'TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN'........THE FAULT IN OUR GERMS......

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green (2017)     Been a while since we strayed out of our wheelhouse (and demographic)........so we thought it high time to take a brief plunge into the tortured, angst-filled universe of Young Adult literature.....

           This isn't hard for the BQ to accomplish, since all we have to do is pluck a random book from the voluminous stash belonging to Beloved Daughter, supreme reader and expert on all things YA.....

           We had to delve into this book, since it constitutes a major publishing event, the first novel in six years from author John Green, writer of the overwhelmingly beloved and celebrated "The Fault In Our Stars".

             Though hardly prolific, Green became the touchstone author for YA readers........and their long, long wait for his next book was due to his personal struggles with mental illness.

             He has transferred those struggles to his new primary character, Aza Holmes, a 16 year old girl beset with OCD, tormented by a torrent of random fears and thoughts that keep her at a distance from reality and her own sense of self.....

               Unlike the externally cancer-stricken teens of "The Fault In Our Stars", Aza's agonies chip away at her mind instead of her body......her recurring, gruesome phobias about stomach bacteria prove as debilitating to her as any cancer.   (We don't envy any screenwriter who tries to turn this into a workable script, given that 70% of the story exists in Aza's internal thoughts.....)

                Oh yes, there's quite an involved plot and other characters that orbit around Aza........centered around the search for a fugitive millionaire crook, whose flight from justice has left his two young sons heartbroken and orphaned.  (We won't go through the convoluted details of it, since however poignant and heartwrenching these subplots may be, the book belongs to Aza and her lifelong battle with her affliction.)

                We've no idea if this book will give teens the kind of huge, heaving, cathartic bouts of weeping they took from "The Fault In Our Stars".  We doubt it. Aza's (and by proxy, Green's) mental illness doesn't lend itself to monumental, star-crossed tragedy........it's more the stuff of everyday survival, a war won in small skirmishes rather than decisive victories.

               But maybe that will resonate even more with the book's readers, for all we know......coping with the toxic thoughts that invade your head uninvited may strike a deeper chord with the all the teens (and adults as well) who are probably devouring this story as we speak.....

              One aspect will delight them......John Green's mental woes haven't blunted his razor sharp wit or his skill at making his finely crafted prose go right to the heart of the matter.  He's still John Green and his readers will want to savor and copy down specific passages from almost every other page......

                Okay, back to the wheelhouse for the BQ, but regardless of who the marketing targets,  we heartily recommend this fast, entertaining and painfully thoughtful read to everybody, regardless of age......4 stars (****).