Finch wants to die. That is a fact and nobody tries to hide that away from you. And Violet doesn't want to live. Essentially, two things that may mean the same, but they don't. Actually, I would much rather say that Violet is whiney and Finch is incredibly pretentious. Woah, woah, hold on a second! That escalated quickly.
I don't want to give away much of the story. Basically, Violet saves FInch from jumping off a ledge. Nobody can say if he would really do it, but it is enough of a catalyst for the story. Later on, they start talking and they are assigned a project at school that involves travelling around the country.
Now hold on a second.
Why would you compare this book to The Fault in Our Stars? The book about two young people who live their best lives, because their time is ticking off? Okay, there might be some similarities. Maybe death and travelling? Let me tell you one thing, you've got a lot of death and travelling in Harry Potter as well. Or Hamlet. Now this book is sad you didn't compare it to those as well. There is no distinctive similarity between All the Bright Places and The Fault in Our Stars. Now I may sound like I am a little defensive about it, the truth is, I am. You know what's my favourite part of the book? When (spoiler? Is there still someone who wants to read it but hasn't read it yet?) Gus takes Hazel to Amsterdam . Not because it's romantic. Because it's an act of kindness. Hazel could be Gus' mum and it would affect me just as same. It's just so wonderful knowing what would make the other person happy and then carry it out. I cried at that point, okay. Also at the end of the book. There's nothing like this in All the Bright Places!
However, let me make a little comparison as well (Anny, you hypocrite!). According to me, Finch is incredibly pretentious! Before you start sending me dead lizards in the mail though, I know a lot of people would say that Gus is pretentious too. But, I don't know how many feel the same way like I do, Gus knows he's pretentious. And he loves exaggerating on it, so that he can be the most pretentious person in the world. Whereas Finch is...just a very pretentious character.
And an incredibly creepy one! I almost got an anxiety attack because of him, just at the beginning of the book! He kept visiting Violet without her consent? He stopped replying to her on chat messages, because he was on his way already? Those 'Finch?' messages always gave me the creeps, I would probably burn the house down and run away if someone did that to me, I'm sorry if you found it cute?
To sum up, these are just about the reasons why I didn't enjoy the book as much. First of all, it's not my type. But I read everything, so I'm not going to complain. It was a rather easy read, nothing to think about for too long, ideal to pick up during study breaks for ten minutes and then to put it away. In that way, this book was perfect. The content? I'm not very sure. It didn't feel very authentic to me, I couldn't identify with any of the characters (maybe with one of the side characters)...although I could. But I couldn't help it, they felt a little cardboardy and I had no idea how to relate.
Also, a shout out to my dear friend who spoiled just above the most interesting part of the book for me!
Let me know what you think! And the next review should be a super hyped-up amazing review for a book I'm currently finishing. It's amazing, so you've got something to look for!