Review: Turtles All The Way Down by Razvan Anton

With six years having passed since The Fault in Our Stars, John Green had to come up with something extraordinary to meet his fans’ expectations. Turtles All the Way Down might just do the trick At first glance, it seems to be a combination between ‘Paper Towns’, where teenagers set off to solve mysteries and ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ where the same age group is made special when confronted with a horrible disease.  As a reader, I feel that ‘Turtles all the Way Down’ is more about the characters than about the action, consequently, I am going to try to tell you a few things about the characters and why they actually become the reasons why you should read John Green’s latest novel. Aza Holmes (a.k.a. Holmesy a.k.a. Ayala)- Main character of the novel. Tormented by fears and anxiety, hypochondriac to say the least, Aza is also the philosopher type, and that’s what makes her adorable. She questions the meaning of life, is convinced that exterior factors influence fate, that ‘you think you’re the painter, but you’re actually the canvas’. Obsessed with not getting C. diff, missing her long-gone father and in love with Davis Pickett, but hating herself. Even if you consider her exclusively, she’s still a good enough reason to dive into Turtles All the Way Down enthusiastically. Daisy- What would a main character be without her best friend? Like a hero without a sidekick. That’s just dull. Daisy writes Star-Wars fan-fiction. This doesn’t mean that if you’re not into the Star-Wars saga you will dislike her. Because she most influences the novel for being Aza’s safety net. She supports her through her panic attacks, tries to understand her thought spirals, she is in many ways, Aza’s call to reality. Oh yes, and she doesn’t have a laptop, Or a car. She eventually gets both. Davis Pickett- Faced with the sudden disappearance of his multi-billionaire father, Davis is pretty much the adolescent who is forced to grow-up. He has to take care of his little brother, manage his own emotions and understand what falling in love means. Especially what falling in love with Aza means. He’s passionate about astrology. Maybe that’s why the most beautiful scenes involving him and Aza also involve the sky and the stars. Noah Pickett- The little brother. Visibly affected by his father gone missing throughout the whole novel. Mostly monosyllabic and playing video games a lot, to make the pain go away. His behaviour helps Davis mature Tua- The Tuatara (kind of like a lizard, but not a lizard)-does what a lizard would do. Mostly sit around. So, what makes Tua be a character? You’ll have to find that out for yourselves! Turtles all the Way Down has mystery in it, as there is a multi-billionaire missing. It has disease in it, and a lot of it. And it has all of these characters framing a story which might well exceed your expectations. So, read your…turtles….all the way down!