Turtles All the Way Down is John Green’s newest young adult novel. Unlike his other novels, John Green incorporates a sense of mystery into Turtles All the Way Down. Exactly like his other novels, John Green writes a cliché love story, fabricating an unrealistic standard for teenage love.  

In the past, John Green has received backlash for “romanticizing” cancer through his book The Fault in Our Stars. In his new book, he writes the main character, Aza, with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and anxiety. Since Green himself shares both of these disorders with Aza, he writes in a realistic way that is neither harmful nor ignorant, but instead helpful and insightful. Green, in an interview with Time Magazine, says, “One of the main things I wanted to do in the book was to get at how isolating it can be to live with mental illness and also how difficult it can be for the people who are around you because you’re so isolated.” It is important for people with mental illnesses to feel like they fit in somewhere. For a teenager growing up, indulging in a book with a character with similar problems can be comforting.  

However, Green does what he does best by tainting a beautiful coming of age story with love. Modern day teenagers have many expectations placed upon them that they feel like they’re drowning. Adding love to the long list of ever-growing teen responsibility is unrealistic, especially if the love they are trying to obtain is something fictional.  

Overall, this book isn’t ideal for a harsh critic or realist, but for the hopeless romantic is a sweet, well-rounded love story. Even the critic could appreciate the mystery and occasional nerdy outbreak of Star Wars references.  

3/5 stars