[Review] All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Rating: 5 stars

Published: January 6th 2015

Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

TW: Suicide, self-harm, abuse

I read this after Foolish Hearts - contemporaries really are out to get me.

Theodore Finch is thinks of endless ways to die. Violet Markay thinks of getting out of Indiana, leaving behind her grief following her sister's death. When the two become partners for a US geography project, they help each other heal and cope with their shared trauma.


This book just made me feel sad. Because it has both of them dealing with so much, on top of Finch being ostracized by everyone in school.

I think All the Bright Places captures mental illness, grief, and suicide in a way that doesn't glorify it, but realistically paints how dark and helpless it can be/feel. Theo can go for weeks and months in some kind of forgetful haze, and then he'll become 'alive' again. And for Violet, she's still trying to process her sister's death while everyone else has moved on. We can never really come to terms with grief and mental illness in the exact same way. It isn't that they're just 'sad'. It's so much more, and that makes it all the more tragic.

"It's like I've got this angry little person inside me, and I can feel him trying to get out. He's running out of room because he's growing bigger and bigger, and so he starts rising up, into my lungs, chest, throat, and I push him right back down. I don't want him to come out. I can't let him out." - p. 226

Their romance grew out of grief, but in spite of all that, there were still moments where things were good.

"I learned that there is good in this world, if you look hard enough for it. I learned that not everyone is disappointing, including me, and that a 1,257-foot bump in the ground can feel higher than a bell tower if you're standing next to the right person." - p. 104

All the Bright Places is a sad, lovely book.