REVIEW: ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES|| QUIRKINESS FOR THE SAKE OF QUIRKINESS SYNDROME

All The Bright Places was…

Almost a waste of time??  It was one of those books when I was expecting A LOT.  I kept thinking, “Oh the good part’s coming up after this,”  and then it was five pages to the end and the GOOD PART NEVER CAME.  It got to the point when my eyes were moving across the pages, but the words?  Couldn’t see them.

Don’t let the crown of flowers deceive you.

• The characters took the form of their illnesses

Not cool!  I’m still looking through those messed up descriptions of their issues and all that for, oh, I dunno, a PERSONALITY?  I feel like Violet’s world and every single action she took revolved around her sister.  Every word that came out of her mouth.  And Finch… WE GET IT.  he’s ‘quirky’.  So much quirk.  I had no idea quirkiness could replace emotions or a personality.

• I thought the descriptions of mental illnesses were not focused.

I LOVED how Violet and Finch always were honest with the reader, but when I was reading it, the character’s voice wasn’t exactly on point. Some phrases were in Finch’s voice, others were in the author’s voice, ya feel me?

• It felt like an indie romance, not a contemporary??

SO much instant love and travel and literal inspirational quote facebook messages.  I was there for serious themes, I was down for the topic of depression and PTSD and all that, but not for a cheesy love story?

• THERE WERE SO MANY PARTS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED

Like what happened to that thing about Finch’s abusive father?  Why don’t we make that a theme rather than quirkiness?  Let’s hear more about Violet’s digital magazine please!  And also maybe cool tidbits about Indiana’s locations that they go to?

 

• Finch was either a stalker or crazy in love, apparently, those are easy to confuse

Violet became a part of Finch’s life in an unhealthy way, triggering lots of red flags.  RED FLAG NUMBER ONE:  he barely knows her and becomes Facebook friends just to talk to her and quote things  RED FLAG NUMBER 2:  after he friends her on Facebook, he forces her to talk to him all the time and hang out with him and tell him many personal things about the traumatic experiences she has been through, wth?  RED FLAG NUMBER 3: he forms his entire existence and reason to live around her, even though they had only known one another for a couple of months

The author expects us to LOVE this relationship and make us root for the relationship, yet it was built on unhealthy boundaries…

• Finch was also an attention seeker, btw

He’s quite dramatic with everything he says, and you can’t take him seriously when he talks about huge topics.  You don’t know if he needs help or is just trying to get a reaction out of you.  This makes adults reluctant to say anything to him.  This makes even his councelour not sure whether or not to help him.  He clearly also has some behavioral issues, aside from alllll his other issues.

• SO. PREDICTABLE.

  Let’s be real for a sec… I knew how the book was going to end from the very first page.

• IT GLORIFIES SUICIDE

It makes it a part of Finch’s every day to research death, and contemplate ways we would do such a thing.  There is a touch of almost describing the matter as haunting and beautiful.  Um, hello!  This is not ok!!!!

I did actually give the book credit for a few things.

• I LOVED how Violet wasn’t a typical popular girl

She wasn’t a mean cheerleader who calls people losers.  In fact, in the book, she was described as quite popular and pretty.  Not all popular girls are cheerleaders, guys.  They don’t all go around making fun of people.

• I was obsessed with the idea of an Indiana school project relationship!

Although it was the typical “aw darn we’re partners for a school project now I guess we’ll just fall in love,”  it was still really cute.  ❤

 

BUT LET’S GET SOMETHING STRAIGHT Mental illnesses are NOT:

• a quirk
• an excuse for every single thing you do
• something that blossoms into an indie romance
• what it is portrayed as in All The Bright Places