Wander While You Exist

“I learned that there is good in this world, if you look hard enough for it. I learned that not everyone is disappointing, including me, and that a 1,257 bump in the ground can feel higher than a bell tower if you’re standing next to the right person.”

Title: All The Bright Places
Author: Jennifer Niven
Published by: Knopf, January 2015
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary,
Setting: Indiana (United States)
Format: Paperback, 388 pages
My Copy Source: Gifted

ADD TO GOODREADS

The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this exhilarating and heart-wrenching love story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.
Soon to be a major motion picture starring Elle Fanning!
Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.
Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.
When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

Weehee, I finished the book in a day. And I'm in an emotional daze up until now. Suicide, bullying and depression is an uncharted territory for me. I have never been bullied and I have never attempted suicide and I get depressed for shallow reasons like my grades. But these boundaries didn't stop me from loving and connecting with the book, although at some parts I was struggling to connect with a character.

Violet is a popular girl, she plays in the school's orchestra, she's a cheerleader, she runs a popular webzine and she's a pretty damn good writer but she just lost it when she lost her sister, Eleanor, in a car accident several months back but she still blames herself and still can't cope up with what happened.

Finch is weird, Finch is a freak. Finch is fascinated by death. He tries different ways on how to kill himself: jumping from a tower, hanging himself, euthanasia coaster, drowning, etc and then rate them and then find a reason not to push through and stay awake.

Violet saved Finch, that's what everyone knew, from jumping over the ledge of the Bell Tower, when actually, it's the other way around... That was the start of an unlikely bond between the two of them, the start of an epic adventure, of a memory that will last... Forever.

The reasons why I read the book:

• They actually labeled (omg, no pun intended) it as The Fault in our Stars meet Eleanor and Park and these two are one of my two faves of all time so I have to read it at some point and when I actually got the book as a gift, I'm literally dying inside because FINALLY!!!
• It has a really beautiful book cover, it has a summer-y vibe to it and it just demands to be read.
• I read the synopsis and I really want to know what will happen to them.

The book did not top TFIOS and Eleanor and Park for me but it was great. It talks about something heavy, something that is relatable to a lot of teenagers out there and the message of the book should come across everyone. These three issues, suicide, depression and bullying are serious matters and people who suffer these should speak up. What I like about this book  is, it really shows people how THEY ARE NOT ALONE. We are not alone in our journey in this world and we should share everything to someone, we should not keep it to ourselves because sharing literally saves lives and we should do it more often. We don't know how people care so much more than they let on and how much they want to hear your stories, so speak up and share more often.

Finch has a lot of person inside of him and I can't figure out if I would ever know the real Finch because he changes from one personality to the next in one snap, but I liked Finch. It's like he's so cool but he's not. I like Finch at the start of the story because even though he doesn't know who he wants to be, he is still confident and he doesn't care what everybody else is thinking as long as he's doing what he likes, unlike Violet who is a struggle. She has lost a lot of herself when she lost her sister and as much as I liked Violet as a character, I enjoyed Finch's more because it's a whirlwind of emotion inside his head.

"...This is the way I feel right now. Like Pluto and Jupiter are aligned with the earth and I am floating."

That is my favorite quote from the book. It's sweet and I think this should be the "Okay? Okay." of this book.

This is a sad book which has its fun parts, no erase that, most of it are fun parts but it is sad. The characters are quirky and enjoyable and it's a fun read actually. It demands you to get your ass off your couch and wander around! It wants you to explore the world around you. Well, I don't know about you but that's how I felt after the book. This is a perfect summer read because it makes you feel adventurous. I literally loved the book to pieces because it gives you so many ideas on what to do and, wow, it's just. It inspires me to do a lot.

Aside from all this book talk, I want you all to visit Jennifer Niven's site and go to All the Bright Places because the Extras section is so enjoyable. There's Finch's wall of ideas, Violet's reading list, All the Bright Place's instagram and many more. And oh! If you follow Jennifer Niven's instagram, she'll definitely follow you back. I got giddy when she followed me back and *squeeeal!!!*. Okay, so, just visit it okay, you'll enjoy it, I promise :)

Also, read the book. It will take you to places.

I'M OFF TO WANDER!

"Some places become special when there's a reason to see the wonder in something bare."

-Ishiee💗