From the Bookshelf of Owls Be Reading…

All the Bright Places

Jennifer Niven

Start date: April 1, 2016

Finish date: April 30, 2016

Discussion: April: All the Bright Places

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April: All the Bright Places

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last updated Apr 24, 2016 05:42PM

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What Members Thought

Apr 26, 2016 Aditi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, road-trip, my-reviews, penguin-books, family, contemporary-romance, friends

“But in the end one needs more courage to live than to kill himself.”

----Albert Camus

Jennifer Niven, an American author, has penned a heart-breaking love story about two teenagers in her book, All the Bright Places that weaves a beautiful yet devastating tale of young love where both the primary characters are suffering from their own trauma yet their strange encounter brings them closer in a weird way but destiny has other and sad plans for these two innocent souls.

Synopsis:

Theodore Finch i ...more

31 likes · Like · see review

Jan 11, 2015 Tracey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

For a minute I can feel it: the sense of peace as my mind goes quiet, like I'm already dead. I am weightless and free. Nothing and on one to fear, not even myself.

My heart. My poor aching heart. I cried like I've never cried before while reading a book. Big, ugly crying. Loud and scary sobbing. This is a book. Just a book. At least that's what I kept telling myself. This isn't real. But it is. This story is so real, because its happening every single day, the world over. This story could be ...more

21 likes · Like · see review

Dec 05, 2015 Alice-Elizabeth (Prolific Reader Alice) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2015-books-ya

Wow... At page 10, I was already crying and because of this, I knew that this was going to be one very special story. We follow Theodore and Violet, both struggling with various issues. Theodore who wants to end his own life and Violet struggling to cope after the death of her older sister Eleanor. The story follows both Theodore and Violet tackling a school project, various counselling sessions, applications for College and struggling to connect and make friends with other peers.

This book reall ...more

17 likes · Like · see review

Jan 31, 2015 Joy (joyous reads) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own

Back when I started seeing reviews for My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga, I was incensed at the fact that YA books seemed to be finding dangerous ways to make light of something as serious as teen suicide. I said that I will never read this book because reading about one suicidal teen is bad enough, but reading about two of them will make me feel even more helpless. Hopeless. I cannot grapple with the fact that kids around the world are probably making such a pact with each other. Back when I started seeing reviews for My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga, I was incensed at the fact that YA books seemed to be finding dangerous ways to make light of something as serious as teen suicide. I said that I will never read this book because reading about one suicidal teen is bad enough, but reading about two of them will make me feel even more helpless. Hopeless. I cannot grapple with the fact that kids around the world are probably making such a pact with each other. Days later, this happened in my hometown. Shit just got real.

I have no idea what I was in for when I finally decided to read this book. I knew it made a lot of people cry. I also knew the characters met on a ledge with suicide in their minds. I’ve never given much thought as to how it would end, so I didn’t have any warning when I got to that part. My heart was beaten to a bloody pulp; slivered into a million pieces. This is the kind of book that inspires poetry. Unfortunately, I don’t quite have the words for it.

People saw Finch and they only saw a freak. Because he said the oddest of things and he did what he wanted to do. He dressed like a how he felt, and did things that made him, “Finch”. But when Violet looked at him, she saw a brilliant boy. A boy whose mind raced at its own speed that it seemed like every other part of him struggled to keep up. No one saw that side of Finch, however. No one saw the terrifyingly manic boy. The one who couldn’t seem to sit still. Most of the time, the world seemed to be too small to contain him. Everyone saw a different Finch. The one who struggled to breathe day in and day out was never in attendance. Violet was the only who saw him for what he was. And that’s because they’re kindred spirits in some ways.

Violet has her demons to slay. It seems so cruel for these two kids to meet at that place. And at the same time, righfully providential. How could one broken person mend another when they’re barely pieced together themselves?

This book wasn’t written in the prettiest of proses. It was meant to speak at a level that could resonate with readers who needed it the most. Because of this book, I’ve recanted my aversion to My Heart and Other Black Holes. Perhaps more for understanding as to how kids so young can feel like there’s nothing to look forward to in their futures. ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Feb 02, 2015 Katrina Southern rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-star, 2016-physical-reads

It took a fair amount of nagging from my flat mates to finally get round to reading this book, but I'm so glad I have! It's one of those few books that really understands the message that it's trying to purvey, and gets the characterisation just right in the process. 'All The Bright Places' is told from two perspectives: Violet Markey, who is struggling to cope with her sister's death, and Theodore Finch, a boy who feels like he's broken because he feels things so differently to everyone else. T ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 14, 2015 Tiffany Heywood rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I really wanted to read this book since my sister borrowed it and she really liked it. I'm so glad I did and it gave me an insight into how people who are suicidal think.
I did get confused on certain aspects but violet and theordore were so cute as a couple and I thought that what he did at the end was so cute. I liked how they were able to confide in each other and get each other through certain areas of how they felt.
I liked how the book was split into the two characters so we got to see wha ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 04, 2016 Kayla Scofield rated it it was amazing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 08, 2015 Pamela rated it it was amazing

Shelves: need-to-read-now

All the Bright Places was a unique story! From the beginning I was hooked because of the main characters. Both Theodore and Violet won my heart many times over. It was awesome seeing how their relationship developed and, even more how Theodore, who now I'll refer just as Finch, interacted with the rest of the world.

It's awesome because when I read the blurb and learned that this kicked off with two people wanted to die, I got this feeling that it'd be a very sad and depressing book, although wit ...more

1 like · Like · see review