A review by leialou
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

 Key Themes: 
Depression; Loss; Suicide; Love; and Recovery. 

Best (or Worst) Moments: 
In my opinion the best part of this book is the end, and ‘after’. The raw emotion that violet demonstrates and the adventure she continues is so heart-breaking, yet beautiful, and is so well written. Niven’s end notes, however, illustrate that she has personally found a friend who committed suicide so probably drew on her own experience and emotions making the story even more heart-breaking. 

Was this Book What I Expected?: 
This book is a reread - the book isn’t as emotional as I remember it being, but at the time of my initial read through my life had a lot of similarities to the book so maybe that’s why it was so emotional. However, the book was still great and emotional and pulled on my heartstrings. 

Review: 
This book is beautiful and sad, but shows both sides of what death can do to an individual whether accidental or suicide, yet this also shows strong character development and growth following a significant loss, and shows that there is beauty in recovery. This is a hard book to read, especially when you have personal experience, that allows you to relate to either Violet or Finch, but at the same time beautiful, in that it demonstrates that your life can continue after the loss of a loved one and still be beautiful. 

Things to Research Further: 
Nothing that I want to research further - but I’m intrigued to read Niven’s other work. I’ve tried reading some of her other work in the past and always DNF’d it but I love this book so really want to give her work another try. 
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