2016 Book #7 (Review): 'All the Bright Places' by Jennifer Niven

I actually finished this book back in August, but it was the last non-uni course book I read! I am taking a module in Comparative Literature this semester so, as well as all the reading of academic articles I have to do for my other modules, I have a novel a week to get through for that! Maybe I'll do a joint post about them when my exams are all over. But for now, I apologise for the lack of blog posts. I really want to get into reading and writing for fun a lot more, but when you spend every day during the semester reading and writing as an arts student, sometimes coming home to Netflix is preferable for relaxing haha! That said, my literature module has served to reinforce within me my love for books. Like, they smell great too? Ok, I'm going to move on because I sound weird....

Anyway, I downloaded this novel for Kindle in the summer because I'd seen it in the bookshop a lot, and because I became aware of the Zoella Book Club by the Youtuber Zoe Sugg, which was her selection of 8 books to read for the WHSmith scheme over the summer. I had already read half (click on the titles to read my reviews  of 'We Were Liars' , 'Fangirl' , 'Billy and Me' and the book I always say is my favourite book of all time when people ask, 'The Sky is Everywhere' which I read years and years ago before it became popular!) of the books Zoe chose, so I thought it would be nice to work my way through the other 4. However, I never got round to reading the other 3, and now Zoe has brought out a new Autumn book club with 8 more titles! So now I have 11 to catch up on as well as all the other books I'd like to read haha! So I'm not necessarily going to read them all straight away or in the weeks you're supposed to as part of the book club, but it's always nice to get recommendations so I'll add her suggested titles onto my growing list!

'All the Bright Places' was a really great read. In fact, it was probably one of the best books I've read

this year so far. My first impression was a little mixed... the book is quite a hard read in the sense that it deals majorly with depression in young people and suicidal thoughts, and I was a little concerned that this would be quite triggering if I was reading when feeling less positive than usual. However, as the story unfolded I found that, while it was by no means an easy ride emotionally, it was also quite uplifting.

In parts the plot was quite unrealistic. I mean the romantic inside me would really love to believe that the boy who's constantly picked on and the popular girl who's become a recluse could coincidently meet exactly at the moment they both needed it most and be mutually attracted, and maybe it really is possible. I came to accept it because the story took a far more realistic turn, but you can understand why I was initially a little dubious haha?! I mean, if only life worked that way.

However, Niven did an excellent job of painting a picture of teenage emotion and confusion in a very real way.

One thing I really liked was that the leading male character, Finch, was the one mostly depicted as being in a vulnerable mental health position, which I thought made a nice change from the stereotypical young, depressed girl which has worryingly almost become seen as cliché in YA novels. It reminded me of the truth and honesty I felt reading John Green's and David Levithan's 'Will Grayson, Will Grayson' and it too was based on an essentially unrealistic idea. Writers have got to be granted some artistic license in order to get these messages across I think. Otherwise, would we keep reading?

The story also brought up the issue of labelling. In our society, and perhaps even more so among young people, feeling as though we are labelled and must act accordingly is a terrifying reality. In 'All the Bright Places', Finch fears this labelling and it causes him to reject help, which is something I think I can relate to on a very personal level.

I haven't done a brief summary of this book because it's a hard one to summarise. While the story is important, the descriptions of and relationships between characters are even more so. However, I will say that there is a plot twist later on in the novel which causes the reader to learn something shocking about a secondary character who they had probably written off as a stereotype and unimportant to the story as a whole. I found this to be very powerful as it emphasised the idea that you really never know what anyone is going through.

On a lighter note, both of the main characters, Finch and Violet, write and enjoy read and writing immensely. They are creative people with a love for words and reading about young writers will always be inspiring for me because I too adore reading and writing and sometimes need a little motivation to get going with it again.

I really don't want to be the cause of any spoilers because I really hope that at least a few people will read this book on my recommendation, but it's fair to say that the emotional climax of the novel is the ending, and not in a very good way. The romantic inside me once again comes through as I sat at silently screamed at the words in front of me: WHY??!! However, I think the ending probably was necessary as it made the message of Niven's writing even more powerful and hard-hitting and totally avoided pegging this book as a cliché.

Overall, I was gripped. Read this book (armed with tissues!) and I hope that finishing it will have the same effect on you as it did on me: to cause you to look at life and appreciate every moment.