All the bright places review by Niamh Mcalister

I have just finished this book, and I felt it was a crime not to do a review of it. The book starts with two kids. Theodore Finch and Violet Markey.  Violet is a popular girl who is dealing with survivors guilt, and Finch is a boy who is labelled ‘freak’ by other students.The two meet on the top of the bell tower when both are contemplating suicide. It is unclear who saves who; but they both survive. The book gently touches first love and how quickly you can fall for someone, but also the pain that comes when your idea of forever ends. It also explores the difficulty of teenage years and how easy it is to give your all to someone and then have it taken away.

There is a lot of beautiful symbolism in the book, like Violet crossing off the days in her calendar, or the bottomless lake they go and swim in. The characters are partnered up for a project, where they visit memorable places together. They call these trips wanderings. The wanderings bring the pair closer together and they give each other reasons to live.

The book explores the difference between surviving and living. It also shows how different people deal with emotions in different ways. I found that I couldn’t put the book down and I was often reading it under the covers with a torch at night. It was a truly special book and I found myself crying until I couldn’t cry anymore. It deals with some really heavy issues, so the age rating is 12+.

In summary, this book was so much better than I expected it to be. You will never look at anything in the same way  again after reading this book; it reminds you how fragile everything around you is. I would highly recommend it and would give it ★★★★★/★★★★★!

I really hope you read it and enjoy it as much as I did!