Hello Rad Readers!
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven has quickly and doubtlessly made its way onto my 'favorites' shelf. It is absolutely brilliant, and seriously impactful.
Theodore Finch is not well. However, he is living, not just alive, but living. Spontaneous, aloof, and unconstrained by what ties most of us down in life. He lives every day as though it could be his last, because it just might be. That is the other thing about Finch, he intends to die. However, each time something good happens, no matter how small it is, it stops him. He lives for the Now.
Violet Markey lives for the future. She is counting the days until graduation, until she escapes Indiana, until she is done grieving the recent death of her sister, until she is happy again, until, until, until.
When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of a bell tower, it’s unclear who saves who. A school project unites them again and they are sent out to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, but they both meet more important realizations along the way, to forget about counting the days away and start living them. Following Violet and Finch on their journey, we learn from a boy who intends to die how to live.
This is first a coming of age story, but second, it is a story that sheds light on heavy subject matter like suicide, mental health, anxiety, and depression. They are serious topics that should be talked about and need to be normalized in discussion. I feel like I speak for many people when I say that I am not able to understand these things because I do not experience it myself, however that is why it is so important to read! You see the world from a different lens, from a point of view that you may never know. That is what is so awesome about reading, you can experience so much and learn so much from fictional characters! Crazy!
Even though it deals with serious subject matter, this is not a depressing story. In fact, what I loved about it was how bright and happy it was at times despite the obstacles being faced. After the bell tower, the story turns into a journey that they have together over a school project and focuses on the impact that they have on each others lives. It is a pointed book and written with a strong and honest voice. The author, herself, had opened up, revealing that she experienced some of what happened to these characters when she was younger, which explains the genuine and honest feeling from the book. You can tell that it comes from a good place. That is another reason why I think that it is written in such a respectful light. It does not hold back and it tells the honest and horrifying truths of mental illness, but it is not anything like these other books that have been accused of nearly glorifying or romanticizing illness. (For example, the outcry 13 Reasons Why elicited from the bookish community.) There is plenty of positivity behind the story in spite of the harshness of the big picture. Those I think are where the big take aways in the book come from, the little light moments in periods of suffering. There is tons of lightheartedness and humor, especially from Finch's side. (In the beginning of the story Violet kind of has the personality of a wet paper towel, but it gets better from there!) A lot of story focuses on exploration, and it inspires the reader, or at least in my case it did. It made me want to go out and see more, especially in close proximity because there really are bright places everywhere, even in Indiana where Finch and Violet are exploring, even near me, and even near you. You don't have to backpack across Europe to find a good bench to read on! They found quirky and weird little places to be so extravagant and fun and there is certainly a profound metaphor in there that I have yet to fully unpack... Very inspiring though!
In terms of the technicality of the book, that is where so much of my love for the novel comes from. Jennifer Niven is a PHENOMENAL writer! The book is written in duel points of view, and that was executed seamlessly and exquisitely. Both characters have strong points of view and clear voices. Sometimes when you are reading stories with multiple perspectives you kind of get lost with who you are reading about if the characters aren't distinguished well by the author, so that is usually an issue I have with books written like this, but I didn't find that to be a problem at all with All the Bright Places. I actually thought it was a genius idea to write it in two perspectives becuase both of them take something so different from each of their journeys. For example, as Violet seems to be getting her new lease on life, as her world starts expanding from just hoping for better things tomorrow, Finch's seems to shrink. They are not in tandem, they are taking something entirely different out of their journey. The author's skill really shined through in the concluding chapters, because the way things are headed in the beginning and middle of the book shift entirely in the end. The two grow together, and then as individuals and it was good to see the contrast in how they were changing.
Finch was very interesting to me. I was so captivated by his character. He's clever, witty, creative, spontaneous, easy, and he really just doesn't fear judgement. I love that. Violet was a bit less interesting than Finch in the beginning, so I felt less connected to her throughout most of the story, but her character development at the end was so incredible and admirable, so that was when I started to really like her. I was just so drawn in by Finch because he was so unique and memorable-- as stand out character across ALL of the books that I have read... That is really saying something, because in case you haven't notices... I read a lot...
This was a truly gripping story. It held my heart the entire time and was fully able to crush it in the end. It's the type of book that you will still be thinking about long after you put it down. It has seriously left such an impact on me. It really makes you want to get out there and not waste "the now."
Being that this is my first read from Jennifer Niven, I would compare her writing to other contemporary legends. She is certainly along the lines of John Green and Rainbow Rowell. The writing is just so intelligent, but still entertaining. It has some beautiful quotes, obviously poetic writing, and very metaphorical moments which is something that I really tend to enjoy in contemporary, realistic fiction. I sometimes take issue to some of these incredibly heavy-on-the-soul books, because sometimes the levity of what is being said is lost in a brain dump of pretty metaphors, complicated syntax, and pretentious vocabulary. However, the levity of the topic in this book is done so much justice by its profound writing, still without being boring and preachy. It is still casual and natural sounding. Ultimately, this was a beautiful, heart wrenching, and exhilarating story!
This is easily one of my all time favorite books!
Jennifer Niven is The Real Deal!
- C8 ;)
P.S.
It has been adapted into a film and it was actually very good! A few discrepancies, but that is to be expected, you cannot unfortunately make a book entirely adaptable to the screen, eh-- it is what it is! Regardless, after you are done reading this brilliant book, I would definitely watch the movie. I really liked it!