I said that I would read all of Patrick Ness’ books this year, and, here I am. This might not be the most popular of Ness’ books, but it is the first one that caught my eye more than a year ago, on Goodreads. I finally buddy-read this with the amazing Kat @ Life and Other Disasters, and I’m so happy. Because it was my first buddy-read, and it was so much, fun, but because, well this was a REALLY good book, too. Dear Patrick, if you didn’t blew me away as you did with More than this, you certainly convinced me that I should read ALLĀ of your books right now.
A LITTLE FANTASY IN A NORMAL WORLD.
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āBecause sometimes there are problems bigger than this weekās end of the world and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life.ā
From the first page, you’ll probably ask yourself: WHAT exactly am I reading? Stuck between a fantasy world with Immortals and some kind of crazy adventure, and, well, the real world, where people just like you and me try and live their lives and survive high school, The Rest Of Us Just Live Here starts, WEIRDLY. There’s one thing you need to understand before trying to read this book: there are two different worlds. The indie kids’ world: they are the heroes of every fantasy book, fighting world domination and dragons, or, here, immortals…and then there’s well, the rest of us. You, me, and everyone else. Mostly focused on this second world, we however get a glimpse of the fantasy world, too, at the start of every chapter, in a little summary that will make you laugh because of its weirdness and craziness. I have to say, I LOVED that dualty, it was great and entertaining, even if I have to say the indie kids’ point of view did lack some substance and felt rushed and scattered, at times. But I guess that was the point?! I have NEVER read a book like this, where two very different world collide. And it was so good to read that. To see that, despite their stories being very different, the fantastic elements had an impact on everyday lives. Just an impact, though. And now, for me, that’s what makes this book so different from anything I’ve read before.
JUST A BUNCH OF NORMAL, YET INCREDIBLE KIDS.
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āWe share out craziness, our neuroses, our little bit of screwed-up-ness that comes from our family. We share it. And it feels like love.ā
Sometimes, you feel like you NEED to read about strong characters. Especially in the fantasy genre, having a strong main character is a must. Sometimes, in contemporary, we can find an incredibly strong main character, and sometimes, not so much. Dear writers, a character does notĀ need to be strong to feel real.Ā Patrick Ness perfectly understood that, and, actually, I think that’s what he plays with in this story, by choosing to talk about THE REST OF US. We’re not saving the world. Our main character, Mikey, is just INCREDIBLY real. He has OCD, and he thinks that he’s totally replaceable. He has flaws, plenty of them, yet he’s one of the most real character I have ever read about. His way of thinking, of talkingĀ – or keeping things to himself were just wonderfully REAL, I feel like it was a real person actually talking to me, the whole time. The same goes for each and every character in this story. Ā Mel, Meredith, Henna, Jared…they ALL had their own backstory and their own little quircks, that was SO well done, I loved it. Hats off for diversity there, too: Ā between family issues, eating disorders, mental illness, we get to dig deeper at every characters’ issues. Seeing that, behind all the fantasy, there were real life problems, too, was fantastic. The family was there, too, and they were sometimes THE MOST ANNOYING, especially the mother. I can’t tell you how angry I was with her for about three-quarter of the book. But she was there, and the dad, too. They made decisions that affected their kids, and they just weren’t background noise.
THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT PEOPLE.
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āI hope you get to choose your family and I hope it means as much to you as mine does to me.ā
The characters, the story, the issues, the relationships between the characters, felt achingly real to me. And this is mostly what this book is about. It’s about PEOPLE. There’s no big world-building, and time-changing event that’s taking away the show from these people. The spotlight is on them ALL the time. We get to know them, to experience their life stories, to get mad at them, get scared, wonder, sometimes we want to shake the book in frustration because of some people or some decisions or even some sentences, just like we’d want to shake a person in real life because CAN YOU JUST TALK instead of trying to gain time?! I could completely relate to everything in that book, and that’s why I enjoyed it so much. Patrick Ness’s writing is on point: witty, dialogue flowing and perfect lines you’ll want to remember for later. BUT…there’s a but. I have to say, I found that something was missing for this to be the perfect book. Maybe a little bit of more fast-paced events, something big happening. But I get why this doesn’t happen. This is not a fantasy story, this is not a story about saving the world. It’s a story about living your life, and knowing how to do so. It’s supposed to feel real. And it felt real, all along.
OVERALL
Patrick Ness is one of these authors you can’t NOT know about. Except if you’re totally oblivious to young adult books lately, or simply, books. Once again, for my second experience reading his stories, I got caught in his words, I fell in love with his characters, and everything felt SO real. If I wanted more, at the end, maybe it’s because I just wanted to read MORE of Patrick Ness’ books, RIGHT NOW.
Final rating: Ā 4 drops!
Did you read The Rest of Us Just Live Here? WHAT DID YOU THINK OF IT?! Do you want to read it?Ā Okay, important question: Am I finally going to read TKONLG now?! Feel free to share your thoughts in comments!Ā ?
Patrick Ness, The Rest of Us Just Live Here, Ā Published by Walker Books, August 27thĀ 2015.
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What if you arenāt the Chosen One?
The one whoās 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 youāre 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 weekās 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 Nessās bold and irreverent novel powerfully reminds us that there are many different types of remarkable.
Yay! I’m glad you liked it. It’s on my list to read.
Ohh, I can’t wait for you to read it, I hope you’ll enjoy it! Thank you! <3
I have this book but haven’t read it yet, this review has really motivated me to read this ASAP! It sounds so cool š
It is!! I’m so glad, I hope you’ll read it soon, so we can talk about it! š Thank you so much! <3
Great Review! I haven’t read any of Patrick Ness’s books but this one sounds very intriguing and I might give this a try.
Thank you so much! Oh, you definitely should give this one a try! I loved More than this, too, it was SO unexpected and good. I can’t wait to know if you like it š
Thank you for stopping by! <3
Your review makes me want to read it š
Ohhh, this is the sweetest compliment, thank you so so much! I really hope you’ll read it, I’d love to talk about it with you š
I really need to read this, and this was an excellent review. I love the idea of not being the chosen one and the focus on the ordinary as well as the extraordinary. Like I said, I don’t know why I haven’t read this yet š
Thank you so much! <3 You really should, it's refreshing to read about the ordinary lives, rather than all of the craziness. It's quite good! š
I’ve had my eye on this book for agess! š It sounds so atypical, and I love character driven stories! Glad you enjoyed it – I really need to pick up one of Mr Ness’s books sometime soon! š
YES YOU SHOULD! It took me some time to start reading Ness’ books, and now I just want to read everything. This one really is character-driven, so if you love that, you should love it! š I hope you’ll read it, and tell me about it š
Thank you for stopping by!!
This is a fantastic review! I am so glad we read the book together and now TTSAY!
I love the quotes you chose and I agree. Patrick Ness is an author you have to read and the characters, despite the weird world they were living in, felt SO, SO real!
Aww thank you so much Kat! <3 I'm so happy to buddy-read, too, it's so much fun š We should open a book club, call it, Kat & Marie's crazy buddy reading club, hahaha :p
Yes they were too real, I loved that about them. I'm definitely going to read The Knife of Never Letting Go next. Buddy-read, maybe? :p
Maybe we should! We could make it a Goodreads group or something hahaha
I totally would if I didn’t have so many books at home already. My online TBR is ginormous but now I actually have a ton of physical books at home and they sort of have priority.
That would be SO much fun, actually! And imagine a hashtag on twitter or something, and do monthly buddy-reads, something like that !! š
Ahah, that I can understand. I have tons of books to read, too, but I can’t help thinking about the next books I’ll buy!
We should definitely put some more thought into it! It’s worth exploring in my opinion!
I hear you! I want to pre-order Lady Midnight already even though it will only be released on March 8th …
Yes, I think so, too! I will definitely think about this š
It’s so, so hard not to order books…
It’s almost impossible! I went on a spree the other day and ordered Morning Star, Glass Sword and Kindred Spirits …
Haha, it’s so, so hard. I’m on a tight budget every month so I try not to order too much, but sometimes it’s SO hard haha
I have a set book budget, but only for as long as my Christmas money lasts … I told myself that that’s the money I can spend however I want to. The rest I will have to save.
I think that’s a great plan! :p I’m always saving money to travel, so when I have some money left, that’s for books :p
I’ve spent so much money on books this year already … I have the bad feeling that I will be out pretty soon. But I have enough to get an eReader. Which I finally want to buy around Easter, because maybe there will be a sale or something.
OH YES, you should get one! I hope there’ll be a sale or something. It’s really, really useful š
I know! I meant to get one for months now!
We’ll celebrate when you finally get one! :p
Hears to that!
This was such a detailed review, I loved reading every detail! You have definitely convinced me to jump on the Patrick Ness bandwagon! Such an amazing review!! -A x
Aww thank you so much, I’m so happy you liked reading it š You should, I’ve only read two of his books for now, but loved both! I can’t wait to know how you feel about this author š
Thank you so much, you’re so sweet! <3
Love your review! I can’t wait to read this book! I planned to last year, but never got around to it. YES you need to read The Knife!! LIKE NOW! š SOOOO GOOD!
Ohh, well I hope you’ll read it soon! Especially if you already love Patrick Ness, I guess you’ll have to love it! š YES I DO need to read it soon, I hope I can buy it soon ! š
Iām so sick of reading about books where the heroine is always such a special snowflake. Itās always so unrealistic, you know? Which is probably why I liked this one so muchā it features a protagonist we can all really relate to and understand ā someone who isnāt necessarily anyone important or special, but affects you all the same.
Thanks for sharing this beautiful review! ā„
You’re definitely right about this. I’m getting a little sick, too, of those books, and it feels so good and it’s refreshing to finally get a book where people really hit close to home, because they seem so REAL and just like us. š
Thank you so, so much, you’re so sweet Zoe! <3
Iām so glad you enjoyed this book! I was hesitant about this book because people have gave it mixed reviews but seeing it from your perspective, it makes sense. People were expecting more from the fantasy but itās not about that. Itās about people and real lives. Iām so excited to read it! Great review!
Yes exactly – I get why people expected fantasy, with such a synopsis, though. It was a bit misleading :/ I’m glad you’re excited to get to it though, I hope you will love it! <3