Turtles All the Way Down

Good book

***Reviewed by my son***Turtles All the Way DownI read this in two days. This will be a long post since I have a very personal connection with this book. Reader discretion is advised: this will touch on mature topics and include profanity.This story primarily touches on mental illness--specifically, anxiety and OCD. I struggled intensely with anxiety and OCD for 6+ years of my life (still do, but not nearly as bad as it used to be). For years, I was thinking about suicide every day for a significant part of each day. I had plans. I wanted the anxiety to end, and I knew of no way but sleeping--and death was permanent sleep, so I gravitated toward it. I remember being trapped in thought spirals for extended periods of time and being tormented day after day by my illness. I would go through my rituals over and over, blanketed in shame and fear and worry. Nothing was enough. I would always think of another way to worry, another way that I didn't /do it right/. Sometimes, I would engage in self-harm by hitting myself with blunt objects. The spirals would go down and down, on and on, tightening and tightening with no end. They started small, like a dam with a leak, and then broke out and swept me away in the current as I drowned.I remember having such deeply introspective and strange thoughts about my identity and my mind that I thought no-one else in the world would ever think. They were paradoxical, and there was no way to find the answer. I was crazy. I knew I was crazy. I was also alone. I knew of no-one else who could empathize with me. No-one else knew what it was like. I only wanted it to stop, and I couldn't stop it.Like I said earlier, I am doing much better now than I used to. Still, these illnesses are present with me. Then, along comes this random book called "Turtles All the Way Down" that my mom got me. I read it. I was dumbfounded. Someone else understood. I thought I was all alone, and now, here I was, reading this book. And I knew: "This guys gets it." I finally found someone who can empathize. I'm not alone.I was really mind-blown in the later chapters where the main character asks deep questions about their identity, the answers to which are beyond the reach of Man. He wrote down the EXACT SAME WEIRD THOUGHTS I HAD almost WORD FOR WORD. It was eerie, how it felt like this guy had the password to my subconscious and had seen into my brain. But that's not the case; the fact is that I'm not alone in all this. And it'a a relief.I have a love-hate relationship with this book. I love it because it accurately reflects how it feels to be in a thought spiral, caught in OCD and anxiety, and I can relate to it very well. I hate it because it accurately reflects how it feels to be in a thought spiral, caught in OCD and anxiety, and I can relate to it very well. Much of me is happy that I'm not alone. But another part of me reads this book and thinks, "Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. That's exactly how it feels. I had blacked out those 6+ years and only remembered fragments, but now you brought it all back. Thanks." But really, that's a small part of me. I am grateful.If you've ever wondered what it's like struggling with anxiety--specifically OCD--, then read this book. It's not perfect, but it's close. Specifically, there are two ways the book falls short: 1) it's a zillion times more intense when you're experiencing it than when you're reading a book on it, and 2) the book, by its very nature of being a book, cannot portray how blisteringly FAST thought spirals move and constrict. Otherwise, it's great. Highly recommended.Book: Turtles All the Way Down by John Green(I am getting professional help. I have a psychiatrist and a counselor. I have a support network. I am not asking for pity parties or for attention. I am only bringing attention to this book. Mental illness is hard to understand for those who don't have it, and that cannot be held against them. But they should try to understand. This book might be a good first step.)- S.H.

El libro llego en buenas condiciones, y en el tiempo estimado, ya que lo habiamos comprado en pre-venta.Lo escogio mi hija, por que lo queria leer en inglés, y escogio este por que havia leido otro libro, en castellano, de este autor.

Ce livre est plus que ce que j'espérais, il est absolument génial et je prends un vrai plaisir à le lire, j'aime les œuvres de John Green depuis un bon moment et ce livre me donne simplement envie de faire la collection.

This book floored me. I received it in a book exchange and HAD to get my own copy. The discussions surrounding mental health, adolescence, and everything in between that this book discusses are SO important. Would highly recommend.

Have OCD and never felt so seen! The author absolutely nails what it is like inside my head.