All the Bright Places
by Jennifer Niven
★ Top 10 book of 2015 · #7 on Best Books of 2015
Theodore Finch, preoccupied with death, and Violet Markey, grieving her sister, meet on a school bell tower ledge. A shared project exploring their state's natural wonders helps each find new ways to live, though Finch's world narrows.
Best for: Teen and young adult readers drawn to emotional stories about grief, mental health and connection
All the Bright Places is #7 on BookWard's Best Books of 2015, out of 56 2015 books that cleared our data bar.
What All the Bright Places is about
Violet and Finch first meet at the top of their school's bell tower, both thinking about jumping. Finch talks Violet down, and from that moment the two are tied together. Violet is still grieving her sister Eleanor, who died in a car accident nine months earlier, and she carries survivor's guilt. Finch is fascinated by death, has depression with "Awake" periods, and is treated by classmates as a freak.
When they are paired for a school project exploring places around Indiana, including Hoosier Hill, their friendship deepens into love. Finch helps Violet talk about her sister and begin writing again. But his own struggles run deep. He is abused by his father and refuses to be given a diagnosis, because labels make him feel trapped. Violet's parents grow wary of him after a night out, and trouble at school pushes things toward a harder place.
Jennifer Niven's first young adult novel draws on her own story. It is tender and bittersweet, and heavy in subject, so it is best for readers ready to sit with grief and mental illness.
All the Bright Places on the Best Books of 2015
All the Bright Places came out in 2015. Of the 56 books first published in 2015 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #7 on our Best Books of 2015 list.
Why it made the list: 1,259 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.2 out of 5 (65 ratings); 86 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
It earns Being read right now.
Nearby on the 2015 list
- The Sword of Summer Rick Riordan, #5
- Red Queen Victoria Aveyard, #6
- A Little Life Hanya Yanagihara, #8
- Corrupt Penelope Douglas, #9
See all Best Books of 2015 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2014 Best Books of 2016.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 1,051 want to read it, 86 are reading it now and 122 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.2 out of 5 from 65 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 91 | 55% |
| Reader love | 63 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 91 | 20% |
Questions about All the Bright Places
When was All the Bright Places published?
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven was first published in 2015.
Was All the Bright Places one of the best books of 2015?
All the Bright Places is #7 on BookWard's Best Books of 2015, out of 56 2015 books that cleared our data bar. 1,259 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.2 out of 5 (65 ratings); 86 are reading it right now.
Why is All the Bright Places on the Best Books of 2015 list?
1,259 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.2 out of 5 (65 ratings); 86 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 2015
- Six of Crows Leigh Bardugo, #1
- The Hired Girl Laura Amy Schlitz, #2
- Queen of Shadows Sarah J. Maas, #3
- November 9 Colleen Hoover, #4
- The Sword of Summer Rick Riordan, #5
- Red Queen Victoria Aveyard, #6
See the full Best Books of 2015, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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