NerdyBirdie

Hey guys! I hope you all are having a great day and this is my review to All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven.

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.

This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.

We have two main characters: Violet and Theodore—Finch, to be specific—who are two completely different people and are very different from the others around them. For a topic dealing with depression, I felt both Violet’s and Finch’s points to be strong. But despite both of them having this one thing in common—sorry, and a thing for Virginia Woolf quotes (it was really adorable!)—they both end up dealing with depression quite differently.

If you guys haven’t heard, I will be honest. This book was compared to The Fault in Our Stars and Eleanor and Park. I will say that I like this book better than The Fault in Our Stars.

I felt that I connected with Finch (more than Violet to be honest) and I could feel where his pain was coming from. Sometimes, I could feel Finch’s frustration and the situations that he went through. When he would say he was “used to it” or “it didn’t affect him anymore” it made me want to punch a wall because I felt for this character so much.

That, has to be something to root for in this story.

Violet’s story was very nice to read about, I could see the way she slowly took herself out of depression and it made small sputters of hope go through my heart.

I do admit, at first I felt like it was such a typical high school setting. The “popular people” (if no one likes them, then why are they popular?) and then the way the girl was apart of the “popular people” and the boy was a “freak”—in this case, literally. And I’m pretty sure at one point (though, I can’t seem to remember how or when) I felt like there was a bit of slut-shaming? I’m not sure, but if I don’t remember, then it was probably small.

But then, the story began to move on with Violet and Finch, and I got over that pretty quickly.

I do admit, during the last 178 pages, I knew exactly what was going to happen, and I was grumbling because I was right. And, it made the feels go all over the place! If you do decide to read this book, and you think you might know what will happen at the end, then please continue to read on. The Author’s Note is worth it at the end! :D

I read the Author’s Note, and it broke my heart. I was so happy with this. Honestly, sometimes I feel offended—I don’t know why, not a personal reason—but the author will literally try to add a bit of death and suffering and then “ha!” the perfect YA contemporary. With this, I could tell the author knew what she was talking about, and up to the point where my respect for this book went up the notch. :D

Overall, All the Bright Places was a nice representation of the different ways people go through depression, and how some of them can get through it, and it people don’t have help, then they can’t.

I would recommend this book to anyone, and if you want to read more about depression, then I highly recommend that you try reading this fictional book from an author who has actually experienced this and actually wants to share this with others for the knowledge of it. :D I highly respect Jennifer Niven. :D

Thanks for reading this review, and I hope you have a great day!