First and foremost, if you're reading this book and you want someone to talk to, please reach out. It's heavy and triggering and sometimes all it takes is one bad idea to set off a chain of unfortunate actions.

I've grappled all day with writing this review and my thoughts on it. Bear with me while I explain why I gave this book 1 star and why it should cautiously be marketed in the YA market (and preferably not at all).

I just came off reading Gayle Forman's I was Here and Suzanne Young's The Program, which both start out with deaths by suicide. All the Bright Places starts off with hope.

Hope that quickly dies. This book is a countdown to the inevitable, which is different than what we usually experience in YA. I live and work in a community where suicidal ideation impacts one in five youths. We've experienced two suicide clusters, as well as several individual deaths by suicide, and all of us are terrified about keeping the youth safe. Completed suicides for youth are the second highest in the state.

Experts agree that the media has tremendous impact for those who are experiencing suicidal ideation.

Reports, depictions, and discussions of suicide can strengthen risk or protective factors, depending on how they are framed and disseminated.
-They can encourage hope or discourage people from seeking help.
-They can celebrate life or romanticize death.
-They can help people understand that suicide is preventable and mental illnesses are treatable or reinforce inaccurate beliefs that nothing can be done about these problems.

All the Bright Places:

-Discourages the youth from seeking help. The adults in the book do nothing but further traumatize the kids throughout.
-Romanticizes death. There's a literal countdown. Not kidding.
-Reinforces inaccurate beliefs that nothing can be done. Again, there is a severe lack of the adults acting on known depression and suicidal ideation. You go through the whole book feeling like the ending is inevitable. Not.Okay.

You want stories of hope? Check out Eight Stories Up: An Adolescent Chooses Hope Over Suicide. I understand that youth should have access and exposure to all stories and we should not censor what they are reading. I'm asking that if you know a youth who is reading this, please have a conversation with them. An actual conversation, where you talk about if they themselves experience suicidal ideation or know someone, there is hope and there is help. I would also recommend that they read the Author's Note prior to the start of the book (this book should open with the Note, honestly).