All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven | Book Review

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven 

Reading Group Rating: Sensitive Subject Matter/High School+

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

Cover: The cover of this book is blue, like Finch's bedroom after he redecorates and his eyes.  It's also covered in post-it notes like Finch's room.  The post-it's are a huge part of this book and eventually become the missing piece to the puzzle that finds Finch.  One of the post-it's has a cardinal on it to represent the one Finch wanted so much to save but couldn't (Finch is the cardinal) and another has a violet on it to represent Violet (duh) and also the flowers Finch brings Violet and the ones he plants at the scene of the accident.

My Review: Okay...This book...I feel like my heart has been ripped from my chest and then tried to be put back.  I never cry at books or movies, but this one nearly got me.  I will forever be scarred by this book.  And I'm kind of okay with that... 
I literally just finished this book, that's why ^^^^ is there.  It's like my official reaction to this book.  But in all serious, this book is truly amazing.  Completely different to the typical happily ever after I usually read (I know now why I prefer those, I can't handle the emotions going through me right now) it's major theme was mental health which I think is a really important thing to talk about.  There's a part in the novel where Finch is afraid to talk about being bipolar because he doesn't want to be labeled.  And I think a ton of people feel this way.  They've already been labeled a freak or a weirdo or a slut or whatever, they don't need anything else.  I also thought how interesting it was how the chapters started.  It was either Finch or Violet's name, but then there was something else.  For Finch it counted how many days he was Awake.  However, it also felt like a countdown until he was Asleep again because the need for the count made you feel like it wouldn't last forever.  For Violet it started with a countdown to graduation.  She needed to have something to look forward to in her life, something to keep her going.  However, after she throws away her calendar it just starts to say the day it is.  Violet no longer needed something to aim for, she learned to live for the present day and not the future.
This book is so frustrating because Finch teaches Violet (and you) so many things about life and not only how to live and enjoy it, but also to deal with the bad things.  He tells Violet to write down the bad things, but instead of putting them on the wall rip them up.  However, he's the one who need the most help to see that life is worth living.  And it's so sad because I feel like that's always the case.  It always seem to be the kids who maybe have nothing to complain about.  And Finch knows his life could be a lot worse.  It reminds us that mental illness isn't just for kids who have hard lives, it's something in our brains.  It's how we're hardwired.  Something isn't right and we have thoughts we shouldn't be having, but that doesn't make us bad.  It's okay to ask for help.
Something else I found interesting was Violet and getting in the car with Finch.  It's been nearly a year since her sister died and she hasn't been in a car.  You have to imagine that her friends and family offered to drive her places.  Maybe they didn't push the subject too hard because they knew she was still suffering so they just took her decline and went with it.  But Finch didn't really need to push her too hard either.  She just got in the car.  And he was pretty much a stranger.  One who liked to drive fast.  Which he didn't do too much when Violet was in the car with him, but the fact that she got in the car shows how much trust she had in him.
There are so many themes that weave in and out of this novel.  It's definitely one for a book club.  There is mental health, bullies, post-it notes, quotes, death, wandering, water, cardinals, family flowers, etc. the list goes on.

So after you finish the book and you don't really know what you're feeling because so many emotions are flying in and out of you at a mile a minute (I couldn't have been the only one) you go on Jennifer Niven's website and discover that not only is Germ Magazine an actual thing, but so is EleanorAndViolet and just like that BAM! 50 more emotions are added to the fly list. 

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Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway | Book Review

Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

Reading Group Rating: High School

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy's soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?

Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life. . . . She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents' relentless worrying. But Emmy's parents can't seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.

Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart. . . . He'd thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew that it was his father who had kidnapped him and kept him on the run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at once, has his heart racing, and his thoughts swirling.

Cover: This cover is simple, but I think it's really nice.  In the background is the ocean, which connects to Emmy and her surfing and that is how she and Oliver kind of reconnect when he comes back.  There is also a fingerprint heart, the focal point of the cover.  Oliver's fingerprint is what is used to find him and bring him pact to his mom and old hometown. 

My Review: I loved this story.  I thought it was absolutely fantastic.  The topic was incredibly interesting and makes you wonder how you would feel if you were Oliver and also if you were Emmy.  I mean you try to think of something that happened ten years ago and the person you were then, and then you wonder how you would be if it happened again or it undid itself.  And on such a huge scale as kidnapping?  
The book also used family as such a huge theme throughout it and how we don't always like our families or agree with our families methods, but they're still ours.  We don't chose them and they don't chose us so there must be a reason we were grouped together.  There are things that we hide from our families as well because we don't know how they'll react or we do know how they'll react and we don't want them to hurt.  It's a tricky balancing act trying to keep yourself and your family happy, but eventually you figure out that sometimes you have to be selfish.  Sometimes you have to do things for you because your family may be stuck with you for now, but you're stuck with you forever.  Emmy certainly figured that one out.
Another huge theme of this book is obviously friendship and the power of it.  Emmy was able to jump right back into her friendship with Oliver.  I mean, it was a little awkward at first, but not as awkward as it could have been and it moved on from that extremely quickly.  It'e kind of like when you hear a song again for the first time in years that was once your favorite.  You may stumble around the first verse, but you still know the chorus by heart, it comes back naturally like muscle memory.  Some friendships are just like that.  Those are the friends that you'll have forever.

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The Fine Art of Pretending by Rachel Harris | Book Review

The Fine Art of Pretending by Rachel Harris

Reading Group Rating: Young Adult

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: According to the guys at Fairfield Academy, there are two types of girls: the kind you hook up with, and the kind you're friends with. Seventeen-year-old Alyssa Reed is the second type. And she hates it. With just one year left to change her rank, she devises a plan to become the first type by homecoming, and she sets her sights on the perfect date-Justin Carter, Fairfield Academy's biggest hottie and most notorious player.

With 57 days until the dance, Aly launches Operation Sex Appeal and sheds her tomboy image. The only thing left is for Justin actually to notice her. Enter best friend Brandon Taylor, the school's second biggest hottie, and now Aly's pretend boyfriend. With his help, elevating from funny friend to tempting vixen is only a matter of time.

But when everything goes according to plan, the inevitable break up leaves their friendship in shambles, and Aly and Brandon with feelings they can't explain. And the fake couple discovers pretending can sometimes cost you the one thing you never expected to want.

Cover: The cover of this book is very sweet.  It depicts two people, presumably Aly and Brandon, hiding behind a heart.  I like the cover because they aren't close enough to be kissing (unless of course they are half ducks, but that would be weird and probably mentioned in the book...hehe) so what are they doing?  Are they about to kiss?  Are they smiling at each other?  Are they in that awkward phase were they want to be friends, but only because they're afraid to be more so they aren't making eye contact?  I think judging by where their hands are they are probably at least being flirty with each other.

My Review: I loved this book because it was relatable.  I think it's normal for people to start thinking about ways to change themselves at the end of the summer.  To think This year is going to be my year.  And even making small changes.  Do I think most people try to change as drastically as Aly did?  No.  But do I think a few people do every year?  Absolutely.  Everyone wants to be noticed in high school.  So they make some changes, come up with a few lies, it happens.  But eventually the real you comes through and you'll realize that it's easier to just be you.  And maybe, in your mission to change you discovered some new things about yourself and that's great, but the lies just make life messier not easier.  I think this book describes this perfectly.  It was a great story and of course I loved it because it had the best friends turned boyfriend and girlfriend aspect in there too.  And that part was obviously a big part, but I don't think it took away from the fact that Aly did a lot of self discovery at the start of her senior year.  Brandon too.  He had to admit some things to himself that he never thought he would.  Coming from someone who has been through senior year I can tell you that you do learn a lot about yourself during senior year.  It's scary and exhilarating at the same time.

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FOUR: A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth | Book Review

FOUR: A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth

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Reading Group Rating: Young Adult

Personal Rating: 5 Stars

Given Summary: Two years before Beatrice Prior made her choice, the sixteen-year-old son of Abnegation’s faction leader did the same. Tobias’s transfer to Dauntless is a chance to begin again. Here, he will not be called the name his parents gave him. Here, he will not let fear turn him into a cowering child.

Newly christened “Four,” he discovers during initiation that he will succeed in Dauntless. Initiation is only the beginning, though; Four must claim his place in the Dauntless hierarchy. His decisions will affect future initiates as well as uncover secrets that could threaten his own future—and the future of the entire faction system.

Two years later, Four is poised to take action, but the course is still unclear. The first new initiate who jumps into the net might change all that. With her, the way to righting their world might become clear. With her, it might become possible to be Tobias once again.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth comes a companion volume to the worldwide bestselling DIVERGENT series, told from the per-spective of the immensely popular character Tobias. The four pieces included here—THE TRANSFER, THE INITIATE, THE SON, and THE TRAITOR—plus three additional exclusive scenes, give readers an electrifying glimpse into the history and heart of Tobias, and set the stage for the epic saga of the DIVERGENT trilogy.


Cover: When I first purchased this book I thought the cover was so cool.  It's Chicago with the ferris wheel that Tobias climbs in Divergent even though he's afraid of heights.  I wasn't 100% sure why it was on fire, maybe just to show how scary something like that is to Tobias or just because the Dauntless symbol is flames.  However, after reading Four I'm not a huge fan of the cover.  The ferris wheel scene isn't mentioned in the book at all so there is really no point for it to be on the cover.  I think whoever came up with this cover could have come up with something that had to do more with the book itself and not just Tobias.  Maybe just flames for Dauntless or flames burning the Abnegation symbol or some other way to resemble his fears.

My Review: I have a thing for stories from multiple perspectives and I definitely favor the male perspective.  I don't know why, I just do.  So I was excited when I bought this novel to read from Tobias' point of view.  However, I didn't really like the ending of the Divergent series so my excitement to read this book wavered a little.  I did really enjoy Four though.  It was interesting to get inside of Tobias' head and see who he was before he met Tris.  I liked that this book was almost a prequel to the main series.  You get to learn how Dauntless was when Tobias was going through initiation versus Tris' initiation.  I just loved being inside Tobias' head because he was such an introvert in Divergent so it was nice to get to know him better.  I loved how in the back of the book there were three scenes from Divergent in Tobias' point of view.  Just three little scenes, not the whole book.  And how within Four these events had already happened, but they weren't elaborated on and then they were put in as little extras.

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