Turtles All The Way Down: Exploring The Cost Of Intricacy

John Green's novel 'Turtles All the Way Down' is a young adult drama novel that follows 16-year-old Aza Holmes, a high school student with OCD and anxiety. Aza never intended to pursue the disappearance of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there's a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake, and her best friend Daisy is eager to investigate. Aza is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and a good detective, all while living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

The novel was published in 2017 and was Green's fifth solo novel and seventh overall. It debuted at number 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list in the category of Young Adult Hardcover Books and remained on the list for 62 weeks.

The novel was adapted into a film, directed by Hannah Marks, and released in 2024.

The story's protagonist, Aza Holmes, is a 16-year-old high school student with OCD and anxiety

Aza Holmes is the 16-year-old protagonist of John Green's novel, 'Turtles All the Way Down'. She is a high school student living in Indianapolis who struggles with OCD, which often manifests as a fear of the human microbiome. Constantly worried about infection, particularly by C. diff, she repeatedly opens a never-fully-healed callus on her finger in an effort to drain out what she believes are pathogens.

Aza is described as trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, and a good student, all while navigating an endless barrage of invasive, obsessive thoughts that she cannot control. She is also grieving the loss of her father.

Throughout the book, Aza is accompanied by two close friends: Mychal Turner, an aspiring artist, and her best friend Daisy Ramirez, who writes Star Wars fan fiction. Daisy takes Aza on a search for a fugitive billionaire—who happens to be a neighbour's father—tempted by the reward of $100,000 for information leading to his arrest. Aza and Daisy canoe down the White River and sneak onto the billionaire's property, where they are caught by a security guard who brings them to meet the billionaire's son, Davis Pickett.

Aza and Davis begin dating, but Aza comes to believe that she cannot overcome her anxiety, preventing her from ever having a normal relationship with Davis. She finds numerous blog posts written by him about his feelings on both his father's disappearance and their relationship. Aza's anxiety leads to a deterioration in her friendship with Daisy, culminating in a heated argument while Aza is driving on the highway, resulting in a car accident. Aza spends eight days in the hospital, during which she has another panic attack and is caught drinking hand sanitizer by her mother.

Aza eventually recovers and rekindles her friendship with Daisy. She also begins to improve her abilities to manage her compulsions by focusing on routine, practicing exposure and response prevention, and taking new prescriptions.

At the end of the novel, Aza reflects on the open possibilities of her future.

Aza and her best friend, Daisy, search for a fugitive billionaire, Aza's neighbour

Aza Holmes is a 16-year-old high school student living in Indianapolis who struggles with OCD, which often manifests as a fear of the human microbiome. Constantly worried about infection, particularly by C. diff, she repeatedly opens a never-fully-healed callus on her finger in an effort to drain out what she believes are pathogens. Throughout the book, Aza is accompanied by two close friends: Mychal Turner, an aspiring artist, and her best friend Daisy Ramirez, who writes Star Wars fan fiction.

One day at school, Daisy discovers that Russell Pickett, a billionaire construction magnate and the father of one of Aza's old friends, Davis Pickett, has gone missing in the wake of corporate crime investigations. Russell's wife had died years prior, so Russell's disappearance leaves Davis and his younger brother Noah with no formal guardian. Tempted by the reward of $100,000 for information leading to Pickett's arrest, Daisy takes Aza on a search for the missing billionaire. After canoeing down the White River and sneaking onto the Pickett property, they copy a picture of Pickett that was taken shortly after the night he disappeared from Davis's night-vision camera, and are caught by a security guard who brings them to meet Davis.

To persuade the two girls to stop pursuing the elder Pickett, Davis gives Aza $100,000 taken from his father's various stashes around the guest house, which she splits with Daisy. After the meeting, Davis and Aza begin dating and, at the same time, Daisy becomes romantically involved with Mychal. As time passes, Aza comes to believe that she cannot overcome her anxiety, preventing her from ever having a normal relationship with Davis. She finds numerous blog posts written by him about his feelings on both his father's disappearance and his relationship with her.

Aza reads Daisy's fan fiction for the first time and discovers that Daisy has been using it as a vent for her frustrations with Aza. She continues to spiral into a panic attack which results in her drinking hand sanitizer and passing out. Their friendship deteriorates, culminating in a heated argument while Aza is driving on the highway that results in a car accident. Aza spends eight days in the hospital, during which she again has a panic attack, due to her fears of C. diff, and drinks sanitizer again, this time being caught by her mother. She recovers and goes on to rekindle her friendship with Daisy. Aza also begins to improve her abilities to manage her compulsions by focusing on routine (include fulfilling her promise to Noah of help finding his father), practicing exposure and response prevention (ERP), and taking new prescriptions.

Later, at an underground art exhibition inside an unfinished drainage tunnel system off of Pogue's Run that Russell Pickett's company was responsible for, Aza and Daisy go exploring on their own. After noticing the stench of putrefaction emanating from the area they realize that this was where Russell Pickett had run off to, and they suspect that the billionaire has already died. Aza tells Davis of their discovery, and he makes an anonymous tip to the police. The authorities locate the body, which is later reported to be that of Russell Pickett.

Given the loss of their parents and home, added to the fact that their father had left his entire fortune to his pet tuatara, Davis and Noah decide to relocate to Colorado, where they have rented a house and will be attending school. As Davis and Aza say their goodbyes, Aza reflects on the open possibilities of her future.

Aza is grieving the loss of her father

Aza Holmes is grieving the loss of her father while also dealing with her OCD and anxiety. She is trying to be a good daughter, friend, student, and detective, all while navigating the ever-tightening spiral of her thoughts.

Aza's father's death has left her with a lot of emotions to process, and she is struggling to cope with her mental health issues. She finds herself caught in a thought spiral, constantly worried about infection and convinced that she has contracted a parasitic infection. She often feels her stomach grumbling loudly and wonders if she has contracted a fatal bacterial infection. Aza tries to control her breathing and follows Dr. Karen Singh's advice to breathe in a way that would make a candle flicker but not go out. However, her thoughts keep coming, unbidden and unwanted.

Aza's OCD manifests as a fear of the human microbiome, and she is particularly worried about infection by C. diff. She repeatedly opens a never-fully-healed callus on her finger, believing that she needs to drain out the pathogens. This compulsion to split her skin open and drain out the blood is something she literally cannot stop herself from doing. Aza knows that resistance is futile, and giving in to these compulsions gives her a temporary sense of relief.

Aza's father's death and her subsequent grief have left her feeling alone and like she has no one to turn to. She feels that she is living inside her own head, and her thoughts are consuming her. She is aware that her mental health issues are affecting her relationships and pushing people away, but she can't seem to stop the spiral of negative thoughts. Aza is trying her best to navigate her grief and mental illness, but it is a constant struggle, and she often feels overwhelmed.

Aza and Daisy's friendship deteriorates, but they eventually reconcile

Aza Holmes and Daisy Ramirez's friendship is tested in the novel *Turtles All the Way Down*. The two friends have a falling out after Aza reads Daisy's Star Wars fanfiction, in which Daisy alludes to Aza as her "greatest burden". This discovery hurts Aza, and the two friends engage in a heated argument while Aza is driving, which ultimately leads to a car accident.

Aza and Daisy's friendship deteriorates further when Aza reads Daisy's fanfiction for the first time and discovers that Daisy has been using it as a way to vent her frustrations about Aza. This triggers a panic attack in Aza, causing her to drink hand sanitizer and pass out. Their friendship reaches its lowest point, and the two are no longer on speaking terms.

However, after the car accident, Aza and Daisy are able to reconcile and forgive each other for their harsh words. While Aza is recovering in the hospital, Daisy visits her and expresses her love and devotion, telling Aza, ""I love you. I want to be buried next to you."

Daisy is also there for Aza when she suffers her first heartbreak, bringing her out of the shadows of her thoughts and assuring her that she will have a full and incredible love story one day. Daisy's unwavering support and understanding help to repair their friendship, and the two are able to move forward together.

Aza and Davis, the billionaire's son, begin dating

Aza and Davis begin dating after Davis gives Aza $100,000, which she splits with Daisy. However, Aza soon comes to believe that she cannot overcome her anxiety, preventing her from ever having a normal relationship with Davis. She reads blog posts written by Davis about his feelings on both his father's disappearance and his relationship with her. She also reads Daisy's fan fiction for the first time and discovers that Daisy has been using it as a vent for her frustrations with Aza.

Aza's anxiety continues to spiral out of control, and she has a panic attack that results in her drinking hand sanitizer and passing out. She spends eight days in the hospital, and her friendship with Daisy deteriorates. Aza and Davis eventually break up, and Davis and his brother decide to relocate to Colorado. As Davis and Aza say their goodbyes, Aza reflects on the open possibilities of her future.

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