BrokenTune

I don't have a quote of the book for this short note about the book because I found it on my libraries Overdrive as an audiobook.

All the Bright Places tries to tackle difficult topics - depression, mental health, bereavement, suicide, etc. - within a YA setting. 

The reviews and media claims I have read of this book seem somewhat determined to compare All the Bright Places with John Green's The Fault in our Stars, which seems rather odd because the themes are somewhat different. Well, at least from what I read about TFIOS, never having read the book itself. Also, had I read the reviews and descriptions making that connection, I would not have picked up All the Bright Places at all. 

What All the Bright Places does well is to create uber-likeable, if somewhat uber-unrelatable, characters. It does not shirk away from describing uber-difficult situations, either. Did those characters and all the ubers get on my nerves? - Hell, yes! Was the annoyance factor over and above that of other YA books I have encountered? - No. Nowhere near.

Where All the Bright Places falls short even more, tho, is in the execution. It took me several attempts to even start the book  without falling asleep. It took me two attempts to read the last third of the book without skipping to the end. 

The book drags. A LOT. More than I would normally be willing to bear. No idea why I kept reading this - it must have been the flu-induced fever. 

So, for all it's YA cuteness, for all its intentions to relay a powerful message, it just doesn't quite deliver.