OK, fair warning, while author Jennifer Niven has written several adult books, she decided to write a young adult book, and consequently this book does contain some well worn teen age cliches i.e.; Two star crossed lovers contemplating suicide meet on a ledge and somehow manage to fall in love. But the book does have several moments of brilliance. I laughed out loud when when of the girls in the book named her bike Leroy just so she could tell her parents she was out "riding Leroy". I loved how Ficnhe's pet name for Violet Markey was "Ultraviolet Remarkey-able". And the scene when after having a fight Violet wanted to hear Finch apologize. He couldn't manage the words but he took her hand and Violet was able to "feel the apology in her hand" and was blown away. As was I by that scene. ( )

What do you do when you dislike both main characters of a story....but you are halfway through it and you don't want to choose another one for school?

That is the case with me, "All the Bright Places" and my Teen Literature class.

To me, neither Finch nor Violet resonated with me. This book was compared to "The Fault in Our Stars" and to be honest, that book wrecked me. A book that tackles mental illness (in this case, bipolar disorder) was of course something that resonated with me. And a character never fully acknowledging their disorder, never fully sharing what is going on....that was this book.

There were elements I loved in this book: especially the message that we never fully know the impact we have left on a person's life until they are gone. Violet didn't realize all of the ways that Finch had helped HER through her own mental health, her own suicidal ideation, her moving past her sister's death.

I do feel as if this book should acknowledge it can have triggers. Finch's constant thoughts on suicide and its different forms would give "credibility" to those who are wrestling with suicidal thoughts themselves.
( )

An interesting book but a little depressing which isn't that surprising considering the storyline. Had I been a teenager when I read it I think I would have loved it even though it would have probably broken my heart. Worth listening to, I may also have enjoyed it more had I read the physical book and not listened to an audiobook. ( )

Whew, Okay! This book has been on my shelf for over four years now. I bought it on a sale online and never bothered to read after figuring out that it was as cliche as cliche could be.The first few chapters made me hate both the main characters. It was like they were taken out of a box.
I made up my mind and finally decided to get it over with this time. Even now, I couldn't bring myself to read past the first few chapters as it kept boring me.
Finch came off as cocky and annoying. At times, I felt like he was almost indirectly and sometimes directly pressuring Violet to be his friend. Certain parts are definitely problematic and Finch is, hands down, a stalker. I don't know if it's the effect "You"(the Netflix series) has on people or is being a stalker cute now? If I say anything else, I would have to put up a spoiler tag on the review and I don't wanna go through trouble like that for a book like this.
He even seems to have a type. I was glad that he admitted it. There are points where I feel like Violet was just a reason for him to feel alive. The romance felt lacking and very boring.
I felt like there were a lot of tropes involved just to extract emotions from the readers and that author tried too hard to do so, which was very obvious to me. If you didn't feel so, then happy reading!
Nevertheless, the story picked up later on but the cheesy lines that they keep telling each other in between didn't really help. I didn't find myself attached to both of the characters even though they had very convincing and emotional backgrounds that is relatable to me and I presume, other readers, to varying extents. This relatability could be one of the reasons why the characters seemed a little hollow to me, personally.
I feel like topics as serious and sensitive as mental illness and suicide were romanticized (which is something that is talked about a lot today and a lot of Young Adult authors are found guilty of doing this). This book, however, came out a while ago when it was starting to be a trend and it was not really blamed for doing the same. I haven't read a lot of other reviews and maybe it was blamed. If so, good job, readers! Since I have shat on this book for a while now, let me mention the only good thing about it, which is that Jennifer Niven definitely did good by redirecting the story to a point where it seems more realistic, that it's not all rosy coloured and that sometimes love, even when it feels like it could be enough, it's not. That's why I gave it a 1.5/5. (Since Goodreads doesn't let me give half stars so 2 it is!)
Hey, but admit it, we did see the ending coming. At least, I did. Maybe I have read way too many YA fiction novels now and my mind is rotten. Teehee!
If you haven't read this book, don't bother. You can live without it.
If really you want to check it out, then I wouldn't stop you from doing so.
Toodles!

P.S. Thank you for making me realize I am too old for this shizaz. (Shizaz being books where they use mental illness as a cute character development trope and make two of extremely problematic people forcefully fall in love.) ( )

Update: After having written a paper on the portrayal of depression in YAL, I've got to say that there are a LOT of problems with this book.

Original: They're right. This is one of the good ones. Just go read it. Don't read any reviews; they'll spoil something unintentionally.

This was a rollercoaster. I didn't cry until after I put it down, and then I thought about it, and absolutely bawled. There were so many scenes in this book that perfectly encompassed the feelings of depression and of feeling so small inside this great big world.

Theo's character. Oh goodness. I hurt. He was incredibly well written, and gorgeously flawed. I fell in love with him in this book, and I wanted to fix him. And in that regard I related with Violet even more and loved her even more.

This book reminded me of the Spectacular Now, movie version. Not sure why as they're pretty different. Just an observation.

This lived up to the hype, and was a smooth and easy read, despite the tears, and definitely one for the lists.