Book Review :: All the Bright Places, by Jennifer Niven

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
on January 8th 2015
Genres: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 388
Buy on Mighty Ape
Goodreads

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it's unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the 'natural wonders' of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It's only with Violet that Finch can be himself - a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who's not such a freak after all.

And it's only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet's world grows, Finch's begins to shrink.

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What is All The Bright Places about?

All the Bright Places is the story of Theodore and Violet. When suicidal Theodore Finch is the one who talks Violet Markey down from the school bell tower one day, he lets the school pupils believe that it was she who did the talking. He’s just a freak, after all.

But there begins the start of a beautiful friendship between the two struggling teens. After they’re paired up for a project, the two start spending a lot of time together as they trip around the State, discovering the hidden treasures of the area they live in.

As Violet starts forgiving herself and starts living again after the death of her sister the previous year, Finch starts to believe that maybe there’s more to life than death. Violet learns that Finch isn’t really the freak of the school; he’s a fun guy, who pushes her to overcome the things she’s afraid of, who challenges her, and who has her back. Finch learns that it’s not just him having a hard time and that he can relax a little with Violet.

My Thoughts on All The Bright Places

Of course, this is a predictable crying book. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t beautiful. One of my favourite things about All the Bright Places was the road trip element; the fact that Violet and Finch head out all over their state and check out some of the awesome places around them. I like their idea of ‘take something, leave something’. I also enjoy how Violet documents it all, how Finch writes her notes and letters, and how they quote Virginia Woolf at each other.

My favourite place that they visit is a trailer park, where all the trailers are full.of.books. You read correctly, my friends. Can you just imagine it? Now that’s all I want to do with my life. Buy up a bunch of caravans, campervans and trailers and make a book shop/library out of them. Genius. Every trailer was a different genre, and I can just picture the whole thing in my head and it’s glorious. Glorious!

Some Goodreads members have been comparing this book to The Fault in Our Stars – the teens, the illness of some type, the love, the loss, the banter, the authors they both love etc – but honestly, it didn’t even occur to me that they were remotely similar until I spotted some of these comments. Sure, it might have similar ideas, but I did feel All the Bright Places definitely stands out and stands on its own.

Can we just talk about the cover of this book for a moment? How beautiful is it? Scroll back up and have a look. I’ve actually read 2 books in a row with post-it notes on the cover (the other was The Memory Book, by Lara Avery), and I just love the look. It’s sweet how there’s a violet and a finch on it too.

So overall, I definitely loved it. It’s a fantastic read, and if you’re into your YA books, this is one you need to pick up. Also, I’ve just discovered they are turning it into a movie!

If you’ve already read it, what did you think? Let me know!