Genre: Fiction

Author: John Green                                   

Release Date: 10/10/17

Pages:286

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When Turtles All The Way Down first came out, I felt incredibly hesitant to read anything John Green. Him being so popular was a huge turn off for me. However, upon seeing the title I felt intrigued to see what the hype was all about. Never have I ever found an author who writes a protagonist I can relate to so accurately, while still having a good plot that keeps your attention. 

The general premise of this book centers on 16 yr. old Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Anxiety ridden Aza Holmes who, with the encouragement of her best friend Daisy, begins to investigate the disappearance of billionaire Russell Pickett. While they enter it with the intention of acquiring the $100,000 reward that comes with it, they are in for quite a surprise. After a canoe trip across the river leads Aza to speaking with the billionaire’s son, Davis, who she hasn’t spoken too since they went to camp together, she begins to question if the money is all she wants. It is a relatable, quirky fiction novel that deals with hard topics like mental illness and loss while still being humorous and captivating from beginning to end. 

 

I personally feel that John Green did very feel at writing his characters and really made them feel real throughout the story. For me, character development is a big factor I look for when I read books and I appreciated how the characters grew and changed in one way or another during the course of the book. As a person who suffers from mental illness, I really liked how he wrote it from a perspective that not everyone sees all the time. I also enjoyed the fact that he wrote it in a way that even people who don’t suffer from mental illness can understand Aza’s struggles. John Green also captures the struggle of loss, very well. He really accurately displays the struggle of Davis and his brother Noah, as orphans, trying to cope with the disappearance of their father.

I would recommend Turtles All The Way down to anyone who is interested in reading about topics that aren’t usually talked about or anyone who enjoys Fiction or Young Adult books. If you’re someone who dislikes fiction, or are sensitive to topics such as mental illness, I don’t think this would be the book for you. 

Overall, I went into this book expecting not to like it, but emerged from it wanting to make everyone aware of it. John Green, as a sufferer of OCD himself, does a wonderful job of writing a hard hitting novel that is easily relatable to everyone, whether they deal with these hard topics or not.

“The thing about a spiral is, if you follow it inward, it never actually ends. It just keeps tightening, infinitely.”

― John Green, Turtles All The Way Down

When I saw this book on the new books cart in my school library, I immediately grabbed it and checked it out. I had heard so many amazing words associated with this book. “Spectacular” and “Magical Realism” are just some of them. When I heard the synopsis of the story I was drawn to it, the romance mixed with the different generations of people had me understanding why it was such a popular read. 

Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie Mclemore is a multi-generation and magical realism novel centered around the Nomeolvides family. More specifically, Estrella and her four cousins: Azalea, Calla, Gloria, and Dalia. If you caught that most of their names are the same as flowers, you’d be right. The Nomeolvides women are given the ability to grow plants from their fingertips. There fingers have grown and flourished the ground of La Pradera, the meadow there family has lived in and can’t leave, for generations. As always, the price they pay for this gift is anyone they love woman or man disappears from La Pradera without a trace. One day, Estrella finds a boy in their garden, with no information except the three letters on his shirt: Fel. They take him in, not knowing he’d help them just as much as they’d help him. 

I strongly felt that this story for all its elements was very good. Anna-Marie McLemore’s writing was so captivating and kept me reading from the imagery it provoked. For me, I love a good story but, at the end of the day if I can’t imagine the story and get pulled into it then it’s just words on a page. Her writing had a way of taking my breath away, each chapter I read. She also did a great job with developing the motives and aspirations of each character. Even though Estrella and Fel were the main voices in the story, Anna-Marie McLemore made sure some of the other characters in the story had their own moments in the book also. 

Although I enjoyed most of the book there were some things I wasn’t too fond of. For starters, I didn’t like how the only cousin we really got to know and learn about was Estrella. We didn’t really get to know Azalea, Dalia, Calla, or Gloria’s point of view on most of the situations in the book. If we did it was through Estrella’s views of them. I also didn’t like how we didn’t have a setting throughout the book. We knew they were of spanish heritage, and that they lived in La Pradera and couldn’t leave, but that was it. We were never given a specific area were this was supposed to take place, or a time period for that matter. 

I would recommend this book to people who like magical realism, romance, or are just looking for a different but captivating read. If you aren’t a fan of romance or have a hard time reading books with multiple characters I wouldn’t recommend this as a good read for you. 

Overall, I would give this book a 4 star rating. I really enjoyed it, but I think if the cousins were more fleshed out and had more moments in the book I would have liked it better. I also would have understood it better if I had a general setting and time period to go off of. I felt that parts of the book were hard to understand not knowing the time and area everything was taking place in. 

"They loved who they loved. They broke how they broke. And the way it happened depended less on what was under their lovers’ clothes and more on what was wrapped inside their spirits”
                      ~Wild Beauty 

Emma is a different take on a romance novel, mixing 1800's humor with unusual characters too produce a complicated but enjoyable read. This book is set in the village of High bury, where our main character Emma Woodhouse lives with her eccentric father. Since the Woodhouse family is of a wealthier state than most, Emma doesn't have to marry, which prompts her to decide to become a match maker for everyone else. Her biggest match being her dear friend Harriet. Harriet is a girl with little wealth but a big personality. Harriet falls in love very easily and Emma has no problem aiming it towards characters in the book... let's just say it becomes quite a problem at Harriet's expense. With a cast of unconventional main characters such as:  Mr. Knightley, Emma's best friend from childhood, Jane Fairfax, the beautiful daughter of Colonel Campbell that Emma despises, Frank Churchill the son of Mr. Weston, etc. Emma gets herself into lots of trouble. Reading this book causes a plethora of emotions. During one scene Emma discusses how she doesn't want to marry which is very upsetting because as Emma is trying to make everyone else happy, she's leaving no time for herself.  "'I never have been in love; it is not my way, or my nature; and I do not think I ever shall"(chapter 10). Austen also uses humor to advance the reader's engagement to the story.