2 minute read
The Brightest Place
from Burador
THE BRIGHTEST PLACE A BOOK REVIEW
BY CECILIA JHADZIAH DIVA
Advertisement
It is in unusual places that we meet unusual people – this is exactly how Jennifer Niven brought to life her first young adult novel which tackles about mental health illness and its powerful effects on the person suffering from it.
On their school bell tower, Violet Markey and Theodore Finch meet. Both had the same intentions on that same day. Jump. However, it was unclear who saves whom which then leads to embark in a journey of teenage love, but much more than that, finding your own brightest place.
Violet used to be the popular girl until an accident took away her sister’s life and started feeling the burden of guilt as if she was the one responsible for her sibling’s death (though no one is actually blaming her). Nine months after, still unstable and all depressed, she met Finch, who had undiagnosed bipolar syndrome and together, they embarked on a journey as they “wander” Indiana as part of a school project.
In the moment of both struggling with themselves and the people around them, both found solace in each other’s company – it may be the momentary companionship of one another or the peace that it brought them when they “wander” across Indiana, we may never know. Consequently though, as Violet slowly begins to heal, Finch’s wound grew bigger and deeper.
One notable thing that can be commended in this book is the raw and honest portrayal of mental illness in both of the characters – one that is rather consciously known by the character itself and one that bottled and bottling up. As there are a lot of young adult books with themes such as the complexity of mental illnesses, it is hard to find one that would show the times of “lowest” of “low”.
All the Bright Places’ almost unguarded and life-like characters successfully showed the ups and downs of mental illness – the in-betweens of thriving and surviving. Just like any other person, both Violet and Finch had to go to their own brightest places – a choice that they both chose personally where no one can blame them.
