I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven Published by Knopf on January 6, 2015
Genres: Contemporary YA, Mental Illness, Relationships, Romance, Suicide
Pages: 388
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
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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.
I have not been ready to write my review of ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES by Jennifer Niven for about a month now. I can’t tell you guys how many times I opened this screen to try and just couldn’t work up the willpower. My thoughts are intense but they are also overwhelmed by my emotions, so it’s hard for me to get all the words to make sense. I’m still not sure I’ll succeed. I will say, though, that ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES is one of those books that cracks the ground under your feet. It makes you lose your balance and see the world around you differently, now that there’s that crack in the ground, to say nothing of the things it will make you feel and ponder about BIG STUFF: life, happiness, love, depression. Theodore Finch and Violet Markey will make you feel and think about EVERYTHING. (Well, they made ME do that, anyway.)
Theodore Finch and Violet Markey first meet when they are both on the verge of jumping out of a bell tower on their high school campus. It’s maybe unclear who saves whom, but what follows is this sweet, meaningful relationship between two seemingly opposite kids. Theodore is unselfconscious, vibrant, unique, and very troubled. Violet is struggling with the death of her older sister, and is closing herself off from her old life–her old boyfriend, her parents, her hobbies. The only thing that takes both of them from their dark worlds, at least for a time, is an assignment to discover natural wonders in their home state of Indiana. Finch and Violet go on road trips long and short to visit those landmarks that don’t get all the attention. As they do, their friendship, which grows with fits and starts, becomes something much more powerful. Until Finch’s depression begins to seep into the corners of their romance and bleed across it like a broken pen.
I can’t say any more about ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES without saying how much I LOVED Theodore Finch. I read this book with my sister, who doesn’t read often, and we talked about how much we loved him and his seeming confidence and life. He made me laugh, and he opened Violet’s mind and took her away from her paralyzing grief and called her “Ultraviolet Remarkeyable.” But he also made me sob in the ugliest way, because he broke my heart. It broke my heart that the way he appeared on the outside masked his struggles for peace on the inside. The way his parents treated him made me so damn angry that I wanted to throttle them. The way he treated Violet was so touching and special; it’s no surprise that she found such solace in him, and he in her. I wish things had turned out differently.
Violet herself made my heart swell in a different way. Her sadness wasn’t a part of her in the bone-deep way Finch’s was. The grief and guilt she felt over her sister’s death cast a pall over her life and everything in it, but her road trips with Finch drew out her mettle and her desire for living. I loved her, and I loved her relationship with Finch. I JUST LOVED THEM SO MUCH, OKAY?
After I finished ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES, I thought a lot about the way Jennifer Niven infused the whole book–particularly Finch’s passages–with this perfect tone. He had this zip about him that was so appealing, but it also came with this sense of, like, straining to outrun something. I got a very real sense that he KNEW he was straining and wanted to outrun what was chasing him SO HARD. Because Ultraviolet. It made ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES that much more poignant.
Obviously a cornerstone issue of ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES is mental illness. Depression. Finch’s struggle with it is very real, and it’s such an important thing to discuss openly. I thought Jennifer Niven did a great job (that I can’t imagine was easy) showing the differences between Finch’s and Violet’s sadness, and I’m hopeful that this book will help people find a way to better understand Finch’s mind and his feelings so that they can offer the kind of friendship that Violet gave to him, that helped him.
Do you ever wonder what an author FEELS when they’re writing their books and how they could possibly MAKE IT THROUGH when their words have devastated you so totally? I wondered that a lot while reading ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES. I’m wondering it RIGHT NOW. I probably would’ve been a crumpled heap of snotty tissues and swollen eyes. ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES wasn’t always easy to read, but it was always lovely, beautifully written, thoughtful, and emotional. I felt all the things: anger at Finch’s parents, gladness that Violet’s parents were present if unsure how to live their new life, but mostly grateful that Finch and Violet had each other, and grateful that we all have this amazing book.
I’ve heard mostly positive things about All the Bright Places, but your review is certainly one of my favorites that I’ve read! I really like the way you describe how Niven has written her characters, and that it was a book that definitely emotionally affected you as you read. I will probably need to check this one out!