REVIEW: the rest of us just live here, by patrick ness

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
Published by Walker Books on August 27th 2015
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover
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What if you aren’t the Chosen One?
The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death?
What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again.
Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life.
Even if your best friend is worshipped by mountain lions.
Award-winning writer Patrick Ness’s bold and irreverent novel powerfully reminds us that there are many different types of remarkable.

this book was beautiful – inside and out. (i mean, LOOK at that cover! both the UK and the US editions!)

THE REST OF US JUST LIVE HERE is a story that gradually grew on me. the more i read it, the more i enjoyed it. i began to know and understand the characters. the concept was really interesting, but the plot was slow. to me, it was very character driven and focused more on their growth than anything else – which i love, but can occasionally get boring. i wasn’t hooked right away. it took me a while (at least half the book) to be really invested in the story. i knew i liked it, and i knew it was good, but it wasn’t like i-need-to-finish-this-RIGHT-NOW.

“On the day we’re the last people to see indie kid Finn alive, we’re all sprawled together in the Field, talking about love and stomachs.” (pg. 1, first sentence)

i feel in love with all of our characters, especially our narrator. mikey had a very distinct and unique voice that i was immediately drawn to. patrick ness did a wonderful job writing from his perspective; it was like following his trail of thought, with his sarcasm and wit. his voice reminded me of percy jackson, who i absolutely ADORE.

i LOVE how diverse the book was. THE REST OF US JUST LIVE HERE is like the rebellious YA novel we love. patrick ness talks about “heavy” topics like OCD, anxiety, eating disorders, etc, but it’s always executed in a light-hearted way. it’s still serious, but no longer stiff. i also love how the story was more focused on family/friendship instead of romance. honestly, YA needs more of everything patrick ness put into this book, and i guess that’s why he wrote it.

“Not everyone has to be the Chosen One. Not everyone has to be the guy who saves the world. Most people just have to live their lives the best they can, doing the things that are great for them, having great friends, trying to make their lives better, loving people properly. All the while knowing that the world makes no sense but trying to find a way to be happy anyway.” (pg. 236)

the themes in this story were GOLDEN. it was so clear what the author was trying to say. i interpreted it as: the theme for the plot is “not everyone has to be the chosen one; it doesn’t mean your life isn’t worth living,” but the theme for the book is “not every YA book has to follow a straight white person and focus on action/romance.”

overall, i really enjoyed this novel! although i wasn’t constantly dying to read the next page, i love this book from cover to cover. everything it covers (HAH) is so important and it was executed in a remarkable way. i’m excited to read more of patrick ness’s work!

“Everything’s always ending. But everything’s always beginning, too.” (pg. 342)

i’d recommend this if you like…

• diverse books! that talk about diverse topics!
• family & friendships <333
• characters that are down-right FABULOUS

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