All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven Review

All the Bright Places
By Jennifer Niven
Publication date: Jan. 6, 2014
Knopf, 384 pages
Source: Publisher

The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this exhilarating and heart-wrenching love story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.

Soon 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 Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.

— Goodreads.com description

This book made me feel hollow. It’s quirky and well-written, but damn is is HARD. And important and good and frustrating and sad and scary…it’s a lot of things all at the same time.

Which is why it’s awesome.

All the Bright Places is about mental illness — I love the positive messages about getting help, erasing the stigma. Talking/reading/writing about these issues is so important if it can help people see they aren’t alone and if it can help others to better recognize warning signs in their loved ones.

Finch. Oh, he is scary as hell — a manic pixie dreamboy who is more manic than dreamy. But also lovable and romantic, which makes it even harder to see him suffer. It’s painful every time you get a beautiful slice of his personality, then see him disappear and slip away into himself.

Phew. So good. But, in a “holy hell that was rough” way. A movie adaptation is the works with Elle Fanning signed on to play Violet…but it’ll be a toughie to watch if it was THIS hard to read. Ahhhhhh.

Anna Reads