He wants Violet to do what he says and when he says it and to heal on his timeline and on his terms. The rest of the conversation and, indeed, the rest of the novel, tries to prove Violet wrong, but the truth is that she had it nailed right off the bat. You don’t think about anyone else other than yourself.'” Me, about Finch You just barge in and help yourself and say we’re doing this, we’re doing that, but you don’t listen. “ ‘You can’t keep pushing people to do things they don’t want to do. He is exactly as terrible as people make him out to be.īefore they get to know each other and fall in lust love, Violet accuses Finch of being pushy and manipulative, saying: If Finch is the way he is because he is Finch, then he is just legitimately a terrible, stupid human being. If Finch is the way he is because he is mentally ill, I’m inclined to be sympathetic and give him the benefit of the doubt. But here’s the thing about Finch: he should be so, so grateful that he’s diagnosed at the end of the book because it makes me feel bad about hating him. “Labels say This is why you are the way you are. Towards the end of the novel, when he’s given his (obvious) diagnosis, Finch is upset because (spoiler omitted):

Drops the ‘not like other girls’ line (on multiple occasions!).

Pushes for emotional intimacy and then refuses to reciprocate.Pushes for a first date even when it’s obvious he’s not welcome.Aside from being annoying (“Violet Remarkey-able” was horrifically awful the first time he said it, and then it became a running thing), which is bad enough, Finch aces the Terrible Boyfriend Checklist: I can’t remember the last time that I hated a fictional character this much (actually, that’s a lie.

Finch talks Violet down, and the two become romantically connected over a school project that requires them to wander Indiana.įinch is the actual worst. The two meet at the top of a tower, both half intending to jump off. Finch has obvious mental issues and is afraid of falling Asleep. Violet is struggling to recover from her sister Eleanor’s death. Now that I’ve finished it, I think there must be a secret second version of it, because I hated this book and for the life of me can’t see what people liked about it.Īll the Bright Places is about troubled teenagers Violet and Finch.

I have read a lot of glowing reviews of All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, so I read it without even glancing at the blurb, figuring that that many people couldn’t be wrong. If you liked this book, don’t read this review.

Novel all the bright places