Turtles All the Way Down by John Green and Everybody Hurts by Joanna Nadin and Anthony McGowan
Books of the Week: 10 December 2017
A two-for-one offer this week!
These would make great companion reads. Both are love stories featuring characters from different sides of the tracks. Aza, from Turtles All the Way Down, is from an ordinary family. Her father died when she was young but she and her mum are close. Davis, whose father is missing and who Aza and her friend Daisy try to help, inhabits a vast mansion complete with security guards. Sophia, in Everybody Hurts is from a privileged background and attends school in a wealthy part of Leeds, whereas Matt doesn’t own any clothes with designer labels, has a postman father and is slightly embarrassed by the thought of bringing anyone around to his house. Sophia has been diagnosed with a brain tumour and faces the possibility of it being untreatable and Aza has crippling OCD. Both couples relationships affect not only themselves but the family and friends who surround them.
Turtles probably has less immediate appeal than John Green’s most popular book, The Fault in our Stars, and it doesn’t tug on the heart strings in such an obvious way. The portrayal of Aza’s mental state is particularly affecting and the characters have the usual smart philosophical conversations that you find in his other books. If, on the other hand, you like romance to be a bit grittier and more identifiable you might prefer Sophia and Matt’s romance which is set in Leeds. Although the level of swearing and sexual references make this more suitable for those of sixteen and older, it still has a tender heart and is wise in its depiction of friendships, particularly Matt’s relationship with the edgy and bullying Jango who has been a friend since childhood.
If you are interested in love stories written by two authors you could also try these:
