John Green Brings a Sense of Reality to Fictional Novels

The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns, and Turtles All the Way Down are among my favorite books, all written by John Green. My first introduction to John Green was through my history class while watching his crash course videos. The way he would explain things was so compelling and intriguing. Later, after doing some research I read these three books and was amazed, each written with a truly different kind of love story that immediately drew me in. (Beware this post does contain a few spoilers*)

'Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.'

'The town was paper, but the memories were not.'

These stories do not include the typical rushed in and cheesy romance tales you see in young adult novels. These novels are by John Green and include a very smart dialogue. There were times where I would have to read the lines over to fully process what some of the metaphors and symbolism meant. In The Fault in Our Stars I truly felt that the point was to emphasize how love can be infinite despite huge obstacles like cancer. Hazel and Augustus gradually let themselves fall in love because they understood what the other was going through and did not see each other differently. I could relate to this because I hate having to tell new friends about myself out of fear of being seen differently. A lot of John Green's characters go through something really hard and finally find themselves at peace.

Turtles All the Way Down is another great book that I read by John Green. The story is about Aza, her best friend Daisy, and Davis. They try to uncover the mystery behind Russell Pickett, a fugitive billionaire who happens to be Davis's dad. This was the first book I read that seemed to truly portray anxiety accurately. While trying to solve the mystery, Aza balances trying to be a good daughter and friend while dealing with severe anxiety and OCD. Her anxiety is so bad that, as she has her first kiss, all she can think about is all of the germs being exchanged and how she could die. There are very odd moments that trigger these thoughts and devour her to the point where she is hospitalized. Not only does she deal with these demons but it's only after that she realizes how damaging it is for her mother to see her go through this and not completely understand it. Her mother throughout the book tries really hard to understand and cares so much for Aza. It is a heartbreaking reality that so many people deal with depression and anxiety and feel like they cannot turn to anyone.

Paper Towns has both everything to do with romance and nothing as well. Quentin finds himself in love with Margo and later goes on a quest to find her but actually builds strong friendships and improves himself on the way. It all truly begins when Margo goes to Q's window to seek help in her mission. Margo has been cheated on by her now ex-boyfriend and wants to prank him and the other people who Margo felt wronged her. Q plays things safe and would never dream of doing anything daring but things get shaken up with Margo. After their night of pranks and them truly connecting, Margo disappears while leaving clues behind. After a while, Q begins to uncover them and enlists his friends' help. They end up on a hilarious adventure doing things they normally would not, like going to parties, standing up for themselves, and becoming who they were meant to be. They finally go on a road trip to a place where they believe Margo is, only to be out of luck. Q does see Margo; however, she does not want to return. Q is disappointed but then finally understands that the journey was not for nothing as he and his friends experienced so many new things. Though these stories do not seemingly have happy endings, they are real.