Title: All the bright places
Author: Jennifer Niven
Publisher: Penguine
Genre: Contemporary romance, Young Adult
First Publication: 2015
Language: English
Major Characters: Theodore Finch, Violet Markey
Setting Place: Indiana (United States)
Theme: Mental Illness, Guilt and Blame, Dreams, Hopes, and Plans
Narration: First Person / Finch and Violet
Book Summary: 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.
How far will Violet go to save the boy she has come to love?
Book Review: All the bright places by Jennifer Niven
All the bright places by Jennifer Niven is just one of those books that is fantastically written with such poise and brilliance that it leaves the reader wanting for more. The plot was well conceived and the author’s note at the end made the story more memorable.
All the bright places by Jennifer Niven follows the story of Finch and Violet. They’re both in the same High School and their first meeting was in the Bell Tower where Violet was attempting suicide. Finch is also there with the same intentions but he saves her. Both Finch and Violet have different social statuses in school. Violet is the more popular kid with an online blog that is a hit. Whereas Finch is that freak in High School who’s presence isn’t appreciated much.
“You are all the colors in one, at full brightness.”
The story follows the friendship and love between these two characters and I loved how Finch charmed Violet. The nick names he had for her were alluring.
Finch and Violet bond over a school project where they have to visit places in their town and their adventures lead them to falling in love. Trust me, this love story isn’t your plain old Romeo and Juliet shenanigans. Its’s unique and I adored it.
“We do not remember days, we remember moments.”
All the bright places by Jennifer Niven focuses more on Teens who are suicidal and need help. The book elaborates on how these characters deal with their own losses in their personal lives and how some are able to overcome these losses and strive forward while others are held back in these haunting memories and are seen flailing around needing help but aren’t getting any help from their friends or even their family. The positive and negative representations of these stage of depression is well written!
“Sometimes its the happiest people that are the saddest.” This quote by Robin Williams speaks to true for this book. Finch helps Violet overcome some of her difficulties while trying to cope the loss of her sister. But Violet doesn’t see how much help Finch needs. Finch is always at his best behaviour with Violet but she never sees how much Finch is hurting. That was sad in this book.
“The great thing about this life of ours is that you can be someone different to everybody.”
I’ll just end this review by saying that the ending was indeed heartbreaking and no one should ever have to face such tragedies in their lives. Violet is truly a strong female, being able to overcome all her losses and the experience of her recovery felt true and real as though the author had experiences similar tragedies herself.
