All the Bright Places – Jennifer Niven

3.5/5 Stars

Summary: “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.”

I don’t know I’m having trouble coming up with what I want to say about this book. For a while I had been hearing such amazing things about it, and I wasn’t sure what to expect.  The story was really enjoyable while I was reading it.  I wanted to know what was going to happen next and hated when I had to put it down to go to work.  The relationship between Finch and Violet was cute and the sort of mystery behind what was going on with Finch had me hooked.

But after finishing it, I’m not sure how I feel.

I don’t want to give anything away, so I’m just going to say that the ending was a bit of a letdown for me.  After the big thing happens, I wanted more.  The way it all happened didn’t feel satisfying, and I keep telling myself that that was probably intentional, but ugh…

For someone who is or has dealt with depression, this book would probably hold a lot more of a lasting meaning than it does for me.  While it did leave me a little disappointed and the adults in the book drove me absolutely crazy, it was still an enjoyable read…just maybe  not as deserving as all the hype around it.

I will definitely be watching the movie when it comes out next year though.  Let me know what you thought about it in the comments!