Sunday, January 11, 2015

BOOK REVIEW - ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES by JENNIFER NIVEN - YA CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

By: Jennifer Niven
Published By: Penguin
Released: Available Now
Details: Paperback from publisher for honest review, 378 Pages

RATING: 4.5 I WANT TO SEE THIS ON THE BIG SCREEN STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this compelling, exhilarating, and beautiful story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.

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.

This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.



BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

“You know what I like about you, Ultraviolet Remarkey-able? Everything.”

All The Bright Places is a beautifully written story. It has content that is close to my heart in it and admittedly it did take me a while to get through it as I could see where things were headed.

Theodore Finch is quite an addictive character because at first you are unsure of what Theo aka Finch is all about.

Hello, all of you!” I shout as I run. “It’s a beautiful day! A perfect day! A day of possibility!” They’re so listless, they barely look up to see me.


I felt a little lost and confused with his spontaneous and at times humorous behavior and also at times his so deep thoughts that made him feel so much older.

She wraps her arms around me like it’s second nature, and I lean into her and she leans into me until we make up one leaning person.


Finch sees things a little differently.

In a minute, she says, “You’re so weird, Finch. But that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”


He is deep.

She is oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. The same elements that are inside the rest of us, but I can’t help thinking she’s more than that and she’s got other elements going on that no one’s ever heard of, ones that make her stand apart from everybody else.


Violet aka Ultraviolet is a character who grew on me, she has much more meaning to this story the more you read on.

I feel jealous, just for a second, of his brain. In this moment, mine feels so ordinary.


The letters and numbers are neat and careful, like they were drawn by a child expecting to be graded.

I will say at times I felt the pace slowed right down and things felt a little ...I’m not sure what the right word is, but the more you read, the more it becomes with keeping in with Finch’s character or the mood of the story.

It’s hard not to get emotional when reading this story because like so many people around the world, there is always somebody not too far from you that has been affected.

The more I read, the more I knew where the story was heading and that was kinda hard to read for me personally.

There are many profound things that come out of Finch’s mouth that will affect you in some way. It is a story that will stay with you once you have finished.

“There is only now,” he says, ‘and if now is only two days, then two days is your life and everything in it will be in proportion. None of us knows how long we have, maybe another month, maybe another fifty years ...I like living as if I only have that two days.”


To live like Finch lives is not an easy thing. It’s not something a lot of people would understand.

For once, I don’t want to be anyone but Theodore Finch, the boy she sees. He understands what it is to be elegant and euphoric and a hundred different people, most of them flawed and stupid, part asshole, part screwup, part freak, a boy who wants to be easy for the folks around him so that he doesn’t worry them and, most of all, easy for himself. A boy who belongs ...here in this world, here in his own skin.


Violet earned her stripes with me because she tried. There is more I could say about Violet but I don’t want to spoil and it would be spoiling the more I want to say about her character and...

I really think this is a book that if made into a movie adaptation would be better than the book because watching characters play these two roles would truly be something. I simply can’t think who could do Theo justice.

I think, I’m most afraid of Just be careful. I’m most afraid of the Long Drop. I’m most afraid of Asleep and impending weightless doom. I’m most afraid of me.

There are some great scenes that visually played out well in my head, especially when they were ‘Wandering Indiana’ for the school assignment. I could see this being so effective up on the big screen.

A beautiful, touching and yet crushing story.


I am overcome by words. Words for songs. Words of places Violet and I will go before time runs out and I’m asleep again. I can’t stop writing. I don’t want to stop even if I could.

A story you must read to the end to understand a little more about Finch, because it would be hard to understand it all.

Michelle


2 comments:

  1. It looks like this really got to you and I can tell from the quotes that it's one of those books that will haunt you somewhat.

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    Replies
    1. This is a book with a deeper meaning from what is first thought. I would really like to see it on the big screen. :)

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