When I heard the phrase “Turtles All The Way Down” a familiar image of a four elephants holding the earth, standing on the back of a turtle flashed in front of my eyes. Perhaps we’ve seen this image on history or mythology books. But what does it have to do with John Green‘s coming of age novel? Well, clever enough Green is!
Famous scientist Bertand Russell once gave a lecture where a old woman contradicting him told that the earth is standing on turtles and its turtles all the way down. I wonder where those turtles end? And the answer is probably it’s endless. Similarly the phrase now works as a metaphor for endless spirals, just like the endless thought spirals of Aza; our heroine from the book titled….you guessed it haha. And the links don’t end here, guess what is the name of one of the most mysterious characters in the book- it’s RUSSEL Pickett.
Anyway so this Russel Pickett guy is a not-so-clean billionaire who goes missing, leaving his whole property behind to a Tuatara, a reptile [also, a living fossil] . So now his two sons are not only orphan but also penniless [and you thought you’ve got the most toxic father?] and while the older son [and our manic pixie dream boy] Davis wishes his father better not comes back, the younger guy Noah still idolizes his father [a phase we’ve all been through]. And if you cross one weird river; filled with algae and turtles; there lives our protagonist, Aza Holmes. It’s technically the river that brings Davis and Aza together as they once shared it as a playing ground when they were kids.
They meet again, The ‘sick girl’ and the ‘manic pixie’, but it’s anxiety this time instead of cancer!
You’ve probably got the reference! And this time they’re not bound by sickness but by the missing person ,Russel Picket, and the mystery revolving around his disappearance. So anyway, Aza is one day notified by her friend Daisy that the father of her childhood crush has gone missing, and Daisy doesn’t want to miss the chance of winning the prize-money. Thus they go to David’s and there once again they meet, Daisy and Tua….. okay no, David and Aza. And I don’t know if it is odd or natural or just destiny that Aza’s feelings are reciprocated by David.
The establishment of a secondary character to glorify the main lead – Daisy the e-girl
Ah Daisy! my favourite character whom John Green decided to portray in a not-so-good light. I would not be surprised if her theme song was Daisy by Ashnikko. And for me, it felt like the book was more about Aza and Daisy than Daisy’s romance with Davis. Daisy is bold, eccentric, alternative, has dyed hair, is open about her sexuality, and doesn’t give a F about honesty and chastity. These characters exist for two reasons mainly in books and movies- first, to be a cool breeze and free spirited heroine who ultimately brings chaos in the hero’s life and gives him a life lesson, and secondly, to be a supportive best friend to a more simple, lighter and reserved heroine. And it’s the second case here. Daisy was a really catchy character until Green made her look like selfish, money hungry and immature. It is like her whole point of existence was to highlight Aza’s kindness, her struggle with anxiety and how she is misunderstood when she can’t pay attention to others due to her internal turmoil. It’s simply victimizing one character and villainizing the others. If I were Daisy I would’ve felt too that Aza’s been a shitty friend! I mean I know dude you have struggles but I don’t want a bestie who doesn’t appreciate me or listen to me or doesn’t try to know anything about me. On the other hand Daisy is shown to be pure dumb, relating everything to her poverty , her mood fluctuates all the time and she makes hasty decisions and gives shallow reasonings- overall, childish and shallow and vengeful. Meanwhile Aza is self loathing and we have to sympathize with her because she has OCD and anxiety. I do think that Daisy making Aza a negative character in her fanfic is somewhat cruel but wow, are we forgetting that Aza started reading the fanfic only after David points out that she’s IN THEM. I would’ve loved Daisy if she wasn’t sooooo immature and relating everything with her poverty and using her poverty as an excuse of spending money, and duh her bitchy attitude when she acts like she’s better and superior than everything. But I still like Daisy more than Aza I’M SORRY.
The doomed teen romance
It’s typical ,nothing special. David is a good writer I must admit. Their romance doesn’t have any special elements other than Aza freaking out everytime they kiss because she thinks not only exchanging saliva is gross but also it can go as far as being the cause of her c.diff infections.
Apart than that I’m happy that Aza moves on and David stays as a sweet memory. And god bless David, the boy stayed strong in tough times, the most normal and unproblematic character imo, but just a character for me; he lacked the charms of being a ‘hero’.
And I think the pond of turtles plays some kind of significance in their romance.
The side characters
Aza’s teacher mom who villainizes and misunderstands David just because he’s rich. She is a typical helicopter mom who lost her husband and wants to be a good [over-protective] mother to her teen daughter with mental health issues.
Noah, the kid who hopes his dad will return. Outside he’s cool but inside he’s breaking. He’s seen causing trouble that draws attention to him, it is also described that it’s result of him wanting attention and affection but lacking a good parent figure.
Mychal, the artsy kid who looks like a giant baby as described by Daisy, he’s not that interesting but atleast good at making out.
The therapist Dr. Singh who’s a therapist.
A billionaire tuatara.
The Good and the Bad aspects in brief-
The good aspects-
> Sweet teen romance
> Realistic portrayal of OCD and Anxiety
> The friendship between Aza and Daisy lasts lifetime surprisingly
> Lighthearted story, not too much intellectual work to be done.
The bad aspects-
> Characters are not well written
> Story lacks depth
> Not every interesting
> Extremely repetitive storyline
Worth reading?
Depends on you. But if Your favourite movie ranges between “The Fault In Our Stars” or “To All The Boys” then you will surely love it.
Rating–
I’ll give it 4/10
okay 5/10 cause I enjoyed reading Daizy and Aza’s fights and friendship goals.
Addie 