ALL the BRIGHT PLACES

by Jennifer Niven

young adult // depression and suicide

 

 

This book is about a boy who spends his days figuring out exactly how he wants to kill himself.  One day while contemplating a jump from the top of a bell tower, he ends up talking a girl down from the ledge instead.  From there, the story follows the two troubled teenagers after they're bonded together by this incident. 

I was hoping for a deeply emotional story that would either tear my heart out or be uplifting, but it felt like I was reading fluff.  It treated mental illness with such levity.  It was so lighthearted and cutesy, I had a difficult time believing that this was all about suicide.  It read like a RomCom, and then Finch would suddenly try to off himself again, but then it's right back to cutesy RomCom.  I think this story was trying to be two different things at once, and it didn't work.  I wish it had either been written with more weight and substance, or not focused on mental health at all.  It just does not sit well with me to read such a lighthearted story about suicidal teens.  It was also quite predictable.  I knew how it was going to end all along, and it didn't throw any surprises at me along the way.

 

I think what bothered me most was the fact that Finch's mental illness was played off as this witty personality trait that, I guess, was supposed to be endearing.  None of this is cute or quirky or fun.  He's sick and needs help.  There's nothing okay with any of his behavior, yet he was entirely ignored by every single person around him.  I know that not everyone is lucky enough to have a support system , but Finch was surrounded by people-- a crappy family, a crappy counselor, a crappy bunch of schoolmates, and a crappy girlfriend.  Not one of them took his illness seriously, and some actually provoked him.  I'm not sure if this was written to make some kind of point about how mental illness isn't treated like a serious problem, but it went too far.  I cannot fathom anyone provoking a suicidal person the way Finch's classmates do, or making light of his illness the way his counselor does, or ignoring the problem altogether like his family and Violet do. 

 

And Violet... I'm honestly not sure why she was even in the book.  She didn't serve any purpose.  She had no personality.  She was just there.  Just another person to let Finch down every time he needed serious medical attention.

 

I liked the travel aspect of the book.  It's always fun to discover hidden treasures close to home, and it was interesting to see Finch and Violet explore their home state.  I also enjoyed the writing style.  It was strong and I know I'd enjoy Niven's work in the future with a different kind of story and characters.  This one just didn't come together for me.