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ah_nailse's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
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
4.75
It’s a sucker punch to the gut every time I’ve read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief
theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Please check the content warnings.
This was not an easy book to read. I took a few breaks to feel my feelings before picking it back up. That being said, Jennifer Niven did an amazing job of showing Violet and Finch’s worlds colliding, melding, and ripping apart.
This was not an easy book to read. I took a few breaks to feel my feelings before picking it back up. That being said, Jennifer Niven did an amazing job of showing Violet and Finch’s worlds colliding, melding, and ripping apart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, and Suicide
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Alcohol
Minor: Cursing and Sexual content
whatbidoureads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
(TW: heavy topics are brought up in this review, if you are triggered by mental illnesses, please skip this review and have a great day!)
I bought this book when it first came out and left it on the shelf because the main topic is one that hits close to home.
Then a movie came out (because every best seller needs a movie am I right…) and I watched it. I know you’ll say you should read the book first blablabla and most times I agree with you. But this time I don’t.
The movie I watched, even “enjoyed” to some extent.
BUT THE BOOK.
I usually put a book down when I don’t like it but I finished this one just to write a review. Bare with me as I try to word it out in a clear nice way.
As someone who has an understanding, and first hand experience of the main topics in this book I would never recommend it to someone. I’d go as far as to say it can cause so much harm if I’m the wrong hands (aka someone dealing with S.A and mental illnesses).
I understand this book was written by a survivor of suicide through the loss of a friend and it almost feels like an autobiography dedicated to the love Jennifer had for her friend, and I can get behind that. (note: everyone’s grieving process is different, and I am in no way undermining her grief, or the process she has gone through)
But the take she has on mental illness, and teenagers is appalling.
The book starts nice and gentle with 2 teens connecting under the circumstances of Violet - popular girl- dealing with the loss of her sister in a car accident, and Finch - outcast- dealing with bullying and depression (to make it short). The beginning is sweet as he kind of forces his way into her life and picks her up off the ground to “live again” after her sisters death. But on the other side you have his story. A glorified anti-hero who is at first portrayed as this cool, misunderstood, handsome so called “freak” with personal struggles, who towards the end is portrayed as someone who was trying to get better, and wanted to live. As a survivor myself, I can tell you I didn’t see it. (And I’m one to annotate and highlight my books).
At no point was there any indication of character growth towards that, or any indication of help he could have gotten from others. So on one hand you have Violet, main character, good growth, she eventually grieves all her losses (without any counseling, help group, friend or family’s help but finch - like what), and Finch who was left for dead from the beginning of the book.
There’s a few topics that annoyed me in this book as well, and that in my eyes are cannot be overlooked as they are everywhere in the book.
- Talk of mental illnesses in the sense that some characters are simply restricted to their illness (such asself-harm, eating disorders, depression), and Finch is basically a glorified suicide victim,
-slut shaming,
- body shaming,
- Speech about the girls in the book (they are looked down upon),
- the lack of adult/parental figure. In fact there was literally NO ONE helping Finch to get better. His mother too worried about her own personal struggles, the COUNCELOR too busy explaining that if a student dies on school grounds he will get a lawsuit, his dad with a new family, his so called friends who randomly pop into the story, and the help group with literally one session and no follow ups on that lead in the story.
Overall, this book is very disappointing and if you skip it, you won’t miss anything unfortunately..
I bought this book when it first came out and left it on the shelf because the main topic is one that hits close to home.
Then a movie came out (because every best seller needs a movie am I right…) and I watched it. I know you’ll say you should read the book first blablabla and most times I agree with you. But this time I don’t.
The movie I watched, even “enjoyed” to some extent.
BUT THE BOOK.
I usually put a book down when I don’t like it but I finished this one just to write a review. Bare with me as I try to word it out in a clear nice way.
As someone who has an understanding, and first hand experience of the main topics in this book I would never recommend it to someone. I’d go as far as to say it can cause so much harm if I’m the wrong hands (aka someone dealing with S.A and mental illnesses).
I understand this book was written by a survivor of suicide through the loss of a friend and it almost feels like an autobiography dedicated to the love Jennifer had for her friend, and I can get behind that. (note: everyone’s grieving process is different, and I am in no way undermining her grief, or the process she has gone through)
But the take she has on mental illness, and teenagers is appalling.
At no point was there any indication of character growth towards that, or any indication of help he could have gotten from others. So on one hand you have Violet, main character, good growth, she eventually grieves all her losses (without any counseling, help group, friend or family’s help but finch - like what), and Finch who was left for dead from the beginning of the book.
There’s a few topics that annoyed me in this book as well, and that in my eyes are cannot be overlooked as they are everywhere in the book.
- Talk of mental illnesses in the sense that some characters are simply restricted to their illness (such as
-
- body shaming,
- Speech about the girls in the book (they are looked down upon),
- the lack of adult/parental figure. In fact there was literally NO ONE helping Finch to get better.
Overall, this book is very disappointing and if you skip it, you won’t miss anything unfortunately..
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Bullying, Physical abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Child abuse
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Abandonment, Body shaming, Car accident, Eating disorder, Self harm, and Mental illness
the_true_monroe's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Starting off with what I disliked.
While I appreciate the author’s note and how personal this book is to the author, and how there was a lot of research into mental health and suicide, I could not see much past how badly certain topics were portrayed. Not in the way of “everyone grieves differently” or “this is real life” because all of that is true- this book did not need a happy ending and it was important to include a lot of the stuff we wish did not happen- but in how some things that were very inappropriate or not recommended were not even touched upon.
One thing I wish there was more of in the book was that suicide support group. Although that was not really a realistic portrayal of a group (at least one that is run well) as they literally had everyone share their diagnoses and method of previous suicide attempt (which today goes against safe suicide messaging) introducing another part of who Amanda was was really nice even if she did horribly out Finch to Violet despite her knowing how much she would hate of anyone knew she herself was there.Although it was all nice when Ryan and Amanda joined Violet and Finch’s other friends for a tribute to Finch, we did not have enough character development of Amanda and especially Ryan to justify them being any different from the other mourners at the school who at best never paid any attention to Finch and at worst tormented him.
Also, Finch was pretty coercive and pushy towards Violet such as when he ripped up her note twice when she did not have a direct “yes” … like cool, you are looking for direct consent but you did not except anything but that.
And now, what I appreciated!
I did like Finch’s counselor - he was genuine and even though he started out kind of “eh” for me, he was actually direct with Finch and tried so much to help him beyond actually making him get additional help, which he acknowledges he could have done more anyway. And also, people need to want to get help and Finch did, multiple times. But even the people who fight most against suicide- for themselves and others- end up dying by suicide. And even though people say this book romanticized suicide (which I can see, especially with Violet going on the journey to visit the remaining wandering spots), I think having seen Finch in so many different states of mind- the backs and forths of what his illness does to him, and how he KNEW he wanted to live at so many points, and appreciated life and being awake- he still ended up taking his life. And that happens… a lot. Some of the best advocates for suicide prevention die by suicide even with years of saying “there is always help” and “I am here for you”. I am a suicide prevention advocate myself but also know that a lot of messaging around suicide prevention can make it seem like loved ones did something wrong or did not try hard enough. This books gets that right- how that is in no way true and suicide prevention is not about you as one person preventing a suicide but it is a collective effort across the lifespan for people to recognize the signs, and have the resources to help both themselves and others.
Closing thoughts:
While I clearly disliked this book overall, I am so glad I read it. As a suicide prevention advocate it is interesting to me to read and watch different portrayals of mental health and suicide over time. Even since this was written in 2015, so much has changed to where I know the movie addressed some things that this book did not (although I need to watch it still). I feel like if I read it around when it came out, I would have loved this as I did Thirteen Reasons Why.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Toxic friendship and Stalking
Minor: Eating disorder, Ableism, Homophobia, Sexual content, Car accident, and Animal death
maddie1113's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Toxic relationship
ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Sexual content
charli_bear's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
This book was informative on mental illness. As it talks a lot on suicidal ideation and suicide in general as well as Finch being bipolar, and the awake and sleep of bipolar disorder and how hard it is to live with that. It also shows the impact of sucide on others even when you don't think other people care, they do. This book helped me with my understanding of bipolar disorder and mental illness in general. I highly recommend, however be sure to check content warnings before going into this book as it does have a few dark topics.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Death
Minor: Sexual content and Car accident
chuckielittle's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
It's exceptionally hard to rate this book, relating to and having lived so many of its events personally. The characters felt believable and real for once (which is rare in a YA novel) and weren't in the least irritating.
Parts of it did feel an awful lot like info-dumping, but it was all important, valuable, and relevant information that added to the storyline and filled it out more.
Heartbreaking, hopeful, and cathartic, to sum up.
Parts of it did feel an awful lot like info-dumping, but it was all important, valuable, and relevant information that added to the storyline and filled it out more.
Heartbreaking, hopeful, and cathartic, to sum up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Mental illness, and Bullying
Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Car accident, Alcohol, Self harm, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Child abuse
butterbb109's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
4.75
I had only discovered the book after watching the movie, a movie which I have watched more times than the fingers on my hand. I adored the movie, and thought to give the book a try, which lived up to my expectations. It was a beautifully written book, painting a picture that displayed the raw, dark emotions of Finch and Violet. Although some would say the book is cliché, or sounds like a teenage “fan fic”, it’s truly emotional, and written perfectly. Jessica Niven wrote in a way that made me bawl my eyes out multiple times. I had never understood the term “kin”, but when it comes to Finch, it felt as if my thoughts had been a written out by someone else. I have never related so much to a character, I truly feel as if I have been heard and seen after reading this book. Jessica writes in a way that’s relatable and informative on mental health, showing that everyone is struggling with their own things, no matter how big or small. I also think the author invites the readers to reach out, if they can relate, to be better, because people care about them, and there’s so many Bright Places on this earth for us to see.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Grief, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Self harm
krazykris's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Writing was fine and compelling enough, I just cannot get over a lot of the themes being handled inappropriately and how the main character's boyfriend's suffering is minimized to only affecting her. He seems to be written as a burden on the main character and the main character is just also pretty annoying. She's shallow and doesn't actually care for her partner.
Overall, this is super overhyped and does not deal carefully with these kind of topics. I do not want to say it's trauma-porn, but it does feel like a kind of voyeurism that only sees people with mental health issues as burdens.
I did connect with the main characters and cried throughout the book, so it's not to say I did not react. It's just... not as great people say it is.
Overall, this is super overhyped and does not deal carefully with these kind of topics. I do not want to say it's trauma-porn, but it does feel like a kind of voyeurism that only sees people with mental health issues as burdens.
I did connect with the main characters and cried throughout the book, so it's not to say I did not react. It's just... not as great people say it is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, and Car accident