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cschaepe84's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Humorous, deep, insightful all in one despite the dark subject matter. Haunting, yet devastatingly beautiful.
I am destroyed. The tears cannot stop falling once they come.
A beautiful, yet heart-wrenching tragic story about two broken people who fall in love, and then fall apart.
Violet and Theodore "Finch" knew of each other from school, but never really had a meaningful interaction until one day on the school bell tower when they were each thinking about suicide. This is nothing new for Finch, as he has been struggling from an unnamed mental affliction, more than likely bipolar, for years and has already been labeled as the school "freak" and "weirdo" and so nobody thinks much of his dramatic display. Violet, however, is more part of the popular crowd, a good girl of whom a bad thing happened to, losing her sister in a car accident nearly a year ago. Everyone's concerned for her, and watch with horror as the two of them interact up there. Now, nobody knows what is said between them, nobody sees what really transpires, which is why when Finch talks Violet down from the bell tower, they are instantly bound by secret. To save her reputation, Finch loudly declares Violet his savior, and lets everyone think that it was Violet that talked Finch out of suicide, nothing more. Life goes on, Violet's reputation intact, and Finch proving once again what a "freak" he is.
Violet thinks nothing of it, really. Ever since her sister died from a car accident that she survived, she has been struggling with grief, guilt, and depression. Life has become restrictive for her, and all her interests and everything that made her her fades into the woodwork, and she doesn't recognize the girl she has become. She has loving parents, good friends at school, including one of the most popular girls in the class. She has a supportive ex-boyfriend, a boy who everyone at school loves, and he waits patiently in the wings for her to come back to him. But Violet is a shell of the girl she was. Nobody expects anything of her because of her complicated grief, and she is more or less treated as a fragile china doll, and her grief becomes a free pass to avoid life.
She shares US Geography with Finch. They have a last semester project for the class in which you have to work in pairs, and Finch loudly declares for Violet to be his partner. Violet wants to get out of the project, but Mr. Black does not allow her to take a pass on it. Because the project is to get to know the state of Indiana, all the places to go and see, and report it toward the end of the year. And so, to Violet's dismay, her journey with Finch begins.
Honestly, I really love Finch. He's hard not to like and is very thoughtful and insightful, sharing his musings about death that are at times funny (even though death is not funny, but I have a dark and dry sense of humor, and sometimes I deal with my sad thoughts too this way, so I totally understand it). He is fascinated by death, not so much because he's incredibly depressed, but because he feels at times overwhelmed by his own existence and how he relates to the world around him (or at least that's how I interpret him). I love getting inside Finch's head, and as a psych nurse, I have an appreciation of how his mind works and what he experiences. But, his mind is a lonely place, a party of one, and although he has two great friends, he feels misunderstood and unwanted by those around him. Despite this, he still tries to reach out for love, and the moment Violet smiled at him, a real smile, not a fake smile, he becomes fascinated with her.
Violet and Finch's interactions are entertaining to read and adorable. He and he alone knows the secret pain Violet is in, and challenges her to get out a live again. By using their Geography project, the two spend time together, and slowly become enmeshed in each other's lives, eventually falling in love. Violet is able to finally really start living, to be present in the moment and fill each day with meaning, instead of simply counting down the days until graduation.
But little does she know, that while she's coming into full bloom, Finch is starting to wither away. His mental health deteriorates. He starts to live in his closet instead of his bedroom because the space overwhelms him. He pains his whole room blue to feel like he's surrounded by water. He struggles to stay, if even just for Violet, but as he worsens, even she is not enough, and he does take his own life.
But that's not the end of the story. Yes, it's very sad, and Finch's death left me crushed along with Violet. However, in small ways, Finch leaves Violet with something of a scavenger hunt on the map from their Wandering Indiana project. He knew she needed to get out into the world and broaden her horizons, and even in death, thinks about her. She finishes their map, and finds traces of him left behind, seeing the world through his eyes, and feeling all the more grateful for this.
Suicide is a very tough subject to touch in a novel without either fluffing it up, romanticizing it, or making the victim or the survivors out to be a villain, but I felt that this book covers it eloquently. This book does not shy away from acknowledging the tragedy that a suicide is, but it does not point a particular blame on anyone in particular either. I understand a lot of the negative reviewers felt that Finch's personality was defined by his mental illness, but I definitely did not feel that this was the case. As a person, he is thoughtful, imaginative, feels very deeply, and always thirsts for knowledge, which I could separate from his mental illness. I like how there wasn't the "he was too beautiful for this world" message either, which would have, yes, romanticized his death and sent a bad message about suicide. I felt that the portrayal was rather honest, albeit painful, which I how I felt Violet's experience was when she was dealing with his passing. Toward the end of the book, even with her sadness, Violet is able to become emotionally stronger and fully confront and deal with Eleanor's death and all the emotions she's kept hidden the whole time. I feel that the message here is to take life by making a series of wonderful moments to hold onto, along with the bad, and that life in and of itself is a journey, and that "it's not what you take, it's what you leave behind."
I am destroyed. The tears cannot stop falling once they come.
A beautiful, yet heart-wrenching tragic story about two broken people who fall in love, and then fall apart.
Violet and Theodore "Finch" knew of each other from school, but never really had a meaningful interaction until one day on the school bell tower when they were each thinking about suicide. This is nothing new for Finch, as he has been struggling from an unnamed mental affliction, more than likely bipolar, for years and has already been labeled as the school "freak" and "weirdo" and so nobody thinks much of his dramatic display. Violet, however, is more part of the popular crowd, a good girl of whom a bad thing happened to, losing her sister in a car accident nearly a year ago. Everyone's concerned for her, and watch with horror as the two of them interact up there. Now, nobody knows what is said between them, nobody sees what really transpires, which is why when Finch talks Violet down from the bell tower, they are instantly bound by secret. To save her reputation, Finch loudly declares Violet his savior, and lets everyone think that it was Violet that talked Finch out of suicide, nothing more. Life goes on, Violet's reputation intact, and Finch proving once again what a "freak" he is.
Violet thinks nothing of it, really. Ever since her sister died from a car accident that she survived, she has been struggling with grief, guilt, and depression. Life has become restrictive for her, and all her interests and everything that made her her fades into the woodwork, and she doesn't recognize the girl she has become. She has loving parents, good friends at school, including one of the most popular girls in the class. She has a supportive ex-boyfriend, a boy who everyone at school loves, and he waits patiently in the wings for her to come back to him. But Violet is a shell of the girl she was. Nobody expects anything of her because of her complicated grief, and she is more or less treated as a fragile china doll, and her grief becomes a free pass to avoid life.
She shares US Geography with Finch. They have a last semester project for the class in which you have to work in pairs, and Finch loudly declares for Violet to be his partner. Violet wants to get out of the project, but Mr. Black does not allow her to take a pass on it. Because the project is to get to know the state of Indiana, all the places to go and see, and report it toward the end of the year. And so, to Violet's dismay, her journey with Finch begins.
Honestly, I really love Finch. He's hard not to like and is very thoughtful and insightful, sharing his musings about death that are at times funny (even though death is not funny, but I have a dark and dry sense of humor, and sometimes I deal with my sad thoughts too this way, so I totally understand it). He is fascinated by death, not so much because he's incredibly depressed, but because he feels at times overwhelmed by his own existence and how he relates to the world around him (or at least that's how I interpret him). I love getting inside Finch's head, and as a psych nurse, I have an appreciation of how his mind works and what he experiences. But, his mind is a lonely place, a party of one, and although he has two great friends, he feels misunderstood and unwanted by those around him. Despite this, he still tries to reach out for love, and the moment Violet smiled at him, a real smile, not a fake smile, he becomes fascinated with her.
Violet and Finch's interactions are entertaining to read and adorable. He and he alone knows the secret pain Violet is in, and challenges her to get out a live again. By using their Geography project, the two spend time together, and slowly become enmeshed in each other's lives, eventually falling in love. Violet is able to finally really start living, to be present in the moment and fill each day with meaning, instead of simply counting down the days until graduation.
But little does she know, that while she's coming into full bloom, Finch is starting to wither away. His mental health deteriorates. He starts to live in his closet instead of his bedroom because the space overwhelms him. He pains his whole room blue to feel like he's surrounded by water. He struggles to stay, if even just for Violet, but as he worsens, even she is not enough, and he does take his own life.
But that's not the end of the story. Yes, it's very sad, and Finch's death left me crushed along with Violet. However, in small ways, Finch leaves Violet with something of a scavenger hunt on the map from their Wandering Indiana project. He knew she needed to get out into the world and broaden her horizons, and even in death, thinks about her. She finishes their map, and finds traces of him left behind, seeing the world through his eyes, and feeling all the more grateful for this.
Suicide is a very tough subject to touch in a novel without either fluffing it up, romanticizing it, or making the victim or the survivors out to be a villain, but I felt that this book covers it eloquently. This book does not shy away from acknowledging the tragedy that a suicide is, but it does not point a particular blame on anyone in particular either. I understand a lot of the negative reviewers felt that Finch's personality was defined by his mental illness, but I definitely did not feel that this was the case. As a person, he is thoughtful, imaginative, feels very deeply, and always thirsts for knowledge, which I could separate from his mental illness. I like how there wasn't the "he was too beautiful for this world" message either, which would have, yes, romanticized his death and sent a bad message about suicide. I felt that the portrayal was rather honest, albeit painful, which I how I felt Violet's experience was when she was dealing with his passing. Toward the end of the book, even with her sadness, Violet is able to become emotionally stronger and fully confront and deal with Eleanor's death and all the emotions she's kept hidden the whole time. I feel that the message here is to take life by making a series of wonderful moments to hold onto, along with the bad, and that life in and of itself is a journey, and that "it's not what you take, it's what you leave behind."
Reading Progress
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Bullying, Mental illness, Suicide, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Car accident
ltulisiak's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Physical abuse and Child abuse
Inewyorkshire's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This gave me Perks of Being a Wallflowe vibes. A raw exploration of the impact of grief. Also a difficult look at how bi-polar/manic-depression can be overwhelming, especially when not undersood by the person experiencing it or the people in their life.
Important message by the end: reach out. Talk. Speak up!
Important message by the end: reach out. Talk. Speak up!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Physical abuse and Domestic abuse
purplee_rain89's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It was so beautifully written and you could totally immense yourself in the story, almost feeling like you're the one living through it. The topics it talks about are difficult but important nonetheless and it's done in a way that portrays the seriousness of mental illness and suicide/suicidal ideation really well but even despite this, the end of the book leaves you with some sort of hope that healing is possible and you can in fact find your own way. It was heart wrenching and devastating but has its own beauty after all and I'll definitely read it again.
Sending lots of love to anyone struggling right now, you matter and you're so so strong. You will find your way through this eventually; I believe in you, truly <3
Sending lots of love to anyone struggling right now, you matter and you're so so strong. You will find your way through this eventually; I believe in you, truly <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Bullying, and Car accident
Moderate: Cursing, Child abuse, Abandonment, Self harm, Addiction, Physical abuse, Vomit, and Violence
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
amandawhyatt's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
itssopreppyinhere's review against another edition
dark
emotional
lighthearted
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. The story is very well put together and flowed through nicely. There are a few parts of the book where I lost interest and it felt like the author was just trying to lengthen the book, but I was proven wrong because all of those moments contribute to the outcome of the book.
The way the author never fully describes Finch’s bipolar disorder shows how a lot of people’s mental health goes unlabeled and we should look out for certain signs.
This book also teaches a lot of valuable lessons about consent when you’re in a relationship. The most important lesson to take away from this book is to always be there for others because they may seem like they have it together but on the inside they just want to leave.
This is my own message to anyone who is reading this but please look out for your loved ones.
It doesn’t hurt to ask them how they’re doing every once in a while and it’s definitely not weird. You never know when you can unexpectedly save a life.
The way the author never fully describes Finch’s bipolar disorder shows how a lot of people’s mental health goes unlabeled and we should look out for certain signs.
This book also teaches a lot of valuable lessons about consent when you’re in a relationship. The most important lesson to take away from this book is to always be there for others because they may seem like they have it together but on the inside they just want to leave.
This is my own message to anyone who is reading this but please look out for your loved ones.
It doesn’t hurt to ask them how they’re doing every once in a while and it’s definitely not weird. You never know when you can unexpectedly save a life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Mental illness
bum_bomb's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is a very eye-opening book that needs to be talked about more.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide and Mental illness
tayrod4594's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is a hard book to read, from an emotional standpoint. It's absolutely worth it, though, because Niven somehow finds the beauty and the hope in the aftermath and the memories. I honestly think this book should be required reading in school.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Grief, Suicide, Animal death, and Bullying
lilybeatrice's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
A brilliant book, but the writing quality was just slightly lacking for me. However, the story was enough to make up for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Mental illness
reading_srsly's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
* Mental illness
* School Project
* Harsh Realities
* First Person Voice
Every school project is another chance to make a new connection, and the Bartlett High ‘Wander Indiana’ US Geography project is no different. For the school outcast and the popular girl still mourning the death of her sister, it’s the catalyst that keeps them together after a chance meeting on the ledge of the school bell tower. They begin to explore the beauty of the world around them - and finally face the traumatic challenges haunting them.
The author does a great job of developing empathetic characters and establishing their relationships with their peers and the world around them. It was easy to get drawn into their world and begin to root for them, which made the ending all the more impactful. The plot itself is messy and spontaneous, which I think is a reflection of the mindset of our characters - in that way I think it’s less of a love story, and more of a study of mental illness and how one person can change the life of another. Finch’s particular struggle isn’t named at the start of the book, and the author’s choice to not explicitly label Finch’s problems or the medical justifications behind why he makes questionable choices I think makes the story feel more authentic - not everyone who is struggling wants to know what’s wrong, or is aware of what they’re struggling with, or honest that they’re struggling at all until it’s too late .
That being said, I have mixed feelings about this book, and I wouldn’t recommend it to just anybody. As an isolated story, I think it was phenomenal. But for someone who’s really struggling with the darker concepts of this book, I’m not sure it’s the most encouraging portrayal out there (though I’m definitely not the one qualified to make the final determination). I’m not sure how I feel about how neatly things were tied up, and how Finch’s entire existence seemed to be reduced to a plot device. It’s especially jarring because the way the book is written it feels like it should be Finch’s journey as he is the one with the most autonomy and determination to change, yet Violet is the one who benefits from his efforts - as though no matter how hard you work at improving you’re reliant on external forces for the change to actually be successful. This book makes it feel as though once someone’s crossed over into suicidal ideation it’s inevitable, and trying to get help for someone can be a dangerous catalyst for them to end it.
This book is a good conversation starter for mental health and the struggle to feel normal. If you’re not in the right headspace for a depressing read that'll make you ugly cry over the injustices and romanticized tragedies of the world, this might not be the book for you. But if you’re in the mood to see the world from a different perspective and reflect on how little you might know about the people around you and your effect on them, you’ll love All the Bright Places.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death, Grief, Child abuse, and Suicide
Minor: Car accident and Sexual content