Turtles All the Way Down

Being a fan of the author and his brother, and their prolific YouTube output (SciShow, Crash Course, Vlogbrothers, 100 Days, etc, etc), and also being aware of John's mental health issues that he is quite open about, I was interested in reading this novel given that it's semi-autobiographical.

It's YA fiction and unlikely to be something I'd read if I wasn't already motivated to do so, but having done so I don't regret it. It's more interesting as an insight into mental health issues than as a standalone story, though it's not a bad example of its genre. It made me laugh in a number of places, and made me feel for certain characters in others.

I suspect that the performance of the person reading this book had an influence on the impression, but it felt like the book gripped my feelings a bit too tight and kept them that way the whole time (my attempt at translating "smeldzīga grāmata"). I think a good book should be a bit more varied, a bit light somewhere to give a contrast to a sad part, but it felt similarly sad-hopeful-sad all the way through.

I was less impressed with what I perceived to be the central theme of this book than I was with the one of [b:The Fault in Our Stars|11870085|The Fault in Our Stars|John Green|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1360206420s/11870085.jpg|16827462]. I'm guessing that for the younger audience this book is actually meant for, the question of self is impressive enough.