Reviews with content warning for Medical content - All the Bright Places

Amm... I don't know what to say... This book kinda left me speechless.
I'm not going to say a lot about it because it's better not to know what it's about.
But I just want to mention that this book is brutally honest and there is this element of raw emotion that I really admire if I can find it anywhere.
This that one book that I would recommend to anyone to read.

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safety_pin's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

lastingliterature's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I originally read this in 2016 and rated it 4 stars. After seeing the Netflix adaptation (woefully disappointing), I wanted to re-read the book. Well, I finally got around to it.

This is definitely the type of book people were annoyed by when The Fault in Our Stars was so popular. Unrealistic, quirky, oddly mature characters, dramatic, etc. etc.

In 2016, I liked this book a lot and thought it was well-done. I liked seeing the representation of mental illness—depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts. From a 2021 perspective, I see many more areas of concern. For one, this entire book is centered on mental illness, mostly suicide, and that becomes the defining trait of Finch, one of the main characters and prominent love interest. His entire personality is reduced down to him fighting the urge to die and nothing else. That may be fine if the book was just about that, but it is marketed as a YA romance (looking at you, film adaption book cover!!). I believe this book was trying to bring some kind of awareness to mental illness, but I think it really lost its way. People are more than the mental illnesses they struggle with. That should be seen here.

More, this book provides no resources for how to help treat mental illness. Finch is basically shouting to the world that he can’t stay alive, and everyone just ignores it? The counselor? His parents? His sisters? No one does a thing. What are young readers supposed to deduce from this? That it’s helpless?

If you are reading this book or have read it previously, please look a little deeper than unique HS characters and romance. Even when I was re-reading it, I originally thought I would rate this higher. The story does suck you in and it’s nicely written. HOWEVER, I am now an adult and am finally at a decent point with my own mental illness where I can safely read this. Young adults or anyone struggling with mental illness shouldn’t be reading this.

TO MY TEACHER FRIENDS: BE CAREFUL IF THIS IS IN YOUR CLASSROOM LIBRARY (it was on mine!)

⚠️⚠️⚠️ TW GALORE IN THIS BOOK. Mental illness, anxiety, suicide, death, death of sibling, grief, depression. Do not read this one if you are not in a good place mentally!!! ⚠️⚠️⚠️

I will be re-reading I’ll Give You the Sun soon (formerly rated as 5 stars and absolute favorite) and now I’m nervous…

⭐💫

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