In October, Turtles All The Way Down was finally released. Nearly six years had passed since John Green released The Fault In Our Stars, and fans like me were itching to pick up his new release. I had no idea what to expect from this story – as I didn’t allow myself to read the synopsis. Was it going to be another torn-apart love story like Looking For Alaska, or an adventurous one in the likes of Paper Towns? There were aspects of all his stories that I was fond of – but shamefully none of them hit “close to home” enough for me to call it my favorite.

Turtles focuses on 16-year old Aza Holmes, who suffers from O.C.D., crippling anxiety and intrusive thoughts. On her side is Daisy Ramirez, her best-friend for life who often involves herself in short-term high school romances and pulls hilarious one-liners. This alone gave me the impression that this would be the typical teen comedy – but John Green gave it a spin I never saw coming. A billionaire by the name of Russell Pickett had gone missing following accusations of fraud and embezzlement, and Aza and Daisy decide to pursue the case in order to receive the cash reward for tips on his whereabouts. The bigger twist, however, was that this man was the father of Aza’s childhood friend Davis Pickett, and my mind exploded. The two girls eventually reunite with Davis, and throughout the book, Aza finds herself falling in love with him and vice versa, in typical John Green style. But, her struggle with OCD and his battle to accept his father’s possible death keep them from truly involving themselves with each other. This book kept me turning pages for hours trying to find out all the secrets of the Davis disappearance, all the way until the very end!

As I stepped into Aza’s mind, I saw pieces of myself in her that I didn’t know I had. Aza overthinks nearly everything she does, and also suffers from intrusive thoughts and anxiety attacks, where her thoughts consume and tighten around her as if she were in the middle of a never-ending thought “spiral.” Although every anxiety attack is different, I felt significantly relieved that John Green had found the perfect way to describe mine. From the moment she described how her thoughts intrude on her ability to function, I felt a connection to Aza in her mannerisms and humor as well.

Although I keep pieces of his other works close to my heart, Turtles All The Way Down is now my definite favorite John Green novel! If you’re curious to see all the twists Green has to offer, pick it up on your next trip to Spellbinder Books. I promise you won’t regret it.