Novel Of The Week: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Different covers - same book: the American one vs the Italian's

Theodore "Theo" Finch and Violet Markey have nothing in common, to be honest they're barely aware of each other's existence; they only go to the same high school. 

How is it possible that two people so different meet on the school's rooftop with the same "aim" (to get over with their lives)?

Somehow, Finch manages to persuade Violet from jumping and makes the people think that it was SHE that persuaded him from jumping, instead.

As a "payback", the two have a geography project to work on together: explore the State of Indiana in order to appreciate it more, so when they'll be leaving for college they'll remember from where they come from.

Finch and Violet start to know each other and Finch is able to help her dealing with the reasons that brought her on the roof top in the first place. Violet also is trying to help him, but his reasons and problems are deeper and more radicate in him...

What I liked

Even if the topic of this book is far far away from being an happy one (read: teenage suicides), the author developed it in a cheerful and optimistic way, making two very different people to meet and comprehend each other. 

What I did not like

There's actually nothing I didn't like about this novel, if we're talking about the grammatic part of the synopsis and story development. I hated the male protagonist's parents: an absent and naive mother and a brutal and egoist father...and sometimes I couldn't stand Theo as well. I can't imagine how hard is to deal with depression, but if everybody around you is willing to help, why not take it?

The finale is incredible and unpredictable: this made me love this novel even more! It's painful, heart melting and the characters are perfect in their imperfect way; they're fun, carefree and deep all at once. For me this book is a MUST READ!

My Vote:  9/10