All The Bright Places

This holiday has been a very nice opportunity for me to read more books, even though the current amount of my finished books are only 2, but I have read abundant fan fictions. I guess if you change the character names, they are quite qualified as books. So, the first book I’ve finished is All The Bright Places, and man did I ugly-cry reading it. That book, gave me so much feels I almost died. Okay, I’m exaggerating but seriously. The plot is so heartbreaking and by the words Jennifer Niven weaves together, it just shatters your heart. My favourite line is what Finch said to Violet through Facebook, ‘You are all the colours in one, at full brightness.”

So this story is about how Theodore Finch and Violet Markey’s world collides, and what happened as Violet’s world grows and Finch’s shrink.

 Theodore Finch, or affectionately known as Finch is known as a freak by the majority of his school. He gets kicked out of schools, he picks fights with various people, and he plays the guitars for 5-6 bands. He is, what you would call a weird bloke. He once threw a class desk at a chalkboard and came to school painted red, head to toe. He goes to counseling once a week, and is considered suicidal and bipolar. Since 9^th grade, he would have these periods of times which he referred to as “shutting down”, and in that moment his mind goes from blank to spinning wildly. He turns off and goes into a long, dark sleep.

His world contrasts deeply with the world of Violet Markey, who is known as a straight A student, and passionate about her writing, running a blog named EleanorAndViolet.com, until her sister Eleanor dies in an unfortunate car crash. Violet is devastated and has lost the ability to do anything again. The old Violet is gone, the cheerleader, the social butterfly, and the writer. Before, she would write twenty ages when the teachers asked for 10 pages, and now, she struggles for 5 pages. Being a straight A student and a survivor of a closest relatives death, teachers often give her “extenuating circumstances”.

They meet on top of the bell tower at school. When people see them there, different opinions are threw. Finch was encouraged to just jump, considered a freak, whilst Violet was cheered, for “saving Finch”, whilst truly, she was also planning on jumping.

They then developed a friendship when they were partners for the Wander Indiana project in Geography. Finch teached and encouraged Violet to live again. He encouraged Violet to drive again, something she quit doing after her sister died in a car crash. He encouraged Violet to wander and travel, bringing Violet to exquisite places around Indiana.

But as Violets world was mending, whilst she was mending her scars from the accident, Finch’s world was crashing and tumbling down, leading him to what seems like a suicide in a lake in Indiana, which people believe is a black hole on Earth which keeps get deeper. Finch has always had an obsession for water, saying that it was his escape from the world, an escape from shutting down, where he could hear nothing and feel nothing.

Finch left clues for Violet, and by the time Violet figured out the first clue and found his clothes by the banks of the Blue Hole, she was too late. Finch had disappeared into nothing, like he always longed for.

Finch left other clues which leads Violet to the remaining wandering spots. The last wandering spot that she had to go alone was Taylor Prayer Chapel, which Finch picked out himself without Violet’ knowing. It was created as a sanctuary for weary travellers to rest along the way. It was built in memoriam of the people who lost their lives in auto accidents and a place of remembrance for the people who were taken from their loved ones too soon, without warnings.

Violet realized that Finch chose this place for Eleanor and Violet—and his self. He was a weary traveller who only needed to rest. In that chapel, there was an envelope slipped into the bible for Violet. It was addressed as “Ultraviolet Remarkey-able,” a nickname Finch created for Violet.

Inside the envelope, there was three sheets of paper, the first one covered with music notes, and the two covered in lyrics.

You make me happy,

Whenever you’re around I’m safe in your smile

You make me feel handsome,

Whenever I feel my nose just seems a bit too round

You make me special, and God knows I’ve been longed to be that kind of guy to have around,

You make me love you,

And that could be the greatest thing my heart was ever fit to do…

You make me lovely, and it’s so lovely to be lovely to the one I love…

You make me happy…

You make me special…

You make me lovely…

At the end, the last sentence is “The thing I realize is that it’s not what you take, it’s what you leave.”

I highly recommend this book, especially if you enjoyed books such as The Fault in Our Stars and Eleanor & Park. It is a teen lit basically, but I feel it would be suitable for ages 13 and above, because the plot isn’t that “teenagerish” so grown ups would enjoy it. It has some adult content, so maybe not everyone is comfortable reading it.

The reasons I love the plot is because it incorporates the seriousness of suicide and mental illnesses. People take mental illness as something that can be changed with a change of “mindset”, but it isn’t. It is just as deadly as physical illness. People also lack sympathy for people with mental illness, saying that they don’t try and if he/she thinks of being happy, then it will be cured.

Especially in conservative countries such as Indonesia, they regard mental illnesses as something to be ashamed of. People are still afraid to speak up, and people are ashamed when their relatives or friend is diagnosed of mental illness. Some people do not understand what it is, and I’m beyond disgusted by people who think mental illness and depression is a trend. They think it’s cool, so they pretend they have it, whilst each 40 seconds, there are people who commit suicide.

My message is, if you feel that you might have a mental disorder, speak up. Search for help. You are not alone, and when you might feel empty and there is no one there to support you, you are not alone. Millions of people suffer the same illness as you. Millions are people are willing to help you, you just don’t know yet.

Chin up, because things will be better.