All the Bright Places

Theodore Finch is too pure for this world

Original de: El Extraño Gato del Cuento



Ay, creo que me será difícil reseñar este libro, lo tengo postergando porque de verdad no sé exactamente qué poner. No solo porque me gustó demasiado, sino también porque tocó un tema demasiado personal.

Siempre se me hace un poco extraño encontrar similitudes con personajes como Theodore Finch, alguien que puede ser demasiado aventurero un segundo pero al siguiente no poder ni siquiera levantarse de la cama. Tuve un poco de recelo mientras avanzaba con mi lectura porque hay una línea muy delgada entre querer contar una historia con un personaje como Theodore Finch de la manera más realista y romantizar una enfermedad, que por experiencia sé es un infierno.

Por otro lado Violet me recordó a muchas de las personas que conocí hasta ahora, ese tipo de persona que queremos ayudar a pesar de que quizá somos nosotros lo que necesitemos ayuda.

El libro está narrado a dos voces por lo que sentirás lo diferente de los personajes, encariñarte y sufrir cuando las cosas sucedan.

Es un libro complicado, habla sobre muerte, básicamente Finch no sé pasa un párrafo sin alguna mención a ella, pero mientras vas leyendo ves como su percepción de la cosas van cambiando, como va evolucionando y te da la esperanza que las cosas salgan bien. Tanto Violet como Finch tienen problemas bastante serios que enfrentar. Y es tan doloroso ver como cada uno se está ayudando porque te hace pensar una y otra vez “Esto no acabará bien”


Al llegar al final tuve que dejar el libro un rato porque no quería afrontarlo, como dije al principio, está historia la sentí demasiado cercana. All the Bright Places es un libro complicado, si no se lee correctamente puede acabar en mal entendidos, como idealizar una enfermedad mental.

No quiero compararlo con los otros libros, para mí All the Bright Places es único, te muestra hasta donde una enfermedad que lamentablemente está menospreciada.

¿Algo más? Creo que no, me sido difícil escribir este poquito, si tienen la oportunidad de leerlo, háganlo. Siempre y cuando lo que quieran es terminar con el corazón roto.



Twitter || Blog || Pinterest || Tumblr || Instagram || Facebook

Violet and Finch officially meet on top of the bell tower of their school. Both are thinking about jumping, for completely different reasons, so one talks the other out of jumping and so begins the journey of the two.
2.75
I honestly don't know how to rate this because I loved half of Part 1 and the rest was a bunch of different emotions. I wasn't really feeling part three, but that could because I wasn't fond of the character who was narrating it. I much preferred Finch's point of view in part 1 but in part 2 he had a sense of hopelessness that you already knew he was fighting a losing battle. The author made it quite obvious that the characters were more about their illness than actual characters. I loved the quotes that he shared and just in general his inner thoughts, but in part 2 it was hard to read from his point of view because he was simply personifying his illness.
I personally could not handle reading from Violet's point of view. She was so entitled and got mad when people treated her with sympathy (even though she was clearly looking for it). In general she was so judgmental and nasty with other characters and judged others when they did it to her. Part three was especially hard to get through because she acted like the world owed her something. In the end she acted as if she really knew Finch and hated that others just pretended to be sympathetic when she was exactly like them in the beginning.
Ok so I'm going off in a rant that is not really helping anybody. In the end I enjoyed parts of the novel but I can't say I understand why so many people love it. Violet was a terrible character and Finch was just full of hopelessness that I couldn't even really empathize with. The characters should have been more like characters rather than encapsulations of their illness.

4.3

Wow... I have no exact words for this book. The story is so devastating and beautiful, and it's rare for a book to make me tear up. Violet and Finch are such lovable characters. Their everyday interactions are so real and natural. As soon as you become invested in these two amazing young teenagers, prepare to get your heart wrecked. That ending almost killed me. It hurts so much. It's depressing beyond belief because most of the issues in this book are so accurate, especially amongst adolescents and young adults. I couldn't recommend this book enough. Prepare the tissues while you read this :(

Finch and Violet meet in the oddest of places...both are on the ledge of the bell tower at school, contemplating suicide. Finch and Violet have nothing in common—Violet's got friends everywhere, but Finch is friendless...Violet has two loving parents and Finch's parents have checked out of the parenting game...Violet is easygoing and compliant, but Finch is a loose cannon—but they inexplicably become friends.

Finch is a character you can't help but love, all the while seeing his desperation.

Niven doesn't let you down with this book and snap on happily-ever-afters here and there like weaker authors do. It's cold and hard and clear and true.

An amazing read.

Goddammit.

There were a lot of problems with this book. It's so easy to sloppily romanticise depression and mental illness that writers probably don't even realise they're doing it. Readers don't notice. These books make some readers angry because they believe tragedy and trauma are being used as cheap plot devices but others find it relatable and it helps them cope.

This one has a lot of sicklit tropes. It's a tearjerker. I hate that Finch's depression and death was used as fodder for Violet's post-traumatic growth, even though seasoned readers could probably see the suicide coming from a mile away. (I was hoping against hope it wouldn't happen.) This book made me cry (I cried through the last 50 pages) because it made suicide look beautiful but it isn't, goddammit, so stop making me feel like it is. Stop doing this to me, writers. Now that the bubble's burst, I hate this book for emotionally manipulating me by making a character so relatable I was identifying myself and my loved ones in them. I feel sad because the writer meant well and wrote from personal experience and this book must have been her coping with her own grief and loss...

This book got to me, badly.

Theodore Finch wonders, at the open of the book, “is today a good day to die?” Instead he meets and “saves” Violet Markey from the ledge of the school bell tower. What is with YA meet-cutes that have to include someone near death?

The whole book feels wholly manipulative with an IMPORTANT message for all teens. And certainly I can't argue the sentiment about raising awareness around suicide. I especially like that Jennifer Niven includes resources for teens that may be wrestling with issues of depression and suicide as an appendix to the book. But otherwise I'm left wondering why are all the parents here are criminally hamstrung, blind and hapless while the teens are just all the feels.

I am the aged curmudgeon wondering why everything has to be so overwrought and melodramatic. On a completely unrelated note, I currently live with 3 teenagers.

Whelp I was NOT expecting this one to be so darn sad and depressing while at the same time having bits of love and laughter mixed in. I was thrown off by the title and honestly thought I was getting something light-hearted and fun.

While it did have elements of that here and there, this is mostly a sad and melancholy read. If not for a buddy read, I wouldn't have pulled this off the shelf yet. I had a really hard time wanting to read this one, BUT don't be confused...I loved it...it just really threw a monkey wrench in my holiday spirit today.

This has elements of a sweet love story and what it means to truly care for and love someone unconditionally. It also has elements of stigma related to mental health and the way it was carelessly thrown aside throughout this story, which led to the ending it did, was exasperating.

Theo's mother was completely self-absorbed as she cared more for “how it would look” to have a child with a mental health issue, instead of embracing her son and doing any, and everything she could to find help for him. I almost threw my book a few times when I encountered her parts in the story.

Too often, people are judged because of how they act and it's usually with misinformation. Kindness, and understanding could seriously change the world if people would get out of their own heads sometimes and just offer a smile and a hello once in a while.

I know some consider it silly and maybe even dumb, but I seriously believe a simple smile and show of humanity towards another could create a chain reaction that might save someone's life or just brighten their day when they needed it most.