Reading is one of the few things that really, truly help me escape the chaos that is my life. It takes me away from the realities of the boys, friends, school and home aspects that encompass me. It lets me dip my toe into another universe where everything makes sense, and I become a fictional character whose life I can live vicariously through for just a little while. I fell head over heels for Jennifer Niven’s first novel “All the Bright Places,” so as a direct result of her release of her second novel “Holding Up the Universe” came my purchase of the hardback copy.

This is not your typical boy-likes-girl high school love story. Here is Jack Masselin: a popular, athletic boy with wild lion hair, but what no one knows is that he has prosopagnosia which is the technical name for people who suffer from face blindness. This means that he can walk into a room with his family and not be able to tell his siblings apart besides their one distinguishing factor (e.i. large Adam’s Apple, sound of their voice, scars.) He undergoes a homelife that his friends at school don’t know about and keeps his disease under wraps. Here is Libby Strout: previously named America’s Fattest Teen with a comeback into normalcy after three years of steadily losing the weight she gained. Her coping with her mother’s death induced anxiety and overthinking and, of course, eating. The world of these two coincide due to a sick school joke and the repercussions that follow. Overcoming bullying, standing up for what’s right, romance, friendship and finding oneself can all be found in the 391 pages of the book.

Jennifer Niven’s writing style appeals to young adults with her witty sense of humor and the flow of her words. Her linguistic technique is very conversational which made her work easy to read, yet was able to be held at a higher intellectual standard. Intertwining two abstract worlds that aren’t as different emotionally as one would think created a relationship built to break the odds and be outliers in statistics.

I read through this book relatively fast, because of how intensely it hooked me. The characters were relatable and the storyline realistic with just enough quotes to underline. My copy was written through and highlighted once I finished the book and passed it on to my best friend to read. Both males and females alike would benefit from reading this novel to broaden their perspective of how we all might feel since the book goes back-and-forth in a her-side/his-side compilation. I hope you go out there and read this book and you take its message and be more aware.