This was a disappointment.
It was last year when I randomly decided to read All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, and then frantically convinced my mum that she had to read it too, and then tried to get everyone I knew to read it as well. It was amazing, and that isn't enough to say how good it was.
So when I heard that a new book by Jennifer Niven had been written... I just had to read it. One day, working at the library, I saw it there on the shelf and immediately put all other books on hold to read this one instead.
And it had a really strong beginning. Wow, amazingly unique characters, what rare circumstances, blah blah blah.
But as the book went on, the characters became more whiny and unrealistic. The writing (Obviously trying to impersonate the way that teens speak) was irritating. The plot got lost somewhere along the way.
I love contemporary fiction. It's usually one of those genres I can count on. It's not for everyone, I know, but I really like it. Unless, it is written like Holding Up The Universe.
The thing is, there is absolutely no point at all in contemporary fiction if the reader doesn't care about the characters. And I'm sorry to have to say it, but Jack and Libby simply bored me. Halfway through the book I was telling someone about it, and I could not remember Libby's name - because it really didn't stand out to me that much, and she as a character just began to annoy me. I put this book down and quite happily didn't pick it up again for a week. That's always a bad sign - when you can put a book down and not care about the next time you will be reading it.
I admit, it was informative. It was supposed to be an eye-opener, I can tell.
Jack and Libby didn't feel like real people to me. They felt simply like tools, to try and make me feel pity for them. The things they did made no sense whatsoever, and there was so many huge jumps in this story with no explanation, none of the story was emotional for me.
Little heads up - if you're going to read this, make sure you've already read We Have Always Lived in the Castle. There's major spoilers in this book.
All the Bright Places is still golden for me, and Finch and Violet still have a special place in my heart, but I won't jump quite so eagerly into another Jennifer Niven book in the future.