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Book Review: All The Bright Places

by Sruthi V Pillai
(Alappuzha, Kerala, India)

"You are all the colors in one, at full brightness. " ~ Theodore Finch

Title of the book: All the Bright Places
Author : Jennifer Niven

According to Sir Patrick Moore, there is this certain day on which Pluto and Jupiter aligns with earth as a straight line. He claims that bodies on earth would loose weight at this particular moment and hence, he named his theory as Jovian-Plutonian gravitational effect. Sir Patrick Moore is the man, both Violet and Finch thanks, for providing them with their own Jovian-Plutonian Gravitational effect.If you ask me, this is one of the finest things about their story. The story about how they evolve along with each other. Jennifer Niven has been exceptional with her story and writing. Finch's point of view throughout the book is something that you should look forward to read. The way Niven talks about a guy who is looking forward for a good day to die is strikingly good. The emotions, theories, quests for perfect days, facing your demons are all explained in a way that they tug at our hearts. In the end, Niven's story is all about surviving in a world where people question your uniqueness or where each passing second, you are reminded of how broken you are.

"The world breaks everyone,and afterward,
Many are strong at the broken places."

And this is what Violet Markey is. Shattered and depressed due to her sister's death. She believes herself to be the reason for Eleanor's death. And when it comes to Theodore Finch (or as called as Theodore Freak) , the only reason he believes it is not a good day to die is because he hasn't yet bought Violet (or his Ultraviolet Remarkey-able) out of the black hole which makes people disappear. But what's sad is that, in the end, he couldn't help himself from falling into the pit. Their story starts at the ledge of the school bell tower and ends at their own Jovian-Plutonian gravitational effect. Quoting Virginia Woolf, stories of Vladimir Mayakovski and Patrick Moore, The Waves, Robert Lowell's Epilogue and the cardinal's story, all just add to the beauty of their story. This is Finch's and his 'Ultraviolet Remarkey-able's story. And just like how different they are, their story is also meant to be different. Like it's said, "It's all written". In a nutshell , Jennifer Niven's "All the bright places" indeed helps you recognize all the bright places (people) in your life. All we have left to do is to just cherish them with all our heart.

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