All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven- 388 pages
Book Blurb:
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.
My Review: 4.5 stars
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All The Bright Places wins my best YA book of the year (so far)! I wish people would stop comparing it to other books in its similarities and its differences. Not only is it dark, humorous, sad and relatable, it’s also an incredibly useful tool for parents and teens alike to understand depression.
The author did a wonderful job with the voices of the two main protagonists. The reader was able to get deep into their heads and hearts so that we could feel their ups and downs quite vividly. The exploration of Indiana was a wonderful vice and I quite enjoyed their discoveries. I loved that in those trips they learned that what you leave behind is just as important as what you take with you.
Using Virginia Woolf as the author whose quotes they use to relate to one another was literary genius. It was a great use of both foreshadow and irony. Loved the book. Well done!
Quotes I liked:
I used to love words. I love them and was good at arranging them. Because of this, I felt protective of all the best ones. But now all of them, good and bad, frustrate me.”
-“It’s not your fault. And sorry wastes time. You have to live your life like you’ll never be sorry. It’s easier just to do the right thing from the start so there’s nothing to apologize for.”
-“…growing fourteen inches in a summer is easy. It’s growing out of a label that’s hard.”
-“I’m always fascinated by how the same genes rearrange themselves across brothers and sisters.”
-“It’s my experience that people are a lot more sympathetic if they can see you hurting, and for the millionth time in my life I wish for measles or smallpox or some other easily understood disease just to make it easier on me and also on them.”
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