Book Review: All The Bright Places

Reading Girl Online ignited my love for reading books. So the next time I went to a bookstore (which was less than a week, I bought another book. I was debating over buying All The Bright Places vs Paper Towns vs Looking for Alaska (the last two both by John Green), but I decided to go with this book because it has a pretty interesting story at the back of the book. It didn't give away much, which made it more mysterious and exciting to read.

The title doesn't give much clue about what the story is about, but here's the summary from the back of the book:

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death. Every day he things of ways he might die, but every day he also searches for - and manages to find - something to keep him here, and alive, and awake.Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her small Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school - six stories above the ground - it's unclear who saves whom. And when the unlikely pair teams up on a class project to discover the "natural wonders" of their state, they go, as Finch says, where the road takes them: the grand, the small, the bizarre, the beautiful, the ugly, the surprising - just like life.Soon it's only with Violet that Finch can be himself - a bold, funny, live-out-loud guy, who's not such a freak after all. And it's only with Finch that Violet forgets to count away the days and starts living them. But as Violet's world grows, Finch's begins to shrink. This is a heart-wrenching, unflinching story of love shared, life lived, and two teens who find one another while standing on the edge.

Why I Bought This Book
They say don't judge a book by its cover, but I totally did that on this one. I mean, the sticky notes is very adorable! And the flower and bird makes me wonder on what these are and how it's related to the story.

What I Think About The Story
Violet is this popular girl who seems to have her life perfectly planned already, but a terrible accident will change things for her. Finch, on the other hand, is this weird kid who is so fascinated about death. He has this quirky character that people don't understand, and he doesn't care what they say. In fact, he keeps up with this image of his and creates a lot of persona. This eventually makes Violet more attracted to him.

Hold up - it's not an average love story! If I haven't told you before, I don't like love stories that follows a formula (boy meets girl, fights, conquers challenges and lives happily ever after). This is a story about finding who you are. It's about understanding how life goes, and how people get along with it. It just so happens that Violet and Finch are both going through something, that this class project has brought them closer, and that they have (unconsciously) been helping one another get through their problems. But again, it's not (entirely) a love story.

It's very unconventional - and I love it. The plot was so twisted, that I couldn't believe it until the end of the book. I was honestly waiting for the author to tell at the last chapter that it was all just a deception or a dream, but it wasn't.

I also love how it is true to life. If you'll read the author's note, you'll understand that it comes from her real life experience.

What I think about the book (construction and more)?
Perfect.

I like how the perspective jumps from the two main characters. Below the name of the character who's narrating that specific chapter, there's also countdown to important things in their life: graduation for Violet, and "being awake" for Finch. This format explains their thoughts better, and it shows what they think of one another. I love how the author built the characters in a way that I became attached to them as I was reading the story. The plot was unexpected, but it was real life.

Would I recommend the book?

Definitely! Especially to those who are troubled, and think that there's no more to life. Reading this book will make you realize that you're not alone, that someone, even people who you don't expect to, is with you. They might not completely understand what you're thinking and/or going through, but there are people who are willing to listen and to help in any way that they can.

DISCLAIMER:
All that I have written are my opinion (except for the summary written at the back of the book, ofcourse). This is not a sponsored post (no matter how cool that would've been!). I tried to make this post as objective as I could (though I must admit that there's a bit of bias here). I have written this to help other readers to get an idea what to read next. I am in no way a professional book critic (but who knows? maybe one day...).