Turtles All the Way Down

Article written by Joshua Ehiosun

C2 certified writer.

‘Turtles All the Way Down’ is a young adult novel by American author John Green. It follows the life of a teenage girl, Aza Holmes, as she navigates life with a debilitating mental illness. With each passing event, Aza fights her existence as she toils to win against obsessive-compulsive disorder. While struggling, she meets her long-time friend, Davis Pickett, the son of local billionaire Russell Pickett, and her life seems to improve. However, a harrowing accident sends Aza into an OCD spiral that tests her relationships.

When Aza learns of the disappearance of local billionaire Russell Pickett, she and Daisy look for clues as to what happened, as there is a hundred-thousand-dollar reward for any information on the billionaire’s whereabouts. Aza and her friend’s investigation eventually leads her to meet Russell’s son, her childhood friend, Davis.

Key Facts About Turtles All The Way Down

• Title: ‘Turtles All the Way Down.’
• Author: John Green.
• Language: English.
• Inspiration: ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ is John Green’s first novel after his social media hiatus. The author stated that the inspiration for the novel’s main character came from his life, as he had always struggled with OCD. He also explained that the setting and other characters were inspired by his initial desire to write a story about detectives whose obsessiveness made them incredible at their job, as his obsessiveness has the opposite effect.
• Publication Date: October 10, 2017.
• Literary Period: Contemporary.
• Point of View: First-Person Perspective.
• Setting: Indianapolis.
• Number of Chapters: 24.
• Number of Pages: 286.
• Publisher: Dutton Books.
• Genre: Young Adult.
• Climax: ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ climaxes when Aza and Daisy argue in Harold. Shaken by Daisy’s character, Ayala, Aza tells her best friend she knows she has not been the best. As she tries apologizing further, Daisy screams, and Aza slams the brakes as fast as she can but fails to stop a collision with an SUV.
• Protagonists: Aza, Daisy, Davis.

John Green and Turtles All the Way Down

The story of ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ is a novel that took author John Green six years to make. After the overwhelming success of ‘The Fault in Our Stars,’ John stated he set out to write a new story. To break out of the sad teen stereotype his first book took on, he said he wanted to write about something else, something that related to his own life.

At first, John thought of a detective plot where the main character’s brain disorder helped them solve mysteries. As he suffered from OCD that affected his life negatively, he wanted to make the main character unable to function in the real world because of their illness.

While speaking to TIME, John said he made Aza’s disorder different from his as he wanted to feel safe writing about her character without showing the effects OCD has on his daily functioning.

Books Related to Turtles All the Way Down

• ‘After‘ by Anna Todd is a young adult romance novel that follows the life of Tessa Young, a college freshman, who meets Hardin, a troubled young man. Though she has her entire life figured out, Tessa falls for the one person she never thought it was possible to have feelings for, Hardin. As Tessa falls for the mysteriously tattooed Hardin, she begins dropping some parts of her old life, including breaking up with her boyfriend, Noah. She eventually confesses her love to Hardin but is confronted by her mother, who gives her the option of returning to her former boyfriend or being cut off. Tessa chooses the latter, and her relationship with her newfound love blossoms. However, she learns from one of her group’s friends, Zed, that they made a bet on who takes her virginity first. Heartbroken, Tessa leaves Hardin.
• ‘If I Stay‘ by Gayle Forman is a young adult fiction story that follows the life of seventeen-year-old Mia, whose life is shattered after her family goes on a trip and has an accident. Her parents die instantly, but she wakes up and heads to the accident scene. Mia is dumbfounded when she realizes she is not unscathed from the accident as she sees the paramedics taking her unconscious body into an ambulance. She follows them to the hospital, and a struggle ensues. Mia realizes that her parents’ deaths have completely altered her life, and returning to her body will lead to a life of pain. She then thinks of her baby brother, boyfriend, and grandparents, who will still be there for her. Mia continues contemplating between staying or leaving, but she eventually decides.
• ‘To All the Boys I’ve Ever Loved Before’ by Jenny Han is a young adult romance novel following the life of Lara Jean Song Covey, a sixteen-year-old half-Korean American girl living in Virginia. Though Lara never admitted her love to the various boys she had a crush on, she wrote a letter for each of them and hid it in a box under her bed. Lara later learns all the letters in her secret box were mailed to her crushes. She then has to deal with her past lovers face-to-face as they each return to meet her.

Lasting Impact of Turtles All the Way Down