All The Bright Places - Book Review

** TRIGGER WARNING ** Contains references to mental illness and suicide

Author - Jennifer Niven

Genre - Young adult fiction

Pages - 388

This is the thing about stories - you blossom into a better person and be reduced to tears. These stories give you the chance to see the world through someone else's lens.

All the Bright Places was a hard one for me to finish. It was too realistic, heartbreaking, and poignant than anything I had read before. I was exposed to a few human troubles and sufferings that I had never considered before. The emotions and feelings explored in the book were too real for me to go on. But finally, I managed to finish the incredible journey of two young people, Finch and Violet.

Theodore Finch and Violet Markey meet each on the ledge of their school bell tower, contemplating suicide. Violet is devastated after her sister's death in a car accident, which she survived. Finch has bipolar disorder and has been abused by his father for much of his life. Shortly after this, the two become partners on a Geography project to explore the wonders of Indiana together and slowly begin to fall in love with each other.

This book opened two major topics of discussion for me.

The tyranny of the school system

“Growing fourteen inches in the summer is easy. It's growing out of a hard label.”

Finch is punished for his erratic behavior, but the popular kid is excused for provoking him. This might seem like an overused cliche in a movie, but it does not hide the fact that we are ready to punish ad shun the "bad apples" without understanding the reasons behind their actions. We as a society avoid doing the hard work (that is understanding someone's intent behind their behavior) and quickly try to cover up the rough edges with makeup.

Suicide is a major issue and the last resort for the people who are contemplating it. People who are committing suicide don't do it on a whim. It needs to be dealt with sophistication and professionally. However, the principal was more concerned about the reputation of the school than the mental condition of his student. This behavior is somewhat reflective of our surroundings.

Our unwillingness to talk about mental health.

“This time will be different. This time, I will stay awake.”

How are you going to differentiate between bad behavior and mental illness?

Finch is very concerned about tags. He is already called weird and does not want to add more to the list. A teenager is more concerned about getting tags than worrying that he moving towards the abyss. It makes me think how easily our problems can devour our minds unless we speak about them.

"The thing I realize is that it's not what you take, it's what you leave."

Violet is also scared of being in the limelight because of her "extenuating circumstances." She wants people to think that she is stronger and more capable instead she is shunned aside. She is also silently dealing with "survival remorse", an emotion of which I was unaware.

One can guess the ending of the book from the first chapter itself. It was a slow burn. Though the journey takes precedent over the ending. The story walks on many dreading paths - death, depression, suicide with the intent to give an in-depth understanding of their characters.

The story shifts between the POV's of our teenage protagonists, Flinch and Violet. They have been portrayed with empathy and understanding. The characters are well-crafted. Their interests, desires, and hobbies have been explored in detail.

I'm glad I read this book because it made me realize that I need to be more understanding toward people. This book displayed again how we judge others without trying to understand the person's behavior. But because of this story, I have become more empathetic.

Read this book if young-adult is your genre of choice. And hopefully, it evokes the same emotions as it did for me.

Happy reading!