All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
(Listening Library, 2015)
Read by Kirby Heyborne and
Ariadne Meyers
From Goodreads:
“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.”
Niven is a new-to-me author, and I got a lot of pleasure from her storytelling style. It’s frank and smart and a little off-beat and quite affecting without being sentimental. Given that this is a novel about two sometimes-suicidal teens, that’s not an easy task, I’m sure.
I will always be a sucker for Kirby
Heyborne’s narration. He’s one whose name will convince me to pick audio
instead of print for a book I’m considering. He has a knack for befriending his
characters, and ensuring the listener will feel as sympathetic towards them as
he does. Ariadne Meyers is new-to-me, and her command on Violet’s raw and often
shaky world grounded her and helped her reach my heart. I suspect when I hear
her narrate in future, I will always remember Violet’s story because of how
well she defined the character for me.
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