All The Bright Places

By Angelina Gallardo, Editor            Published March 13, 2020

In 2015, a young adult fiction novel was published by Jennifer Nivel, and now Netflix has released a film based upon the romance of two unique teenagers.

The realistic fiction novel is about two high school students, Violet Markey and Theodore Finch, who unexpectedly meet on the ledge of the bell tower at their school. Markey lost her sister in a car accident and cannot wait for graduation so she can leave Indiana and live her life. While Finch is a guy who wonders about death constantly and thinks about ways to end his life. However, each time he attempts so, there is always something good that makes him take a step back. 

Markey and Finch find themselves paired up for a project to discover different and historic parts of Indiana. The trip is a road full of other new and happy findings for them in which they feel they can truly be themselves when with each other. However, as Markey begins to heal after the accidental death of her sister, Finch is slowly being taken over by the thoughts he temporarily forgot. 

When you begin reading this book, you won’t want to stop reading it as it is filled with many emotions and might even make you cry. Everything feels so real when actually reading the novel like you’re there to witness everything that’s happening. The writing of this novel was brilliant, not once will you ever feel bored or urged to put the book down. 

Nivel’s book includes suicide and depression, listing hotlines in the few back pages of her novel. It’s been compared to Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell, and The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green. The book has also earned awards such as the Goodreads Choice Award and the Children’s Book Choice Award.

The Netflix film, directed by Brett Haley, stars Elle Fanning and Justice Smith. Bringing the book to life, Fanning and Smith did an excellent job of portraying Markey and Finch. As always, some things in the book are a bit different but everything is still brought upon.

The movie is 107 minutes long and definitely worth the watch. As previously mentioned, it does have talks of depression and suicide but teaches a great lesson about life. If you need a book to read or a movie to watch, try looking at All The Bright Places, Hawks!