Review: All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

All the Bright Places is Jennifer Niven’s first work for young adults, but it does not feel as if it was written by a novice. As I was reading this book, it dawned on me that the best word to describe it is refreshing. As in, despite the sensitive subject matter, it was a pleasure to read this book. The characters feel real, as do their lives. This book takes you away from yourself and dips you right into the minds of the narrators.

The role of protagonist is divided between Theodore “Finn” Finnegan and Violet Markey, both of whom have stepped, literally, to the edge of death for entirely different reasons. Finn has experienced traumatic childhood and upbringing, and Violet has suffered tragedy of the worst kind. However, their differences do not prevent them from fiercely bonding or from offering the other a reason to stay alive.

The story’s only real downfall is that it grows just a little slow moving as it transitions from the beginning to the middle of the story. Things plateau a bit, but it is never boring. Both of the narrators are highly intelligent, well-read teenagers who have finely developed opinions and a defined sense of self. Sure, they question those opinions and their identities as the story moves along, but, ultimately, they are both very strong.

Finn does bear a strong resemblance to Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. He’s this philosophical, lofty, larger-than-life, too-good-to-be-true kind of guy. He speaks with a sort of poetic eloquence that you rarely (if ever) encounter in the real world. More often than not, he feels like more than a real person. But I think perhaps that this is the point, that he cannot make himself fit into his life.

Without revealing too much of the ending, I must say is that it is both necessary and inevitable. There may be hope along the way that it will not come to its inexorable fate, but the ending is neither startling nor disappointing. It is touching, and it is real. It is not sugarcoated, and it is very representative of how life is often not affected by the desires of its onlookers.

I am aware of the clichés in this book, of the whole “boy meets girl” formula. Usually that kind of thing irritates me beyond belief, but, in this case, I actually didn’t mind it. Perhaps that’s just because I think suicide is a very important issue, and readers deserve to see characters that they can both relate to and gain hope from.  And they certainly don’t need to falsely believe that stories always have happy endings.

Very few books are worthy of the publicity they receive, but, in my opinion, this one is quite deserving.