• About Us
    • Disclaimer and Policies
  • Giveaways
  • Features
    • Pre-Order Deal Incentives!
    • Author Talk Podcasts
    • Flashback Friday
    • Whadda YA Know Wednesday

Fiction Fare

  • Banners
  • Reviews
  • Contact Us

All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

February 3, 2015 by Jaime 1 Comment

All The Bright Places by Jennifer NivenAll the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
(Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Published by Random House Children's Books on January 6th 2015
Genres: Death & Dying, Depression & Mental Illness, Love & Romance, Social Issues, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Add This Book to Your Goodreads TBR
five-stars
"A do not miss for fans of Eleanor and Park and The Fault in Our Stars, and basically anyone who can breathe."--Justine MagazineA New York Times bestsellerSoon to be a major motion picture starring Elle Fanning! 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 Gayle Forman, Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.“At the heart—a big one—of “All the Bright Places” lies a charming love story about this unlikely and endearing pair of broken teenagers.”  — New York Times Book Review “…this heartbreaking love story about two funny, fragile, and wildly damaged high school kids named Violet and Finch is worth reading. Niven is a skillful storyteller who never patronizes her characters—or her audience.”— Entertainment Weekly From the Hardcover edition.

 

“Is today a good day to die?”

This is not the typical book that I find myself reading… nope, it surely isn’t. For one, it deals with some pretty heavy topics. Teen Suicide, Depression, Death… they’re all in here. For two… it’s not the usual HEA that I tend to go for.

To be completely honest with you, I’m not really sure I can write a review that will do this book justice. What I will tell you is that this book touched me in a way that not many have. Did I cry? Yes… but even more than that, it really made me think about so much and for that alone I have an amazing appreciation for this book.

This is a story about love, and falling in love. It’s about life and living it to the fullest and it’s about the struggles many of us face while doing just that. It’s also about accepting what fate has handed you and moving forward.

Finch… this boy… this charismatic, sweet, beautiful boy has the game down…he recognizes that something is wrong, he knows he doesn’t feel right and hasn’t for a while… and yet he knows what to say and do and how to act to hide what is eating away at him on the inside. *ugh* just thinking about it right now is making me tear up. What we learn about Finch in this story is that he is more than the labels that are assigned to him by his classmates, by his teachers, by his friends, and by his family. What we also learn is that the people he was supposed to be able to count on to help him… never did and maybe they never could.

“We can’t always see what others don’t want us to. Especially when they go to great lengths to hide it.”


And Violet is stuck in a world where she blames herself for things that she couldn’t have possibly controlled. Having survived a car crash that killed her sister she feels responsible and no one has told her otherwise, in fact her parents have stopped talking about Eleanor and don’t realize how sad Violet actually is.

Which leads to how these two finally meet… on a ledge at school of all places. Initially I never expected the connection to last. Violet is distant and closed off, but Finch pushes through the walls and forces her to participate in everything “extenuating circumstances” or not.

A project has these two “wandering” the state of Indiana and learning and experiencing things they would never have thought to look for… and along the way, they find comfort in each other. Yet, while Finch is bound and determined to show Violet all the positives in life and living, he struggles with making those same connections for himself.

There is a love story here… the summary even tells you, and it was so beautiful to see the way Finch just let himself fall for Violet, head over heels, and the way Niven writes it just makes it the best.

“For a long time I sit in the car outside my house, afraid to break the spell. In here, the air is close and Violet is close. I’m wrapped up in the day. I love: the way her eyes spark when we’re talking or when she’s telling me something she wants me to know, the way she mouths the words to herself when she’s reading and concentrating, the way she looks at me as if there’s only me, as if she can see past the flesh and bone and bullshit right into the me that’s there, the one I don’t even see myself.”


What I can say about the story is this. It’s beautifully written and paced. The story flows naturally and at no time did it lag for me. I was completely entranced with the ebb and flow of Finch and Violet’s relationship and the build up to that first kiss is phenomenal … just as every moment after was as well. The relationships were so well done… I’m not talking just between Violet and Finch, even though that is what the bulk of this story is, but also between Violet and her family and even the relationships with her friends. Being able to watch this girl who is counting down the days to her escape from high school and all the memories she’s bombarded with daily, start to welcome the changes that life has dealt her and realize that all those memories don’t have to be buried in sadness was just lovely. But on the other end of that, watching this bright, vibrant boy being taken over by his demons was incredibly hard to read. But necessary, because real life isn’t always rainbows and unicorns.

This story is one that no matter how sad it might be, deserves to be told. And while it isn’t a typical HEA, it’s definitely a hopeful ending, one that will hopefully have people realizing that there is a deeper story here, we aren’t always just the things we’re labeled as and depression isn’t just something that will dissipate with time. Mental illness is a real and complicated thing and while people may feel helpless, there is hope.

This book will definitely have a special place on my favorites shelf… even though I’m not sure I’ll be able to read it again for a while!

“The thing I realize is that it’s not what you take, it’s what you leave.”

About Jennifer Niven

By the time I was ten, I had already written numerous songs, a poem for Parker Stevenson ("If there were a Miss America for men, You would surely win"), two autobiographies (All About Me and My Life in Indiana: I Will Never Be Happy Again), a Christmas story, several picture books (which I illustrated myself) featuring the Doodle Bugs from Outer Space, a play about Laura Ingalls Wilder's sister entitled Blindness Strikes Mary, a series of prison mysteries, a collection of short stories featuring me as the main character (an internationally famous rock star detective), and a partially finished novel about Vietnam. I was also an excellent speller from a very early age.

In 2000, I started writing full-time, and I haven't stopped... I've written eight books, and when I'm not working on the ninth, I'm contributing to my web magazine, Germ, thinking up new books, and dabbling in TV. I am always writing.

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads

 

Related Posts

  • Related Posts
  • Same Genre
  • 5 Star Books
Fiction Fare
One in a Million by Jill Shalvis
Thumbnail
The Return by Jennifer Armentrout
Between The Blade & The Heart by Amanda Hocking
Fiction Fare
Review: Onyx (Lux #2)
Blog Tour: In Her Skin by Kim Savage
Starflight by Melissa Landers
Thumbnail
Waiting on Wednesday: What You Left Behind by Jessica Verdi
Thumbnail
The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead
Thumbnail
Return Once More by Trisha Leigh
Fiction Fare
Flashback Friday: Gravity by Melissa West
Thumbnail
I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios
More (The Body Works #4) by Sierra Kincade
Thumbnail
The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett
Thumbnail
The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord
This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills

Filed Under: Book Review Tagged With: Reviewed By Jaime, Young Adult

About Jaime

Avid reader and book blogger, lover of music, writing, my kid & my cats. Master of sarcasm and snark and doing what makes me happy.

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • pinterest
  • bloglovin
  • custom1
  • goodreads
  • rss
  • custom2

Get Our Updates!

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

E-Book Deals!

E-Book Deals!


Author Talk

 photo author-talk_zpscsw6iy8a.png

Archives

What We’re Currently Reading

Jaime's bookshelf: currently-reading

The Trouble with Destiny
0 of 5 stars
The Trouble with Destiny
by Lauren Morrill
The Beginning of Everything
0 of 5 stars
The Beginning of Everything
by Robyn Schneider
Forget Tomorrow
0 of 5 stars
Forget Tomorrow
by Pintip Dunn

goodreads.com

Erin's bookshelf: currently-reading

Endure
0 of 5 stars
Endure
by Sara B. Larson
The Unquiet
0 of 5 stars
The Unquiet
by Mikaela Everett
Twist
0 of 5 stars
Twist
by Karen Akins

goodreads.com

Upcoming Reviews

None yet!

Ebates Coupons and Cash Back

Challenge Participant

Recent Comments

  • Lisa Loves Lit on Waiting on Wednesday: The Queens of Innis Lear By Tessa Gratton
  • bookbunny68 on Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Have Been On My TBR the Longest and I Still Haven’t Read
  • Kristy Petree on Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Have Been On My TBR the Longest and I Still Haven’t Read
  • MischaS_ on Cover Reveal: Beyond Pain by Kit Rocha
  • Maggie @ ReadingDiva's Blog on Blog Tour: Tempests & Slaughter by Tamora Pierce

Recent Posts

  • People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
  • Flashback Friday: Blood and Sand by C.V. Wyk
  • Our Top Ten Most Anticipated Books to Screen Podcast Episode
  • Flashback Friday: The Highwayman (Victorian Rebels #1) by Kerrigan Byrne
  • Podcast Episode 81: #FicNews–March 2021

Recent Reviews

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
The Heiress Gets a Duke by Harper St. George
Crown of Bones (Amassia #1) by A.K. Wilder
Courting Trouble (Goode Girls Romance #2) by Kerrigan Byrne
Eventide by Sarah Goodman
All Scot and Bothered (Devil You Know #2) by Kerrigan Byrne
Deadly Curious by Cindy Anstey
Review: Rebel Spy by Veronica Rossi
The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant
A Dark and Stormy Knight (Victorian Rebels #7) by Kerrigan Byrne

Copyright ©2010-2015 Fiction Fare All Rights Reserved Site Design by The CreativeB Login