CW: spoilers, discussion of suicide; help is available if you need it
All The Bright Places is a young adult novel written by Jennifer Niven and based on the author’s personal story. A story about two young high school teenagers, Finch and Violet are both struggling and suffering from mental health issues from their past traumatic family situation. Where Finch met Violet on top of the ledge of their high school bell tower, attempting to jump and committing suicide; Finch saved her by convincing and comforting her with warm words to not jump, where Finch, is the one who thinks of death and attempts on committing suicide each day by using dark humored jokes about taking his own life. Despite the characters’ deep connection and by trying to see all the beauty and light in the world, they still can’t keep each other alive.
The story explores and tells something about love, friendship, connection, struggles of a teenage life, and how unhealed past traumas could hunt a person’s mental condition for life. Throughout the story, both Finch and Violet had a very close relationship. Finch always tries to save Violet from taking her own life by comforting and telling her about all the light, possibilities, new chances, and bright places in the world. But, in the end he himself could not save his own life. Finch’s mental struggle and depression lead to his suicide. Both characters tried to fix each other, but hurt people can’t save another hurt person.
The connection and experiences in the story where I can connect it to real life—the common issues where teens and other human beings struggle coping up with mental illness, where people suffer in silence and do not seek help and treatment. A beautiful story that reminds me of what it feels like to be alive and to be able to value the beauty of life, and to never underestimate the power of connections. A story where I can learn how important to prioritize mental health is, that it is always okay to ask for help, and everyone can get through even in the darkest times and to always check everyone suffering with mental conditions, not just for my loved ones but the people around me. This story is a beautiful reminder to always be kind to everyone around us. No matter how the person looks or acts, we can never truly know and see what is happening in their lives and minds. Everyone we meet is fighting a battle. The act of kindness will always have a good impact in someone’s life and could also save a life.
After reading the book, I can never look and understand the same way of how I read books before. I am amazed by how literature has taught me how creative one’s imagination could be. It helped me envision my perspective in reading stories. How I transform and understand my expression of deep thoughts and words through literature and also developed critical thinking skills. The title itself All The Bright Places contradict between the title’s bright and light side to the darker, struggle, and sad reality of the story, particularly to the characters where both of them are suffering from mental illness and the tragedies of their lives. It is a big help for me to enhance my creative thinking skills, to be able to understand symbolism and literary devices through a deeper meaning behind every expressed word.
Get the book Check out All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven at the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library, or the Queens Public Library.
About the author This reading reflection is by KAY.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
