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dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Mental illness
Minor: Vomit, Car accident
emotional
reflective
sad
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
have never cried harder in my life
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicide
challenging
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child abuse
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
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
I want to start my review off with that there will be spoilers (of course hidden) and are some big triggers for suicide, suicidal ideation and loss.
Violet is a senior whose sister passed away and Theodore Finch is a senior who has an undiagnosed mental illness. They found each other in the most unlikely of places and come together for a senior class project.
This book delves into both of their pasts. Violet has survivors guilt and is grieving her sister which has affected her future and contemplating suicide. Finch has an undiagnosed mental illness (revealed later to be bipolar disorder) and been abused as a child by his father who is now divorced and he sees on a weekly basis.
As these two become closer, a romance forms. The author does a great job in writing both characters. You can understand Violet and how her grief has affected her. You can also see how mental illness has affected Finch in the sometimes subtle and unsubtle words and actions.
The ending was not one that I expected when going into the story or even as I read the book. While the foreshadowing of Finch’s health are not spoken about overtly, the suicide itself was beautifully written. While I was not a huge fan of how the relationship ended, how his death was written, the characters response to it, and the aftermath were written well. I do think the ending was a bit rushed and could have given more details such as Finch’s family’s reactions and have given more of a sense of closure.
Overall, this book was good. It reminded me of Thirteen Reasons Why in some aspects and explained about the effects of mental illness, abuse, and bullying can have on a person. I liked the themes of hopefulness and how that even if someone does love you, that it sometimes cannot overshadow the effects of mental illness or make it better/go away.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Child abuse, Car accident
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Made me want to crawl in a ball and cry.
I started off this book thinking that it was gonna end with a happy ending but was devastatingly wrong. The more I read, the more I felt stuck with it. In a way that I didn’t want to put the book down. I was completely hooked on the book and the characters so when it ended the way that it did, I felt completely empty and didn’t know what to do with life anymore. It was truely amazing reading about Violet and Finch coming together and their friendship but also how Violet started moving on from her sisters accident. I had such high hopes that they would work things out together and then live happily ever after but I also love how it ended because it felt like that it was more realistic with the ending like that. It really showed how trauma and mental illness affects different people and that sometimes it ends well, but sometimes it doesn’t.
I started off this book thinking that it was gonna end with a happy ending but was devastatingly wrong. The more I read, the more I felt stuck with it. In a way that I didn’t want to put the book down. I was completely hooked on the book and the characters so when it ended the way that it did, I felt completely empty and didn’t know what to do with life anymore. It was truely amazing reading about Violet and Finch coming together and their friendship but also how Violet started moving on from her sisters accident. I had such high hopes that they would work things out together and then live happily ever after but I also love how it ended because it felt like that it was more realistic with the ending like that. It really showed how trauma and mental illness affects different people and that sometimes it ends well, but sometimes it doesn’t.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Alcoholism, Vomit
Minor: Eating disorder, Infidelity
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
While it didn’t quite reach 4* for me, overall it was a good book, I really enjoyed the character writing for both Finch and Violet as it feels natural and that these are real humans. Tbh, didn’t find either one to be particularly likeable (especially Finch) but I really liked how you can genuinely understand where they are coming from in a lot of aspects.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide
Moderate: Sexual content
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Minor: Violence
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Jennifer Niven got this book spot on. It's the most beautiful book I've ever read, this my second time reading it and I loved it just as much. The connection you feel with the characters as you learn about their story is so special. It's so heartbreaking and real.(check content warnings) <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child abuse, Car accident
Minor: Child death