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A review by jenzhg
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
3.0
3.85/5 ⭐️
I think this book was fascinating and gorgeous or maybe I'm just biased because of all the literature quotes.
That aside, I can totally understand why people may not like this book or find it mediocre at most. While the book is a dual POV, Theodore Finch is our story's main protagonist and thus, if readers weren't able to connect with Theodore immediately, it would definitely make the book more difficult to enjoy.
I for one really loved his character. I think Finch was so lovely and endearing--so well-written which was why I think this book so easily plucked my heartstrings and made me cry.
I also really enjoyed how Jennifer Niven raised awareness about the stigmas surrounding mental health. While we're very lucky today to have social media and have a generation much more accepting towards mental health; society back then definitely weren't.
I think that some newer readers tend to just forget about that aspect and see this book more like a 'Romeo & Juliet', star-crossed lovers-Esque book but I really think it's more so about mental health and the importance of having support and the reality of actually finding said support. Most school systems continue to fail us by assuming our life back home is amazing when most of the time many parents can be negligent and/or abusive.
I also want to add that Violet was always going to be the one that was saved. I believe that Violet technically didn't have any mental illnesses and was just going through the harsh and unforgiving phases of grief whereas Theodore really was mentally unstable and actually was mentally ill. That being said, the book also explores the difficulty of helping a mentally ill person as their loved one/ person-on-the-side.
For the romance aspect, I LOVEDDDD it. It was slow and sweet yet once it took off, it was the best ride ever. Theodore was like the best boyfriend to Violet ever and like-wise. However, this is definitely moot but I personally believe that Violet wasn't as there for him as he was for her. Do I think that if she was it would've prevented him from his suicide? Absolutely not. Although, I definitely do think that it would've maybe made a bigger impact on Finch's ultimate decision. BACK TO THE ORIGINAL POINT, their wanderings (dates for future me who forgets) are always so beautiful and warm and endearing . IT MAKES ME SMILE SO WIDE!!! Regardless of the ending, both taught each other new things and were each others' cornerstones when they were mad at the world.
In conclusion, this book was wonderful and a somewhat insightful read. The book explores these concepts (mental health and the importance of support) while still being easy to read and appealing to a wide range of teenagers which of course, naturally sacrifices some of the heavier aspects that could've made this book even better . Hence, I give this book a 3.5/5 <3
- violet was lowkey annoying (ppl make mistakes tho)
- liked Theodore’s personality, god I LOVE him
- raising awareness to mental health & the stigmas back then (not so much now (we are very privileged) )
I think this book was fascinating and gorgeous or maybe I'm just biased because of all the literature quotes.
That aside, I can totally understand why people may not like this book or find it mediocre at most. While the book is a dual POV, Theodore Finch is our story's main protagonist and thus, if readers weren't able to connect with Theodore immediately, it would definitely make the book more difficult to enjoy.
I for one really loved his character. I think Finch was so lovely and endearing--so well-written which was why I think this book so easily plucked my heartstrings and made me cry.
I also really enjoyed how Jennifer Niven raised awareness about the stigmas surrounding mental health. While we're very lucky today to have social media and have a generation much more accepting towards mental health; society back then definitely weren't.
I think that some newer readers tend to just forget about that aspect and see this book more like a 'Romeo & Juliet', star-crossed lovers-Esque book but I really think it's more so about mental health and the importance of having support and the reality of actually finding said support. Most school systems continue to fail us by assuming our life back home is amazing when most of the time many parents can be negligent and/or abusive.
I also want to add that Violet was always going to be the one that was saved. I believe that Violet technically didn't have any mental illnesses and was just going through the harsh and unforgiving phases of grief whereas Theodore really was mentally unstable and actually was mentally ill. That being said, the book also explores the difficulty of helping a mentally ill person as their loved one/ person-on-the-side.
For the romance aspect, I LOVEDDDD it. It was slow and sweet yet once it took off, it was the best ride ever. Theodore was like the best boyfriend to Violet ever and like-wise. However, this is definitely moot but I personally believe that Violet wasn't as there for him as he was for her. Do I think that if she was it would've prevented him from his suicide? Absolutely not. Although, I definitely do think that it would've maybe made a bigger impact on Finch's ultimate decision. BACK TO THE ORIGINAL POINT, their wanderings (dates for future me who forgets) are always so beautiful and warm and endearing . IT MAKES ME SMILE SO WIDE!!! Regardless of the ending, both taught each other new things and were each others' cornerstones when they were mad at the world.
In conclusion, this book was wonderful and a somewhat insightful read. The book explores these concepts (mental health and the importance of support) while still being easy to read and appealing to a wide range of teenagers which of course, naturally sacrifices some of the heavier aspects that could've made this book even better . Hence, I give this book a 3.5/5 <3
- violet was lowkey annoying (ppl make mistakes tho)
- liked Theodore’s personality, god I LOVE him
- raising awareness to mental health & the stigmas back then (not so much now (we are very privileged) )