All the Bright Places: 11. Violet: 151 days till graduation Summary & Analysis

Violet is in the parking lot after school with Eleanor’s old bike, which Eleanor named Leroy. Brenda saunters past and points out Finch. She also warns Violet that she’ll beat her up if she breaks Finch’s heart and offers her condolences for Eleanor. Violet approaches Finch, thinking about The Waves. He forgot his bike at home, so Violet follows him in his car to his house. He says that Violet can put her bag in his bedroom. She’s surprised that the inside of the house looks totally normal—but she’s shocked when she sees the inside of Finch’s room, which is painted red. Everything else is black, and there are concert posters and pieces of paper on the wall.

Finch explains that the wall of notes is just that—ideas. Violet studies them and wonders about one, which reads “Is today a good day to?” She asks about another that reads “obelisk,” and Finch explains that it’s his favorite word. Violet says nothing. She used to love words, but now they all frustrate her. Back outside, they mount their bikes. Finch’s shirt rides up to reveal a huge scar; he says he drew it on because girls like scars. When they discuss that Violet hasn’t been in a car since the accident, Finch insists that’s ridiculous, and Violet threatens to head home.

As Finch and Violet pass cornfields, Violet almost feels like her old self. Finch says he likes driving because of its “forward motion,” “like you might go anywhere.” He remarks that he’d expect Violet to wear a helmet or body armor for safety, and he asks what she’d do if Bartlett was affected by a zombie apocalypse. She stays silent, so Finch asks where she’d go if she could go anywhere. Violet thinks she’d go to New York, but she says she’d go to California. Privately, she thinks she’d go to the California of four years ago, where Eleanor is still alive. Violet says that California is warm and doesn’t snow. Finch says that he’d go to the top of Hoosier Hill with a pretty girl.

When they reach the spot, Finch and Violet leave their bikes. Some kids on a fence point them in the right direction. Finch puts on an Australian accent and ask if they can scale the summit, but the kids just shrug. Finch leads Violet along a narrow dirt path. Suddenly, they come out into a brown circle, with a marker saying they’re 1,257 feet high. There’s a stone pile to mark the spot and a picnic table; it’s wildly underwhelming. Finch takes Violet’s hand and pulls her onto the stones. Violet feels an electric shock in her hand and tells herself it’s just from touching someone new, but she also can’t concentrate as Finch talks about the view in various accents.

Violet notices how blue Finch’s eyes are as he says that standing next to Violet makes him feel like he’s on Mt. Everest. Violet rips her hand away but can still feel the electrical current. They wander the brown circle, and Violet thinks that 10 months ago, she could’ve written something amazing about Hoosier Hill. She then insists this place is ugly. Finch says he used to think the same, but he tries to remember that it’s beautiful to someone—some people chose to live here. He smiles. Violet wishes he had glasses she could borrow, so that she could see the same thing.

Finch makes jokes as they discuss their project, and Violet stops herself from laughing. He tells her that it’s okay to laugh—even if she ends up in hell, they’ll be too busy with him to bother with her. Violet wants to know everything about Finch; there are so many rumors. She asks if the stories are true, and he says they probably are. He looks at Violet as though he wants to kiss her. For a second, she wants him to—but then she asks where they’re going next. Finch makes no move to get the map out of his backpack and then suggests they jump off the rock mound.

Violet pulls out her phone to take some pictures, and Finch shoves a notebook at her. Though she’d rather do anything than write, she scribbles a few notes. Then, they sit at the picnic table to study the map. Finch insists they need to see more than two sites—ideally, they’d see them all. Violet protests, but Finch draws red circles around a bunch of different landmarks. Violet insists that there are too many.

Violet and Finch get back to Bartlett in the evening, and Violet waits outside Finch’s house as he fetches her bag. When he gets back to the driveway, Violet remembers Suze saying that Finch knows what to do with a girl—and suddenly, Violet feels shy. She puts on Eleanor’s glasses. Finch says he wanted to do this project with Violet because she smiled a genuine smile at him.

Violet’s dad makes chicken piccata that night. Violet joins her dad and Violet’s mom at the table and tells them about the project. Her dad offers to help, but both Violet and her mom cut him off (he’s notorious for taking over projects). Violet’s mom starts to ask about Finch, so Violet changes the subject by asking her dad to explain the history of chicken piccata—he can’t resist explaining the history of things. After dinner, Violet goes upstairs and checks Facebook. Finch messages her that he feels like he just walked into Narnia. Violet researches quotes from The Chronicles of Narnia, but instead of sending one, she marks the day off on her calendar. She thinks about graduation and about Finch. This is the best day she’s had in months.