Hey, friends! I’m back with a review for All The Bright Places! I think the first thing I did after finishing this book was frantically text my two best friends and ask them what on Earth possessed them to gift me this book on my birthday. Seriously, it’s a whole lot of angst packed in a whole lot of entrancing writing. Worst recipe for trying not to bawl your eyes out on a Sunday night.
Summary (courtesy of Goodreads)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.
AestheticMy copy of the book is really appealing! On one hand, the cover of the book has a very specific meaning- in fact, it’s one of the most “in tune with the content” cover that I’ve seen in a while; despite the fact that it took me half a book to catch on, I really appreciated that little Easter Egg. On another hand, the quality of the paper was good and the font easy to read- no complaints there.
WritingThe book is split into multiple points of view (I think they’re mostly from the perspectives of the two main characters), a theme which seems to be popping up more and more in YA lit- not that I’m complaining. It’s a really nice idea! Looking back on my reading experience, the writing was easy to follow. Although it was infused with the characters’ antics, I’m sad to say it didn’t feel like anything extraordinary to me. Entertaining? Definitely. Mind-blowing? Not really.
CharactersThe two main characters are two seventeen year olds in their senior year of high school, which means they’re placed into a lot of situations that I definitely related to. However, since they reacted differently than how I would have (quite natural, since I thankfully have had a different upbringing and different life experiences than the two characters), I didn’t relate as much to the characters themselves than I did to the contexts in which they were placed. Funnily enough, it was that fact that kept me hooked to the book- I wanted to see how the characters would react and what would happen if they were placed in certain situations. On another note, in terms of character development, there was noticeable effort in that direction, and it shaped up nicely.
PlotI feel like it was a little diluted; standing at almost 400 pages, the book could have probably easily been 100 pages shorter and there wouldn’t have been much difference. However, I have to admit that, for the most part, the plot was gripping enough to keep me interested throughout the 100 pages that (in my opinion) could have easily been skipped.
GeneralI gave this book a 3/5 on Goodreads and I’ll go with the same rating here- while I wouldn’t say this book is a staple in YA lit, I’d recommend you check it out (but bear in mind that there are probably 500 trigger warnings to keep track of within its pages).
Q: Did you read the book? What did you think? Was it more relatable for you than it was for me?
Thanks a lot for reading! I’ll see you on the next one,
Andrea.
