6 Biggest Book Changes Turtles All The Way Down Makes To John Green's Book

Spoilers are ahead for Turtles All the Way Down.

Discussions of the main character's experiences with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and intrusive thoughts. Unrelated, discussion of a character's apparent death by suicide.

Summary The movie and book take different approaches to Aza's OCD symptoms and management.

Mychal's role in the movie adaptation of Turtles All the Way Down is smaller, with Daisy's character taking center stage.

The movie shifts focus to Aza and Davis' past and shared grief.

Based on the bestselling young adult (YA) novel of the same name, Max's Turtles All the Way Down makes some significant changes to John Green's book. The film still centers on Aza Holmes (Isabela Merced), a teenager who is navigating the difficult symptoms of her obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Green, who has mentioned his own experiences with OCD, is careful to note that the anxiety disorder can manifest in many different ways. Aza's experience isn't a monolith; generally, her obsessions and compulsions manifest as a fear of the human microbiome as well as unseen, life-threatening germs.

Aza's anxious thought spirals compel her to safeguard her health even if no threat is present.

As a result, Aza ruminates a lot on things like C. diff. Often, her anxious thought spirals compel her to safeguard her health even if no threat is present. As she acknowledges, it isn't rational — it's anxiety in overdrive. Turtles All the Way Down's cast of characters also includes Daisy Ramirez (Cree Cicchino), Aza's best friend and a prolific Star Wars fanfiction writer, and Davis Pickett (Felix Mallard), an estranged childhood crush Aza met as a kid in a grief camp after the loss of her father. When Davis' billionaire father, Russell, disappears, Daisy convinces Aza to use her connections so that they can claim a $100,000 reward.

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6 Aza's Finger Callus Serves A Slightly Different Purpose

The Movie Uses The Injury To Explore Another Symptom Of Aza's OCD

Image via Max

In Turtles All the Way Down's opening scene, Aza explains her anxiety around the human microbome to her therapist, Dr. Kira Singh (Poorna Jagannathan). For Aza, it isn't just the fear of unseen infection that's troubling, but the very notion that individuals are actually under the control of tiny organisms. The anxiety echoes the way Aza views her OCD thought patterns — like something has "hijacked" her brain and body. Dr. Singh is quick to point out that a callus on Aza's finger still hasn't healed.

When Aza is overwhelmed by her anxious, obsessive, and intrusive thoughts, draining the potential C. diff from her body via the callus is a huge relief.

In John Green's book, the not-quite-healed callus on Aza's finger is something she uses to relieve her anxiety. It is tied to a compulsion in that she repeatedly opens the callus to drain out pathogens. When Aza is overwhelmed by her anxious, obsessive, and intrusive thoughts, draining the potential C. diff from her body via the callus is a huge relief. However, it's only a momentary break from her OCD symptoms. In the film, Aza's callus illustrates another aspect of her OCD diagnosis: she is constantly checking the bandage and cleaning the callus, and often wondering if she forgot to do so.

5 Mychal Turner Has A Smaller Role In The Movie

Daisy Is The Real Star Of Turtles All The Way Down

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While Aza's friend Mychal Turner (Maliq Johnson) still appears in the Turtles All the Way Down movie adaptation, his role doesn't feel as substantial. As in the book, it's Daisy and Aza's relationship that takes center stage, leaving little time for her dynamic with Mychal. Even so, Mychal is still an artist, and he still harbors a massive crush on Daisy. He's also the one responsible for coming up with the hurtful "mustard" metaphor, suggesting that Aza is "too much" if not experienced in small doses. However, it's still Mychal's underground art show that leads Daisy and Aza to solving the mystery of Russell's disappearance.

4 Davis' Blog & Backstory Are Different In The Film

The Blog Is More Significant At The Start Of Their Romantic Relationship

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In John Green's Turtles All the Way Down book, billionaire Russell Pickett still goes missing in the wake of criminal charges. However, the Pickett's are the Holmes' neighbors. That still makes Aza and Davis old friends of sorts, but the movie focuses much more on their past together at a grief camp when they were navigating parental losses. The change is small and definitely works in the movie's favor, as does its treatment of Davis' blog. In the book, Aza stumbles upon Davis' writing while having a thought spiral and reads what he's written about Aza as well as his father. In the movie, she uses the blog as a means to get to know Davis before dating him.

3 The Book Goes Into More Detail About How Aza Manages Her OCD

Turtles All The Way Down Shows Aza's Steps In Montage Form Only

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Before getting into a car accident with Daisy in the Turtles All the Way Down's ending, Aza falls into an overwhelming intrusive thought spiral after reading Daisy's lightly disguised fanfiction about her. Amid a related panic attack, Aza consumes hand sanitizer to cleanse her body in Green's book. Later, at the hospital, her anxiety around contracting C. diff pushes Aza to drink more hand sanitizer as it feels like the only way to stop her intrusive thoughts. The movie parses these events out a bit, putting the focus on Aza's moment in the hospital bathroom.

Dr. Singh promises that they will find medication and other management strategies that work for Aza.

After her mom finds her, Aza's stomach is pumped. It's a harrowing moment, but it pushes her to see her therapist more regularly. Still unconvinced by her prescription's effectiveness, Aza confesses how hard managing her OCD symptoms is to Dr. Singh. In turn, Dr. Singh promises that they will find medication and other management strategies that work for Aza. The novel goes into more detail around this than the movie, showing how Aza begins to manage her compulsions by focusing on a routine, taking her medication, and practicing exposure and response prevention (ERP).

2 Daisy & Aza Make Up At The Art Show

The Friends' Reunion & Discovery Of Pickett's Body Happen Back-To-Back

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In the book, Aza works hard to manage her OCD symptoms and, as part of that regimen, makes up with Daisy. The movie takes a slightly different approach. After Davis sends Aza flowers (and a Dr. Pepper), she agrees to meet him at Applebee's. Feeling empowered by the great strides she's made in managing her OCD, Aza hopes she's ready to rekindle their romance. Unfortunately, that's not the case, but the moment does push Aza out of her comfort zone, giving her the encouragement she needs to meet up with Daisy at Mychal's art show. There, Daisy and Aza forgive each other and, moments later, find evidence of Russell's death.

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1 Davis' Father Leaves His Fortune To A Tuatara Research Facility

The Pet Tuatara Of The Book Isn't As Substantial

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While Turtles All the Way Down honors Green's book, the changes it makes are often to the benefit of its movie medium. However, one seemingly insignificant change involves the movie's use of the tuatara, a non-lizard reptile that's endemic to New Zealand. According to Davis, Russell believes the tuatara holds the key to longer life expectancy and human health. As such, Russell plans to leave most of his fortune to a tuatara research facility and fund that he created instead of his two sons. In the Turtles All the Way Down book, Russell leaves his money to a pet tuatara.

Turtles All the Way Down is now streaming on Max.