All the Bright Places By: Jennifer Niven

Oxford OH– “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places.”- Ernest Hemingway

At the beginning of this book Jennifer Niven paints a picture of a 12th grader named Theodore Finch perched on the sixth-story ledge of his school’s bell tower, arms extended, welcoming the spectators below to his death scene. While on the ledge he notices the popular Violet Markey scared but ready to leap to her death. “Do you come here often? Because this is kind of my place to come,” says Finch.

What lies at the heart of “All the Bright Places” is a charming love story about an unlikely pair of broken teenagers. Finch is hated at school for reasons that are unclear and Violet is crushed by the tragic accident that took her sister’s life. This book has it all, broken teenagers, school fights and just a pinch of smut. “The air around us feels charged and electric, like if you were to strike a match, the air, the car, Violet, me — everything might just explode.”

This book in my honest opinion is a very great book and just an overall good read. At first you thought it was going to be a cliche teen fiction book where the boy fixes the girl and they live happily ever after but really it’s the polar opposite. Yes the boy and the girl fall in love, but it takes a dark turn because Finch’s mental health tends to decrease throughout and even though Violet wants to help she can’t, she can’t help him because he’s just fallen into the hole that only he himself can crawl out of.