green, whom I first met via his collaborative You Tube channel ‘Crash Course’, has touched upon various areas ranging from history to cybersecurity as part of his research. He has applied the ‘technicalities' and social media presence in everyday life he is familiar with, in this book wherever possible, thus making it truly a new age adult fiction. This makes the whole plot more relatable.

- It’s a page-turner, a quality quintessential for a book.

What I did not like

- The blurb or the short summary given behind the book gives a false sense of detective novel, but this is more of an emotional ride with minimal detective work, so if you are hoping to catch on some mystery and action you may be disappointed.

- The intricate detailing which I commented as a plus above, tends to become a little too much as the plot progresses, routine repetitions, and over-use of technicality in some places bored me a bit.

Collectibles (Favorite quotes and excerpts)

“In the best conversations you don’t even remember what you talked about, only how it felt. It was like we weren’t even there, lying together by the pool. It felt like we were in some place your body can’t visit, some place with no ceilings and no walls no floor and instrument.”

That’s Azas remark on the first time she went out with Davis, her neighbor after a very long time.

“Anybody can look at you. Its quite rare to find someone who sees the same world as you”

In short, a very good read, light casual one especially if you are caught in a reading spree.