For as often as I read, I rarely find a book that truly strikes me. Some stories blur together, not quite enough to actually say something, but not terrible enough to be forgotten. Last night I finished a book that left me sputtering, broken, and changed. "All the Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven has a premise that of course, appealed to me. Two teenagers fall in love in the ledge of a building during half thought out suicide attempts. They talk each other off the ledge in an awkwardly sweet exchange, making it unclear who saved who. Finch is a depressed, screwed up kid that just really wants to feel alive more than anything. Violet wishes she had never survived the car accident that killed her sister. After the ledge, these two fall in love in the most organic, beautiful way. This book wasn't written or composed. it was carefully crafted like a work of art. Niven seemingly carves these characters out of marble, each detail is intricate and important. From Finch's constant reinventions to Violet's hands shaking at the sight of bridges, these characters feel completely and totally human. That takes incredible talent to be able to create a riveting story driven almost solely by character development than by a plot. Their romance isn't even the focal point of the story. At least, not really. It's about these two broken people falling in love, finding happiness in a sea of darkness all while growing as human beings. That's incredible hard to do.
"All the Bright Places" was a rare, magnificent addition to my library. I want to share this beautiful story for everyone. Jennifer Niven somehow managed to tell a truly human story about depression, love, and grief while still making it brilliantly witty with a pace that's almost electrically charged. It will make you weep, laugh, and float across the sky. 
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