All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven - ☆☆☆☆
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.
I recently finished All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. Some thoughts that come to mind right now while thinking about: amazing, awe inspiring, hard to put down, a definite re-read. Now to put those thoughts into sentences. I was told multiple times how amazing the book was. How much it was going to make me cry. How much I needed to read it right that second. But I still waited...waited for the right time I think. When I did pick it up it was very difficult to put down. It still took me about a week to read it. I did miss a couple nights though. One thing I really liked was it isn't a fast read like a lot of YA books are. I wasn't able to read a chapter in less then 10 minutes, unless it was only a couple pages long. I didn't feel the need to look over to the next page as I was reading. I knew I needed to read the story as it was. No skipping ahead. No skimming. Or else I would miss something.
Unlike how I was told I would cry...I didn't. The only time I teared up was when Violet was telling Mrs. Finch she found Finch. And that is only because being a mother, it makes it harder to hear when a child has been hurt or has died. My heart aches when I think about it. It's aching right now for her, and all mothers, that have lost their children due to any reason.
I loved the wandering. The feeling of getting to know each other in ways that no one else knows. The ending...felt very resolved to me. Like it didn't need anymore. Nor could it have had any less. The fact she was able to complete the wanderings by herself, but not really alone, eased my brain into knowing that she is going to be ok. That everything is going to be ok. When she was able to go back to The Blue Hole at the very end... I felt that was the perfect was to end the book.
(This is my first real book review. So I am sorry if it seems scattered and imcomplete. Thank you for reading it.)
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