A Bright Place: A Recount of My Experiences During the Jennifer Niven Book Signing in Metro Manila

I have a confession to make.

When National Bookstore announced that they will be bring Jennifer Niven to the Philippines to have two book signings, I haven't read any of her books. I mean I was aware that she had a couple of books out especially All The Bright Place but at that time, I haven't read a single one.

All The Bright Places was already quite properly in our year level. A lot of my batch mates were holding the book while walking around the halls, eating their lunch, or simply talking to their friends. When I asked how it was, they all answered the same thing. The said it was a good and cry-worthy book. Their positive thoughts were enough for me to put it in my to-be read pile of books but with the school year ending and books I have made a priority to read, I quickly forgot about it. I was either too busy with school work or reading another book.

Even when summer came, I didn't immediately pick it up. I had a terrible and long reading slump. I mostly just watched TV shows and even when I did start reading a few books again to try and get over my reading slump, it took me a while finish these books since I kept losing motivation. When I finally got past the reading slump, I started reading a lot more books at a much faster rate. The only time I remembered that All The Bright Places was in my TBR pile was when it was announced that Jennifer Niven was coming here.

After attending my very first book signing, I was eager to repeat the experience. Yes, it might be stressful and exhausting but I can assure that you nothing feels better than meeting the authors of the books you've read. Especially if you love the books they created. That's why even though I haven't read any of Niven's books yet, I was already decided that I would go. So with the thought of meeting another author and a rather forceful encouragement from my close friend who has been nagging me to read it since the day she read it, I finally bought myself a copy of All The Bright Places and read the whole thing.

To put it mildly, I loved it. It was heart-wrenching, beautiful and real. I will do a full review of this book soon on my blog but for now that's what I thought of the book in three words.

I had some trouble finding companions who would like to go to the book signing. My friend who nagged me in to read the book in the first place was out of the country on date of the book signing. After a few weeks of talking to my other friend who loves books, I managed to convince her to buy and read All The Bright Places and go with me to the signing. She's the one I convince to read the Red Queen series before the Victoria Aveyard signing too so she could join me too. A day before the book signing, I thought I had to cancel everything since she thought she was going out of town the next day but luckily, she was able to make way for the book signing.

I was bursting with excitement the night before the signing. I was also very nervous because there were already people waiting outside the mall to be one of the first to meet Jennifer Niven. I seriously didn't want to be one of the last people to meet her or worse, to be told the line was already long enough and they couldn't accommodate any more people. I planned to wake up six in the morning so that we could already be on the road by seven. I finally got some sleep only when the clock struck half past three in the morning. But thankfully, the excitement held up until that morning because I didn't feel exhausted when I woke up two and a half hours later. I just wanted to get in line as soon as possible.

The process of getting to the venue of the book signing and registration was much easier than the Victoria Aveyard signing. The venue was in SM MegaMall. It's much closer to my home and, remarkably, the traffic was minimal on the day. The line was already long when we got there. It started outside the entrance near the Atrium, the exact venue of the signing, on Building B and weaved it's way to the parking lot. We had to wait for it to be ten in the morning to be let in by the guards so we had to stand in line under the scorching heat of the sun. We seriously regretted not bringing any umbrellas...and applying sun block. But even with the heat being a pain, Jennifer Niven was already awake and posting about being excited for the day ahead so that kept our spirits high

After around an hour and a half of standing under the sun, the line started moving. This line was also much more organized than the one at the Victoria Aveyard signing. The guards were nice but very strict when it came to the order of the line. They threatened to put the people who wanted to cut the line at the very back which I was relieved and thankful for. It's really a pain to have people cut in front of you.

My copy of All The Bright Places
and my ticket number.

Like in the Victoria Aveyard signing, they took the line up to highest floor then down to again using the stairs found near the entrance doors to lessen the amount of people outside. The mall's cold temperature was a relief from the very warm weather outside. The only people in the mall were salesclerks getting their stores ready, the guards to keep the line in order, and of course the National Bookstore staff. The line moved slow but steady and eventually we finally reached the registration table. We left for the book signing around an hour earlier than the time we left for Victoria Aveyard signing so I was pleased when I got my ticket number that indicated that I was the 401th person in line when before I was the 550th. After registration, we went to the nearest food stall which happened to be La Lola, the Churro stall, and got some water. After enduring the sun's heat we seriously needed a drink. The water there was ridiculously expensive but at that point, we were so thirsty we would have given anything just to get a drink.

SM MegaMall is filled with hundreds of shops and restaurants so it was no problem keeping ourselves occupied until the time of the book signing. But aside from eating lunch at a restaurant called Teriyaki Boy (Wherein I accidentally pushed my book to the floor which caused a massive fold to appear on the edge. God, I was so pissed), we just sat on spots near the side of the stage so that when the book signing finally started, we'd get a good view of Jennifer. Waiting for the program to start felt rather quickly mostly due to the fact that my friend and I just kept talking and kept ourselves occupied. There is no one I'd rather bring to book signings than her. She is the absolute best.

When it was finally two in the afternoon, the time planned for the book signing to start, everyone was starting to growing restless and excited. Everyone who registered really wanted to see Jennifer and the other people walking around in the mall were growing curious to the why there were so many people gathered at the Atrium. When Jennifer Niven finally arrived, screams were heard all around the venue. She was absolutely gorgeous and kind. She made sure to thank us whenever she got the chance and answered "I love you too!" every time the audience would shout they loved her. She was gracious and polite while answering the interviewer and the selected few who got to ask her questions (we really had to strain to hear what she was saying since the sound system was remarkable crappy). Before ending the Q & A portion, she told everyone that we were all her "bright places", like how Finch was Violet's bright place and vise versa. The atmosphere was filled with happiness and love and it was just so surreal to be a part of that.

After the Q & A portion, all we had to do was wait for our turn to meet her. During that time we bought some snacks, window shopped for clothes, and bought some more books at the three bookstores present in the mall. That day, I bought two books, One was Save Me, Kurt Cobain by Jenny Manzer and the other was The First Time She Drowned by Kerry Kletter. But for most of the wait, we just relaxed on the chairs vacated near the stage. We weren't really compelled to do anything. We just wanted to sit down, talk, and wait patiently for our turn. While waiting, we couldn't help but observe Jennifer Niven signing books. What I really loved about her was the fact that she really took the time to talk to her fans. Even when the National Bookstore personnel at her sides began to ask her to wrap things up with fans, she just ignored them and continued to talk to them. Hugs were banned but some fans chose to disregard this rule that and tried to hug her anyway. She hugged them back, completely unfazed by the warnings of the guards around her.

Me while talking to Jennifer Niven.

When at last our numbers were called to line up to meet her, I started to get really nervous. Like with the Victoria Aveyard signing, I hastily planned what to say to her that won't be sound stupid and too fanatic either. I was ecstatic to see that although she already met four hundred fans and was probably very tired, she was still really engaged and authentic when she talked to me. After shaking her hand, I told her I loved her and I that loved her book, then thanked her for making such a beautiful and important book. She then proceeded thank me for being sweet for reading her book in the first place. Knowing she was a die-hard Supernatural fan like me, I asked her whether or not she had seen the season eleven finale yet to which she responded that no, she has not watched it yet and that she was avoiding spoilers as much as possible. At that point, we were already being asked to hasten thing up. So after the photographer took our photo and thanking her while shaking her hand one last time, I stepped away, climbed off the stage, and waited for my friend to finish her turn with Jennifer.

I was literally shaking while we were walking away from the Atrium. She was just so unbelievably sweet and kind and I knew she was like that to every single one of us. I'm glad that I read her outstanding book and that I got to meet her. She really does deserve every bit of praise that she's getting.

My photo with Jennifer Niven  (Please excuse my exhausted face.)

I took a peak at my phone after walking away and found that it was roughly around the same time I got my Red Queen books signed by Victoria Aveyard last March. This was proof that Jennifer did in fact, take her time with each and everyone of us. I should have been done earlier if she had hastily signed our books since I was the 401th person this time around not the 550th. This just made me love and appreciate her even more. I talked to one of the fans who just got their book signed too and we gushed about how lovely and delightful she was and how sincere she seemed while talking to us. We didn't even get to exchange names when she had to leave which was such a shame because she was quite pleasant too.

After having our books signed, we wanted nothing more than to rest. The standing for hours, walking around the mall, and most of all the two hours of sleep was beginning to weigh me down. I had close to no energy at all at that point. Not even to go buy books. So after eating some doughnuts over at Krispy Kreme and getting the call from my father, who was playing driver once again, asking if we were ready to head out, we climbed into the waiting car, drove past the surprisingly semi-empty roads, and went home.

Before succumbing to sleep, I went through the hashtag #JenniferNiveninPH and saw the many happy and overwhelmed tweets of those who came to the book signing. Most of them, if not all, tweeting about how it was one of the best days of their lives. All The Bright Places talks a lot about finding bright places in your life even in the darkest of times; especially in the darkest of times. After seeing those tweets and recalling my own experiences during that day, I became absolutely certain that March 29, 2016, with it's many unforgettable moments, will forever be a bright place for me, for my friend, for every single fan that went to the signing, and for Jennifer Niven herself.