All the Bright Places
Author: Jennifer Niven
Publisher: Knopf
Publication Date: Jan. 6, 2015
Pages: 388
Setting: Indiana, United States
Price: £7.99
ISBN: 0385755880
Readers Rating: 4.21/5
My Rating: 4/5
Synopsis: 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.
Characters: Theodore Finch
Review
Contains a lot of spoilers!
Main Points:
I went into reading All the Bright Places with high expectations. It's a very highly rated book, and fans of both Rainbow Rowell and John Green are expected to read it. I'm a massive fan for both writers, so I was hoping that Jennifer Niven would be joining my favourite authors list. But after I read it, I didn't see what all the fuss was about. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, it was a good read, but it in no way was as great as Eleanor & Park and The Fault In Our Stars.
I went into reading All the Bright Places with high expectations. It's a very highly rated book, and fans of both Rainbow Rowell and John Green are expected to read it. I'm a massive fan for both writers, so I was hoping that Jennifer Niven would be joining my favourite authors list. But after I read it, I didn't see what all the fuss was about. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, it was a good read, but it in no way was as great as Eleanor & Park and The Fault In Our Stars.
The story itself is quite interesting. Two suicidal students meet at the top of the bell tower, and fall in love after knowing that they both wanted to die. However, at some point in the story, I felt like it just skipped forward in time. At one moment, Finch and Violet were so very in love, making out, having sex and just being extremely happy with each other. But in the next chapter, all that was forgotten as Finch suddenly became more depressed and wanted to commit suicide right then and there. I don't get how that jump just happened. I get depression can hit someone out of nowhere, and Finch always wanted to die in the first place, but the happiness from the previous chapter was completely gone. I actually had to check my book to make sure no pages had been ripped out.
Characters:
I will applaud Jennifer Niven on the credibility of her characters. In Violet's case, wanting to die after her sisters death is understandable (not really after almost a whole year though), and her slow and eventual love for Finch was realistic as she grew to knew him like no one else did. And for Finch, I see him as quite an average teenager to be honest, with a dash of weirdness and suicidal thoughts. However, when Finch's body was found in the lake, I couldn't cry, despite loving his character a lot. All I was thinking was that this seemed way to similar to Augustus' death in TFIOS. And this unfortunately added to my list of 'favourite characters who died.'
I will applaud Jennifer Niven on the credibility of her characters. In Violet's case, wanting to die after her sisters death is understandable (not really after almost a whole year though), and her slow and eventual love for Finch was realistic as she grew to knew him like no one else did. And for Finch, I see him as quite an average teenager to be honest, with a dash of weirdness and suicidal thoughts. However, when Finch's body was found in the lake, I couldn't cry, despite loving his character a lot. All I was thinking was that this seemed way to similar to Augustus' death in TFIOS. And this unfortunately added to my list of 'favourite characters who died.'
Recommendation:
Despite some of my harsh words towards this book, I did enjoy it. It took a while to get into it as the beginning was very slow, but once Finch and Violet started going around Indiana for their project, I was a lot more interested. I would have to say my favourite part of the book would be after Finch's death, when Violet was going through all of the remaining locations left of their map and finding something small to represent Finch being there. I found that quite sweet and just made me wish that Finch never died in the first place. My least favourite part of the book would be any scene with Ryan Cross in it. He wasn't that much of a douche, but his constant attachment to Violet through most of the book got slightly annoying. If I could change anything about All the Bright Places, it would be that Finch never would have had to die.
Despite some of my harsh words towards this book, I did enjoy it. It took a while to get into it as the beginning was very slow, but once Finch and Violet started going around Indiana for their project, I was a lot more interested. I would have to say my favourite part of the book would be after Finch's death, when Violet was going through all of the remaining locations left of their map and finding something small to represent Finch being there. I found that quite sweet and just made me wish that Finch never died in the first place. My least favourite part of the book would be any scene with Ryan Cross in it. He wasn't that much of a douche, but his constant attachment to Violet through most of the book got slightly annoying. If I could change anything about All the Bright Places, it would be that Finch never would have had to die.
I would recommend this book to someone if I knew they would like it. It is a good read for any young reader and can bring a lot of feels for the right person.
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It was so much better than Fault In Our Stars :D
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