Review: All the Bright Places - Jennifer Niven

I loved this book so prepare for a gushing review! I feel like 2016 is going to be a good reading year, since I have already read a few good books, and I finally feel like I am coming out of the last of my reading slump of 2015. 

Anyway this book is about a boy and a girl who meet in the school bell tower, each standing on the ledge looking down. The boy, Theodore Finch, is contemplating what this type of suicide would be like, when he sees the girl, Violet Markey, posed on the ledge. He talks her down, but because of their high school status, and because Finch is a nice guy, the story ends up being she talked him down. She is branded a hero, he a weirdo. He doesn’t seem to mind too much, as he is already an outcast in school and he lets people think what they want. He takes an interest in Violet, however, determined that she should know that life is worth living. The story goes on from there and I really loved the structure of it. It sort of ends up taking the form of a road trip novel, but not really. I won’t say too much about it, as I don’t want to spoil it for you. 

The characters were really interesting. We follow both perspectives, so we get to know both Finch and Violet really well. Finch seems like an amazing person, and to be completely honest, I fell a little bit in love with him. However, he does have some troubles and we follow him as these troubles progress. Violet however, starts out being troubled but she slowly gets better, with the help of Finch and herself, and it was interesting to see her struggle. 

Throughout the book it is clear that Finch is not completely normal. There is nothing wrong with being different, but we slowly get the feeling that it is not just eccentricity, but probably a mental illness of some kind. Through Finch’s perspective we see how his brain works and I thought that was an interesting insight to the logic of a mind not completely in order. At some point of the book a diagnosis is suggested, but it is never determined, because of unfolding events. 

This book deals with suicide and mental illness and I find that a really interesting topic. I think mental healthcare has improved massively in the last few years, but even so there is still a taboo surrounding it, and a feeling of “we shouldn’t really talk about it. Just get it fixed with drugs”. But talking is probably the most important thing on the road to recovery and books like this help break the taboo. 

SPOILERY BITS BELOW: 

I thought it was heartbreaking that Finch was left so much alone by his family, that they didn’t notice something was up. He felt afraid to ask for help, or maybe even acknowledge that something was wrong, and I feel like if his family had paid more attention to him, it could have gone a different way. His school counselor seemed to be the only one truly noticing what was going on, but even he couldn’t help, because Finch was unwilling to reveal anything about himself to him, and it was too easy for Finch to throw him off the scent, so to speak. At the same time the way it ended was nobody’s fault but Finch’s, but I feel like people could have paid more attention to him and made it easier for him to reach out. But then again, would he have reached out even if people were just waiting to help him? He wanted to avoid drugs, to stay true to himself, and to be able to handle it on his own. But sometimes you need help. Finch didn't figure that out before it was too late. 

I gave this book 5 stars out of 5 on Goodreads.