Dear John Green,
Hi I am Iris and I am 15 years old. For my English class I’ve read
your book ‘Turtles all the way down’’. I want to share my
thoughts of the book with you, what I liked and what I would do
different when I would have to write it.
I shall just start with the part of the story I loved the most. That is
the perspective from which the book is written. The book is told
from the I-person perspective and that is the 16 year old main
character Aza. Whilst reading the book, you are so much into
Aza’s mind that you can imagine what it looks like to live with a
disorder as described in the story. I think that feeling is so good
because of your experiences with the disorder you had yourself.
As the reader you get deeper and deeper into the thoughts of Aza
and you get more and more involved with the coercive thoughts
of her. I found that as a reader sometimes a bit tiring but now I
understand how intense it is for someone who really has that
disorder and has to live with that every time.
As a result, many people who have experiences with a mental
illness are likely to recognize themselves. But the readers who
know nothing about mental illness, learn about it and can
empathize with it. I think the story is quite intense but to make it
lighter you added some humour in it which I liked. Sometimes I
was a little bit overwhelmd but you still made me laugh with the
humour in the story. I found it a bit long-winded now and then
because the story sometimes went on for too long about Aza’s
mental illness. But I think that, because of the combination of
searching for Davis’s father and other things that are running at
the same time, it is balanced again and I find the story still
fascinating. So I found the themes about the view of the world,
being yourself and friendship very good but sometimes a bit long
winded and intense.
Also the main character is from about my age, so I have a bit of
the same life but it is of course different because she also has a
mental illness. I found it pretty hard to read that Aza is so insecure
and unhappy because she struggles with herself and fears so
much that her body is attacked and invaded by bacteria. But
luckily Aza her best friend Daisy is there for her and helps Aza
with everything and gives her a lot of support. I also liked that the
time in which the book is written, is in the present, in which I live
Hi I am Iris and I am 15 years old. For my English class I’ve read
your book ‘Turtles all the way down’’. I want to share my
thoughts of the book with you, what I liked and what I would do
different when I would have to write it.
I shall just start with the part of the story I loved the most. That is
the perspective from which the book is written. The book is told
from the I-person perspective and that is the 16 year old main
character Aza. Whilst reading the book, you are so much into
Aza’s mind that you can imagine what it looks like to live with a
disorder as described in the story. I think that feeling is so good
because of your experiences with the disorder you had yourself.
As the reader you get deeper and deeper into the thoughts of Aza
and you get more and more involved with the coercive thoughts
of her. I found that as a reader sometimes a bit tiring but now I
understand how intense it is for someone who really has that
disorder and has to live with that every time.
As a result, many people who have experiences with a mental
illness are likely to recognize themselves. But the readers who
know nothing about mental illness, learn about it and can
empathize with it. I think the story is quite intense but to make it
lighter you added some humour in it which I liked. Sometimes I
was a little bit overwhelmd but you still made me laugh with the
humour in the story. I found it a bit long-winded now and then
because the story sometimes went on for too long about Aza’s
mental illness. But I think that, because of the combination of
searching for Davis’s father and other things that are running at
the same time, it is balanced again and I find the story still
fascinating. So I found the themes about the view of the world,
being yourself and friendship very good but sometimes a bit long
winded and intense.
Also the main character is from about my age, so I have a bit of
the same life but it is of course different because she also has a
mental illness. I found it pretty hard to read that Aza is so insecure
and unhappy because she struggles with herself and fears so
much that her body is attacked and invaded by bacteria. But
luckily Aza her best friend Daisy is there for her and helps Aza
with everything and gives her a lot of support. I also liked that the
time in which the book is written, is in the present, in which I live
