All the Bright Places
by Jennifer Niven
Expected publication: January 6th 2015 by Knopf
The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this compelling, exhilarating, and beautiful story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.
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.
All the Bright Places is a heartbreaking novel about life and death, the bitterness of losses and ability to gain strength from people you love, about enjoying all the precious moments of life, even when it seems that nothing can bring you happiness. It will warm your soul, then tear it apart and... settle in the brightest place of your heart.
This is a debut YA novel of The Amazing Jennifer Niven, and though the book will be out only in January, it already gets the deserved hype. The rights for a movie adaptation are already sold and Elle Fanning is attached to play the main heroine, which is awesome since the author imagined her while writing Violet's character.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” I shout. “I would like to welcome you to my death.” You might expect me to say “life,” having just woken up and all, but it’s only when I’m awake that I think about dying.
The story is on told from multiple POVs: Finch’s and Violet’s - two teenagers who need help to survive in this world. The book hooks you from the first chapter; Finch climbs to the bell tower and considers jumping from it. We don’t know why exactly, but it is evident that something isn’t right with him: racing thoughts, chaotic speech, weird behavior. He says that he must remain awake, because sometimes he passes out for months -- but why?
On the roof he meets Violet, who also considers jumping. Her story is clear: she and her sister got into a car accident, but the latter didn’t survive, and now Violet struggles with the survivor syndrome. She stopped writing, though she wanted to be a writer in the past, forgot about her and her sister’s blog, because now it’s pointless to continue with it, and declared that she would never get into a car again. To her, it seems unfair that she lives while her sister is dead, so she refuses to enjoy live.
Finch dissuades her from suicide, but they pretend that it was the opposite: Violet saved the main freak of the school. Other students don’t like him because of his erratic behavior - no one knows what he'll do next. But it seems like Finch is not affected. He goes to a school therapist, lying recklessly just to get rid of him, and continues to do what he wants.
Finch immediately falls in love with Violet, but, surprisingly, it didn’t annoy me. Their relationships started on a geography lesson. Teacher gave them a task: to find interesting places in their town and leave a mark, something that proves that they were there, for their class is graduating and soon all the students will disperse in different directions. Finch called Violet his partner, and from that began their adventure.
Throughout the whole book Finch tries to make Violet return to a normal life. She begins to succumb under his influence -- and how couldn’t she, when Finch is so full of life; he literally lives the moment and takes everything from it. For him, there are no boundaries: he wants to talk to Violet? Arrives at three a.m. to her house. Wants to swim in the river in the middle of the school day in winter? No problem, there's no stopping. Wants to run from one side of town to another at night? Yes, please.
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.
All the Bright Places is a heartbreaking novel about life and death, the bitterness of losses and ability to gain strength from people you love, about enjoying all the precious moments of life, even when it seems that nothing can bring you happiness. It will warm your soul, then tear it apart and... settle in the brightest place of your heart.
This is a debut YA novel of The Amazing Jennifer Niven, and though the book will be out only in January, it already gets the deserved hype. The rights for a movie adaptation are already sold and Elle Fanning is attached to play the main heroine, which is awesome since the author imagined her while writing Violet's character.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” I shout. “I would like to welcome you to my death.” You might expect me to say “life,” having just woken up and all, but it’s only when I’m awake that I think about dying.
The story is on told from multiple POVs: Finch’s and Violet’s - two teenagers who need help to survive in this world. The book hooks you from the first chapter; Finch climbs to the bell tower and considers jumping from it. We don’t know why exactly, but it is evident that something isn’t right with him: racing thoughts, chaotic speech, weird behavior. He says that he must remain awake, because sometimes he passes out for months -- but why?
On the roof he meets Violet, who also considers jumping. Her story is clear: she and her sister got into a car accident, but the latter didn’t survive, and now Violet struggles with the survivor syndrome. She stopped writing, though she wanted to be a writer in the past, forgot about her and her sister’s blog, because now it’s pointless to continue with it, and declared that she would never get into a car again. To her, it seems unfair that she lives while her sister is dead, so she refuses to enjoy live.
Finch dissuades her from suicide, but they pretend that it was the opposite: Violet saved the main freak of the school. Other students don’t like him because of his erratic behavior - no one knows what he'll do next. But it seems like Finch is not affected. He goes to a school therapist, lying recklessly just to get rid of him, and continues to do what he wants.
Finch immediately falls in love with Violet, but, surprisingly, it didn’t annoy me. Their relationships started on a geography lesson. Teacher gave them a task: to find interesting places in their town and leave a mark, something that proves that they were there, for their class is graduating and soon all the students will disperse in different directions. Finch called Violet his partner, and from that began their adventure.
Throughout the whole book Finch tries to make Violet return to a normal life. She begins to succumb under his influence -- and how couldn’t she, when Finch is so full of life; he literally lives the moment and takes everything from it. For him, there are no boundaries: he wants to talk to Violet? Arrives at three a.m. to her house. Wants to swim in the river in the middle of the school day in winter? No problem, there's no stopping. Wants to run from one side of town to another at night? Yes, please.
This boy is literally my favorite male character of all time. He infects you with his energy, makes you think about your life and how fully you live it. Sometimes he’s funny and sarcastic, sometimes troubled and darksome. You never know what he will do in the next chapter. And I liked that the author kept me in the dark about his problems till the end, but you can find a lot of clues in his behavior. After I found out, the first thing I wanted to do is to turn to the first page and read the story again, knowing all the answers and looking at it from a different angle.
The main theme of this book is to find a way to enjoy life even in the dark times, when it seems that there is no point in your existence and it would be much easier to give up. I think the author perfectly coped with the task; this story will not leave anyone indifferent.
Even while writing this review, I am bombarded with strong emotions. I am not a sentimental person, but this book just tore me to pieces. I’m one of those people who didn’t cry at the end of TFIOS, but this story made me bawl like a baby and stare blankly at the wall for hours. For me, this is the best book of the year. Read it guys, you won’t regret it.
*This beautiful fan art was made by my dear friend geborn-zu-sterben
The main theme of this book is to find a way to enjoy life even in the dark times, when it seems that there is no point in your existence and it would be much easier to give up. I think the author perfectly coped with the task; this story will not leave anyone indifferent.
Even while writing this review, I am bombarded with strong emotions. I am not a sentimental person, but this book just tore me to pieces. I’m one of those people who didn’t cry at the end of TFIOS, but this story made me bawl like a baby and stare blankly at the wall for hours. For me, this is the best book of the year. Read it guys, you won’t regret it.
*This beautiful fan art was made by my dear friend geborn-zu-sterben
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