You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
cschaepe84's review against another edition
- 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
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."
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Car accident
mahaofhyrule's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and Car accident
Minor: Bullying
purplee_rain89's review against another edition
- 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
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
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, and Abandonment
Minor: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
tayrod4594's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt
reading_srsly's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Suicide, and Grief
Minor: Sexual content and Car accident
harley_dean's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief
Moderate: Death, Suicide, Car accident, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Eating disorder, Violence, and Vomit
parasihir's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
Moderate: Vomit
sophienocturne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Bullying, Physical abuse, and Car accident
Minor: Eating disorder
naoml's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, and Grief
Moderate: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Self harm, and Car accident
wet_towlette's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The dad is a Canadian hockey player 😭😭
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Car accident, and Suicide attempt