All The Bright Places

By Jennifer Niven

2.5/5

I told myself after reading When We Collided by Emery Lord that I would read more books on mental health and that is exactly what I did. All The Bright Places, I think, primarily deals with bullying and how much bullying can negatively impact on someone’s life. Finch is bullied for being different and he finds comfort and friendship in Violet, a popular girl who lost her sister in a car accident. They meet on the top of the school bell tower, both with the intention of jumping off. Instead, they help each other down and the book follows their journey of trying to further help each other. But as Violet gets better, Finch only seems to get worse.

Honestly, this book really didn’t live up to my expectations. It is very much rated positively on Bookstagram but I didn’t like how much mental illness was dismissed in this book but I supposed it is only reflective of what society is striving to get past. I also found it to be very predictable and so I did not find myself shedding a tear like many other readers have done. This book really fell flat for me and if you are interested in reading books surrounding mental health, I would definitely recommend When We Collided over All The Bright Places.

However, this book was a very quick read and I read it in one sitting. Perhaps I might give it another read in the future and find it more enjoyable but for now, unfortunately, it suffers a low rating.

Carry On

By Rainbow Rowell

3.5/5

This book was thoroughly enjoyable. I found it to be a really easy read and the story gripped me from page one. I’m not usually a fan of fantasy novels but I really enjoyed reading this book. I adore Simon and Baz and have done since their story began in Fangirl, another novel by Rainbow Rowell. I also think I enjoyed it so much because it was set in the UK and all of the places mentioned were familiar to me; most books I read are set in the US and I feel it is sometimes difficult to connect to the story and the characters because I’m unfamiliar with the areas mentioned and the lingo used.

However, my reason for rating this book so low is the many different chapter point of views that made the story difficult to follow at times. I think I counted around 7 or 8 different POVs which I believe is a bit excessive. I am also not the biggest fan of Rainbow Rowell. I have read four of her novels so far and all of them have fallen a bit flat for me. That isn’t to say she isn’t a brilliant writer, perhaps her novels just really aren’t for me.

Despite this, I would probably read Carry On again, as it was a really fun read and something a bit different to what I usually pick up.

When We Collided

By Emery Lord

4/5

Firstly, this book is incredibly poetic so if you don’t like flowery image and long description this isn’t the book for you. I didn’t know what to expect going into this book but I had seen a lot of positive comments on Bookstagram (the Instagram book community).  I didn’t actually realise that it was a book about mental health. I haven’t read very many books about mental health, I could probably count them all on one hand in fact. I wasn’t engrossed in this book from the first few chapters which is usually something I like to be; I actually thought I was going to end up putting it down and reading something else because I really disliked the character of Vivi. However, as I learnt more about what she was going through, I realised how easy it is to judge someone when you don’t know the full story and by the end of the novel, I sympathised with Vivi and felt as though we ended as firm friends. The character of Jonah, on the other hand, I loved from the beginning to the end. I thought he was incredibly strong and brave and I especially liked seeing him in the family dynamic with his five other siblings. I also haven’t read many books where there has been a strong family environment and so this was another thing that made me really enjoy this book. I thought all characters went through a lot of development which is good to see in a YA novel.

I did give this book a 4/5 purely because of how long it took me to get into it.

I am not usually one to read the Author’s Note at the end of a novel but I found myself continuing to read it when I reached the end of the book and the words of Emery Lord really stuck with me. She says; “I worry that we’re not talking about mental health enough. And if we’re not talking about it enough, how can we possibly shine enough light into places that can feel very dark and very lonely?” Following these words, I am going to make it my mission to read more books on issues surrounding mental health as I do believe it is really important to beat the stigma and to give people, who suffer bravely everyday with all kinds of mental health issues, a voice.