However, Green stresses that mental illness isn’t something one conquers and becomes free from.

They can still do things that everyone else does, like going to college and finding that dream career. They can still find friendship, love, and genuine happiness. It shows people that even though they may have a disorder, there is still hope for a joyful life. “Turtles All the Way Down” doesn’t just provide perspectives and metaphors to help readers better understand mental illness, though. And because Green suffers with anxiety and OCD himself, Aza and her experiences are authentic and extremely relatable. They can see how Aza is trapped in her head.They can feel how exhausting it is to be perpetually haunted by these obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. “Turtles All the Way Down” is told in first person from Aza’s perspective, so the reader can thoroughly understand what it’s like to have an anxiety disorder. She even fears that she is fictional because she has no control over the thoughts that come into her head. She changes a Band-Aid on a self-inflicted wound on her finger several times a day. For example, in the book, Aza constantly worries that her body is contaminated with Clostridium difficile, a bacteria that can be fatal. OCD is an anxiety disorder characterized by persistent, unwanted thoughts that may cause someone to engage in particular actions and behaviors. The main character, Aza, suffers from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. “Turtles All the Way Down” is about mental illness. As I started reading the book, I quickly found that “Turtles All the Way Down” is not about two teenagers trying to catch a runaway billionaire. However, I didn’t let my preconceptions influence my opinion of the book, especially because I was familiar with Green’s talent. I mean, teenage detectives investigating a criminal billionaire? The plot seemed like it would be original enough, yet almost too original to the point of eccentricity.

I, personally, was unsure of what to expect after reading the synopsis of “Turtles All the Way Down”. For one, they both have suffered the loss of a parent. Though a large wealth gap divides them, Aza and Davis have several things in common. Their search for Pickett leads Aza to reconnect with a childhood friend, Davis, who is Pickett’s son. In “Turtles All the Way Down”, 16-year-old Aza and her friend Daisy become interested in a hundred thousand dollar reward for the fugitive billionaire, Russell Pickett. After the smashing success of “The Fault in Our Stars”, many fans of “YA King” John Green waited anxiously for the arrival of his next book: “Turtles All the Way Down”.

Turtles all the way down