All The Bright Places
Author: Jennifer Niven
Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Romance.
Published: January 8 2015
Pages: 388 pages (Paperback Edition) (Penguin)
Read: March 2015
Rating: 5 Stars
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.
All The Bright Places is about two teenagers, Violet and Finch. Violet has lost her sister from a car accident and Finch is trying to face depression and live without its tight grip. This story is about the two of them meeting and the events which take place as the complete a high school project.
I saw All The Bright Places all over blogs and BookTube after the book had been released. It was February when I saw this book in my local bookstore and I did, to my dismay, have an internal argument on whether I should get it or not. For one, everyone was getting and raving about this book, but then I wasn't much of a realistic fiction reader but my weak willed self fell for the cover, said what the heck, even if I didn't like it, it'd be pretty on my shelves. And it ended up on my shelves!!
The plot to this book revolves around the tough topic of mental illness. When I first picked up this book I hadn't realised this and was therefore shocked at the turn of events in this book where the signs of depression and grieving from both main characters were seen. But all in all, I loved the plot of this story, there isn't much I can say to sum it up into non-spoilery words so I'll just say that the plot and the story not once left me feeling bored (which can happen to me when I'm reading realistic fiction) but did not happen at all during this book. This story is heart-warming and heart-breaking all at once and I loved it because of that fact.
All The Bright Places is a book told from two perspectives. We see from the point of views of both main characters, Violet and Finch. I now have come to love books with different perspectives and I feel that Jennifer Niven did a marvellous job at writing in both perspectives. There was not one single point that I didn't know which character was telling the story. Both were so complex, original and unique. I loved the characters for who they were also. Finch being that spontaneous, charismatic guy and Violet being the opposite, a popular girl gone south. I must admit that I did have a problem with some of Violet's actions at the start of the book, but through the development of each character I turned out to love them. The side characters in this book also made the book much more realistic and told the whole story, from Amanda, to Finch's family, to Violet's parents, and their both sets of friends. We wouldn't be able to see the full picture without them.
My likes for this book are never ending. I did after all give it a five star review and to contrast that my only dislike I had I have mentioned above which was Violet's actions and character at the beginning of the book.
The ending of this book just had me so....... It just got at me and I loved the way it ended. Truly it couldn't have ended in a better way. And that is all I will say on that note.
I also really appreciated the way that the book contained phone numbers for helplines for mental illness, grieving and depression. It was an extra little step that may help a great number of people.
Jennifer Niven is an author of quite a number of books, but this is the first book which I've read that she had written. From this book, and my enjoyment of this book, I can be certain to say that I will be reading Jennifer Niven's later releases if the topic or blurb catches my eye. But if this doesn't occur, I will be sure to be re-reading All The Bright Places.
I would recommend this book for realistic fiction lovers who don't mind reading books on tough subjects such as mental illness. For any of you who do decide to pick up this book, I hope you thoroughly enjoy it!!
Here is a link to the book on The Book Depository as I am an affiliate there. Please consider if you are going to buy this book by buying it using the below link. Thank you!!
http://www.bookdepository.com/book/9780141357034/?a_aid=yabookaholic123
Also if you would like to see the spoiler discussion I had with Lissette click here.
I saw All The Bright Places all over blogs and BookTube after the book had been released. It was February when I saw this book in my local bookstore and I did, to my dismay, have an internal argument on whether I should get it or not. For one, everyone was getting and raving about this book, but then I wasn't much of a realistic fiction reader but my weak willed self fell for the cover, said what the heck, even if I didn't like it, it'd be pretty on my shelves. And it ended up on my shelves!!
The plot to this book revolves around the tough topic of mental illness. When I first picked up this book I hadn't realised this and was therefore shocked at the turn of events in this book where the signs of depression and grieving from both main characters were seen. But all in all, I loved the plot of this story, there isn't much I can say to sum it up into non-spoilery words so I'll just say that the plot and the story not once left me feeling bored (which can happen to me when I'm reading realistic fiction) but did not happen at all during this book. This story is heart-warming and heart-breaking all at once and I loved it because of that fact.
All The Bright Places is a book told from two perspectives. We see from the point of views of both main characters, Violet and Finch. I now have come to love books with different perspectives and I feel that Jennifer Niven did a marvellous job at writing in both perspectives. There was not one single point that I didn't know which character was telling the story. Both were so complex, original and unique. I loved the characters for who they were also. Finch being that spontaneous, charismatic guy and Violet being the opposite, a popular girl gone south. I must admit that I did have a problem with some of Violet's actions at the start of the book, but through the development of each character I turned out to love them. The side characters in this book also made the book much more realistic and told the whole story, from Amanda, to Finch's family, to Violet's parents, and their both sets of friends. We wouldn't be able to see the full picture without them.
My likes for this book are never ending. I did after all give it a five star review and to contrast that my only dislike I had I have mentioned above which was Violet's actions and character at the beginning of the book.
The ending of this book just had me so....... It just got at me and I loved the way it ended. Truly it couldn't have ended in a better way. And that is all I will say on that note.
I also really appreciated the way that the book contained phone numbers for helplines for mental illness, grieving and depression. It was an extra little step that may help a great number of people.
Jennifer Niven is an author of quite a number of books, but this is the first book which I've read that she had written. From this book, and my enjoyment of this book, I can be certain to say that I will be reading Jennifer Niven's later releases if the topic or blurb catches my eye. But if this doesn't occur, I will be sure to be re-reading All The Bright Places.
I would recommend this book for realistic fiction lovers who don't mind reading books on tough subjects such as mental illness. For any of you who do decide to pick up this book, I hope you thoroughly enjoy it!!
Here is a link to the book on The Book Depository as I am an affiliate there. Please consider if you are going to buy this book by buying it using the below link. Thank you!!
http://www.bookdepository.com/book/9780141357034/?a_aid=yabookaholic123
Also if you would like to see the spoiler discussion I had with Lissette click here.
Great review Sarah! I've seen this book around a lot and I really wanted to buy it because it was getting amazing reviews, as this one, but I've also seen people saying mixed things about it and now I'm torn. I might read this in the future since I'm already intrigued to see how Niven deals with mental illness, but we'll see :)
ReplyDeleteThank You!! You should definitely give this book a try if it interests you and let me know if you do read it :)
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