Turtles All the Way Down, Week 2

Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. 

Did you enjoy reading the first section? Do you like the characters so far? 

Right from the very beginning, we can see that Aza has some really destructive thought patterns. It was really hard to read her thought spirals, but they seemed incredibly realistic. It was so easy to see how the thoughts piled on top of each other until she was unable to see any reason. She definitely is a different type of OCD character than any I have seen before, and that was an intentional choice by John Green. Check out this article to see why John Green thought it was so important to show OCD in a different light than it is often portrayed. 

I was really nervous when Daisy wanted to use Aza's prior relationship to Davis as an "in" for the reward money. Davis is a really fragile character, so I really hope that Aza doesn't hurt him. So many people seem to use him for his money, and I really hope that Aza doesn't turn out to be one of those people. It seems that she really likes him. She searches his blog and continues to think about him. I hope she will change her mind about trying to get the reward money. 

Had you ever heard of a tuatara before? I had not. They seem like a really crazy animal! Check out the video below to see what tuataras look like in real life! It is absolutely wild to me that Pickett is planning on leaving his entire estate to the care and study of the tuatara. I can't imagine how that would make Davis feel. 

Were you surprised how much information Daisy and Aza were able to get about the Pickett case. I couldn't believe when Daisy emailed that journalist and asked for the police report. She definitely scammed him. It's crazy how easy it is to trick people into doing things they wouldn't normally do when you're just interacting online. 

It was really hard to read about Aza's doctor's appointments. I just wanted her to open up more and have more trust in the doctor. Even after the doctor helped Aza reason about not having C. diff, Aza was able to think that she knew more than the doctor did. It was hard reading about how obsessive and all-encompassing her thoughts were. What did you think about Aza's reasoning for not taking her meds? Do you think the medicine would be able to help her if she was able to take it? 

This section ends on kind of a bleak tone. Aza believes that she will not be able to overcome her thoughts. Do you think she will be able to get better? What do you think is going to happen between her and Davis in the next section? Do you really think she will be able to help him find his dad? 

Thanks for following along this week! I hope to hear from you in the comments, and I hope you'll read the next 8 chapters for next week!