"All The Bright Places" Shines A Brilliant Light Into The Darkest Reaches Of Mental Illness, Suicide, and Grief

Title:  All The Bright Places
Author:  Jennifer Niven
Format:  Audiobook
Publisher:Knopf/Listening Library
Rating:  5 Stars

The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this exhilarating and heart-wrenching love story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Elle Fanning!

 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.

This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.

Includes a PDF Help Line Resource Guide and a Note Read by the Author.  -Goodreads


My Thoughts
Moody Finch...nerdy Finch...angry Finch...gone Finch...

There are a great many sides to Theodore Finch, and because he takes the time to see Violet Markey, on the day that she most wants to be invisible, he will allow her to glimpse the real Finch.

This beautifully lyrical tale of love, loss, bipolar disorder, and suicide,  tells a story as a series of days, journeys, and experiences.  Moments shared between Finch and Violet.  Moments before and after the car accident that took the life of Violet's older sister. Moments spent by both Violet and Finch trying to be whole, alive, and in the moment. Moments lost to Finch's bouts with the darkest of dark moods. Moments during which speeding mania allows Finch to fly...too far...too fast. Moments spent in awed discovery of the sights that must be seen in their home state of Indiana. Moments of regret, anger, hurt, and remorse at Finch's death. Moments Violet grasps as opportunities to express her feelings, learn, and live.

 This story serves as a brilliant and poignant homage to the fleeting and transitory nature of
life.  The need to love, be loved, to understand, be understood, to listen, and to be heard.

About Jennifer:
By the time I was ten, I had already written numerous songs, a poem for Parker Stevenson ("If there were a Miss America for men, You would surely win"), two autobiographies (All About Me and My Life in Indiana: I Will Never Be Happy Again), a Christmas story, several picture books (which I illustrated myself) featuring the Doodle Bugs from Outer Space, a play about Laura Ingalls Wilder's sister entitled Blindness Strikes Mary, a series of prison mysteries, a collection of short stories featuring me as the main character (an internationally famous rock star detective), and a partially finished novel about Vietnam. I was also an excellent speller from a very early age.

In 2000, I started writing full-time, and I haven't stopped... I've written eight books (two of those are forthcoming), and when I'm not working on the ninth, I'm contributing to my web magazine, Germ (www.germmagazine.com), thinking up new books, and dabbling in TV. I am always writing.