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All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven







All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven is a YA novel that won the 2015 Goodreads Winner for Best YA Fiction. Not only did it win the Goodreads award, but it's in the works for a movie pretty soon. It's about a boy with clinical depression who is contemplating suicide. He meets a girl at school who is grieving the loss of her older sister in a car accident. While working on a school project to see the "natural wonders" of their state, a romance ensues and one of them finds healing.

Sex: There IS a sex scene in this book. It's fairly mild compared to some other YA books, but it's there. Sex is also discussed casually and joked about between male friends graphically.

Violence/Gore/Frightening Scenes/Death: Theodore, the main male character, is contemplating jumping from a building when he sees Violet, the main female character, next to him. He talks her down. Theodore thinks about death and depression a lot. Theodore's father is abusive. Violet lost her sister in a car accident. There are several instances of bullying and fighting at school. Someone in the book dies and it's a little graphic. Depression is a major theme.

Language: I would classify this book as moderate. Theodore curses quite frequently and 4 letter words are you used sporadically in the book.

Alcohol/Drug Abuse: There is drinking but it's not a main theme.

Final Note: This book is popular. It's won book awards and it's going to be a movie, so it's something high school kids have either already been exposed to or probably will in the near future. Jennifer Niven's writing is beautiful and the story of Theodore and Violet is captivating. But, the material is heavy. It took me two tries to read it and I still can't get it out of my head. It affected me as a grown adult, so that's just something to consider.

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