ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES by JENNIFER NIVEN

It was on the school’s bell tower ledge where Finch and Violet met and somehow saved each other’s lives. As they took on a project together, not only did both wander around Indiana discovering landmarks, they also got to know and discovered truths about each other. From then on, they eventually fell in love forgetting about their brokenness when together. But as everything has a built-in life expectancy, it could only last depending on how much time could spare them.

May your eye go to the Sun, To the wind your soul… You are all the colors in one, at full brightness. –Violet Markey

All The Bright Places was a beautifully written sad love story that made me fall so madly in love and crushed my heart in pieces all at once. It had the elements that would make me stifle a smile one moment and almost shed a tear for another. Attachment to the story happened because it couldn’t be helped. Besides, good books were written to yield that effect.

You have been in every way all that anyone could be… If anybody could have saved me it would have been you. –Virginia Woolf

Finch and Violet, though dysfunctional, were such likable teenage characters. They weren’t in the best place the whole time, both of them, but they managed to make their scene sweet on their own. It would be worth pointing out that Finch is his own kind of romantic as well. I know you’ll understand what I mean when you read this.

Though the narration was candid, casual and light, it always, always had that looming sadness and brokenness. I treaded carefully along the pages bearing those warnings in mind. There were so much emotions going on in the unsaid and unknown. I was always bracing myself for what could happen since I couldn’t tell how it would go between the two central characters up until the ending. It was riveting from start to finish.

We do not remember days, we remember moments. – Cesare Pavese

And since we’re already talking about the ending, I just would like to say how heart-wrenching it was. Decisions were made, and characters had to take and deal with them. It was perfectly timed. Seriously, it hurt and gutted me inside somehow leaving me feeling uneasy and heavy afterwards. I’ve always been uncomfortable reading sad stories, but even then, I was glad I took my time leafing through this novel.

All The Bright Places was left open-ended for the readers to come up with their own version of what should fill in the blanks. There were still questions left unanswered and dots left unconnected. These things and the fact that the story ended the way it did were rather lonely and jarring for me.

I may not be the biggest fan of sad novels, but I will still encourage people to take time to open this one and be enamored by an infectiously heart-melting and heartbreaking love story.

Are you done reading this book? What are your thoughts? I’d like to know them! Feel free to share them below!

Photo source: http://nexusmag.co.nz/