All the Bright Places
FlumeAward – All the Bright Places All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
I loved this book and Rowell/Green fans will love it too. Here’s my semi-spoilery review from VOYA: In her young adult debut, Niven has created a lovely and devastating romance while also providing a realistic portrait of mental illness. Dually narrating, Finch and Violet are perfectly voiced. Finch’s narrative conveys his highs and lows fluidly but distinctly. He is compulsively likeable and wearily unpredictable. It is also easy to slip into Violet’s world, as she first walls herself up against any healing but finds herself unable to resist Finch’s attempts to lure her out. Their families provide great emotional struggles for the reader, as they will root for the support Violet’s family wants so much to give, while Finch’s parents are at best blind to his plight, and at worst aggravating it. While many teen books wrap up too quickly, Niven takes just enough time with her dénouement, allowing the reader to heal along with its characters. The book includes resources for teens struggling with mental illness or thoughts of suicide. Highly recommend this title, especially to teens who want to feel all the feels. – Liz Gotauco, Merrimack PL
I understand why this book has been recommended to fans of The Fault In Our Stars and Eleanor and Park, but this novel is grittier and explores a much darker topic. We are comfortable talking about cancer and now physical and emotional abuse, but society still shuns discussions concerning mental illness. I have a friend who is bipolar, and I think the author represented the disease well and, sadly, the family’s reaction to it. She deals with difficult topics in a searingly honest manner, and she does not sensationalize tragedy. Finch is the epitome of the "bad boy" in high school – a musician, handsome, aloof, a troublemaker, but oh so kind. Told in alternating chapters, Finch and Violet narrate their sad love story. The quotations from Woolf and Pavese add to the story, and although Finch’s obsession with swimming may feel too pat given the many Woolf passages and her demise, it actually works well. Some may accuse this book of paining a pretty picture of suicide (hasn’t this been said of Romeo and Juliet?), but I disagree. The ending offers a sweetly packaged gift of relief and a bit of closure for Violet and this really is a bit too much, but if Violet did not have those final meanderings, I think the reader would have felt adrift and unsettled. I say yes to this being on the Flume list.
Kelly Budd, Keene High School
This is the kind of novel I think that you will either love or hate. I propose that you do not read reviews in advance as most any comments will spoil your read.
What I liked-the writing style, the quotes, the characters. I got inside the heads of Finch and Violet and it was a journey I savored. Often the summary of the book on Goodreads is not enough–in this case it is although I don’t think this book is a merge of The Fault in our Stars and "Eleanor and Park". I DO think fans of these authors will be fans of this. I reread this for teen book discussion and I loved it even more this time. Sometimes it’s good to know the ending and read it with a new pair of eyes the second time around. Pure bliss. I will only talk about this book with those who read it. No spoilers. The teens at my library and myself highly recommend this for the Flume List.
~Kathy Watson, Kimball Library (Atkinson)