Book 17/30.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
4 ½ stars ✨
Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him. Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death. When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.
I can see myself reading All the Bright Places again and again and again, but for first time reading this love story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die ought to come with a warning: WILL break your heart and MIGHT make you cry 💔🥺
I was reading this when my mental health was quite fragile and I found myself resonating HARD with Finch. I took my sweet time reading as I wanted to savour all of Finch’s thoughts and words because I deeply understood where he was coming from. I may not fully grasp what it is like to live with depression as severe as his, but I experienced two major depressive episodes in December last year and January this year, with the latter causing me to be admitted to a mental hospital. I know what it is like to struggle with suicidal ideation and so my heart really went out to Finch. I was reading in bed one night when I got to the major plot point of the novel, and I simply closed the book and just continued to lie down because my heart was broken. My husband found me like that and, considering I was just coming off Five Bad Days, he was quite worried about me.
Heartbreak aside, the writing was so lovely and I enjoyed the storyline (who knew Indiana could be interesting 😅) and the characters. Finch and Violet are the main protagonists obviously, but all the other characters were fleshed out quite well and they all felt extremely real.
This is the seventeenth book of my 2025 reading challenge, and I point that out because I am yet to read a 5 star book. As I was a third, and then a half, way into this I started to think that this Jennifer Niven novel might just be my first 5 star read of the year. But when I finished the book and wanted to rate it on Goodreads, I sat with my thoughts and feelings and came to the realization that I was not too sure if it was a 4 or 5 star read. So I decided to go with 4 ½ stars (something I do not do too often) as you do not have to talk yourself into a 5 star rating, because when you know you just know.
All the Bright Places won the Goodreads Choice Award for Readers’ Favorite Young Adult Fiction in 2015 and I love that for it! I read the synopsis for the movie and it does not sound anywhere near as good as the book, so I am not sure if I will give it a go or not…
** A guide to ratings **
1 star – did not like it
2 stars – it was okay
3 stars – liked it
4 stars – really liked it
5 stars – it was amazing
Lwile the Leo 