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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love the premise of this book. It answers the question, "what are the regular people doing in the background of a supernatural apocalypse?"
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
We’ve all read those books where the supernatural being of your choice descends upon a small town and wreaks havoc only to be conveniently saved at the last second by a teenager that has enough moxie to put Indiana Jones to shame. This is not that kind of book. Rather, The Rest of Us Just Live Here is an honest and celebratory exploration of what happens to everyone else while the “indie kids” battle things like the undead or immortal beings.
Patrick Ness tells the story of a typical northwestern town through what I can only describe as dueling chapters. Each begins with a synopsis of how a girl named Satchel struggles to save the town in the most clich? way imaginable. This is followed by the real story which focuses on Mike, a high school senior with OCD who is about to graduate high school. His family is a charming mess, he’s hard up for one of his closest friends, Henna, and is truly terrified about his future. Satchel’s struggles will make any fangirl chuckle at their absurdity, while you find yourself instantly wanting to hug and shake some sense into Mike with every passing chapter. The Rest of Us Just Live Here is a great read for those who enjoyed The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but who also want a splash of the abnormal to lighten the mood.
*I would like to thank Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review*
Patrick Ness tells the story of a typical northwestern town through what I can only describe as dueling chapters. Each begins with a synopsis of how a girl named Satchel struggles to save the town in the most clich? way imaginable. This is followed by the real story which focuses on Mike, a high school senior with OCD who is about to graduate high school. His family is a charming mess, he’s hard up for one of his closest friends, Henna, and is truly terrified about his future. Satchel’s struggles will make any fangirl chuckle at their absurdity, while you find yourself instantly wanting to hug and shake some sense into Mike with every passing chapter. The Rest of Us Just Live Here is a great read for those who enjoyed The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but who also want a splash of the abnormal to lighten the mood.
*I would like to thank Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review*
Simply amazing. Out of the ordinary. Beautifully written.
I’m so glad I started this book, probably got me out of my LONG LONG LONG reading slump?? Hopefully??
I’m so glad I started this book, probably got me out of my LONG LONG LONG reading slump?? Hopefully??
(3.25 for the first half of the book) It was ok. I expected great things and in the beginning I got great things. Then the ending just trudged on and the characters got more unlikeable and I just didn’t enjoy myself by the end but still wanted to know what happened.
For the longest time, I've sighed about my desire for more non-Chosen One narratives; I want more stories about the kids who don't have any magical powers or special traits foisted on them, but who rise up and do the thing anyway. Which meant I was ECSTATICALLY EXCITED when I heard about this book, especially considering it's by Patrick Ness, who wrote the amazing Chaos Walking trilogy. And this one is definitely cute: it's like [b:Redshirts|13055592|Redshirts|John Scalzi|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348617890s/13055592.jpg|18130445] but for the background characters stuck in an urban fantasy, the poor hapless students attending Sunnydale High as the hellmouth swallows it.
Meanwhile there are the "indie kids", who all have whimsical names and mysterious pasts and inevitably get embroiled in world-ending drama while everyone else looks on, bemused and a little exasperated. Mike and his friends may not be indie kids, but they're a breath of fresh air: I love that Ness has populated his cast with characters who are black/mixed-race, Jewish, gay, bearing mental illnesses and alcoholic fathers and strict parents. They're relatable and realistic, and it's just such an interesting balance seeing them struggle with their contemporary YA problems while, in the background, a supposedly much bigger adventure unfolds -- and that they don't give a damn about. The "real-world" problems loom in the forefront instead.
The chapter titles/intros vaguely describe what's happening with the indie kids (meanwhile, back at the ranch...), and are absolutely hilarious as a pitch-perfect satire of YA. The casual namedrops of ludicrous things that have happened in the past were pretty much my favourite thing; sometimes you'll recognise sly references to other YA novels; and I just, this shit is golden:
In our main cast, Jared is my absolute favourite character. Our protagonist, Mike, sometimes gets into gross friendzoney jealousy and mopey self-pitying , but a) he gets called out on it! which is so wonderful! and b) his journey is super important for its depiction of mental health, for the importance of digging yourself out with a positive support network. But I adore, adore, adore Mike's sisters so much, and it's also great seeing such a strong focus on strong sibling relationships and a group of friends who have each others' backs, unconditionally.
In the end, the book isn't as stunning as I wanted it to be -- a running trend in reviews is that we've all read other better Ness books, so the expectations were high and this one falls short -- but it was still great fun and a quick two-day read.
Now, seriously, people give me even more non-Chosen One narratives.
Favourite quotes below, spoilery:
Having said that, the indie kids do die a lot. Which must suck.
***
[B]ut I just can't believe the things that people won't believe. Or the things people won't even see. I was in the ninth grade when the vampires came. But even though people started dying, even though people disappeared and stayed gone, even though you could point at one and say, "That's a vampire," most people, most adults, still don't believe it ever happened.
What happens to you when you get older? Do you just forget everything from before you turned eighteen? Do you make yourself forget? I mean the cop was old enough to have been a teenager when the whole soul-eating ghost thing was happening, so did he block it out of his mind? Did he talk himself into not believing it actually happened? Convince himself it was a virus, that the explosion at the old high school was a gas leak? Or is it that he thought what happened to him was so original, so life-changing and harrowing and amazing, that there's no way he could ever imagine it happening to anyone else?
***
Satchel goes into hiding at an abandoned drive-in with fellow indie kids Finn, Dylan, Finn, Finn, Lincoln, Archie, Wisconsin, Finn, Aquamarine, and Finn.
***
Things get darker in the days after the cop incident.
There are two more dead indie kids. I didn't really know either of them, except to see them in the hallway at school, but still. "This is worse than when they were all dying beautifully of cancer," Henna said, and she's right.
***
I could have called in sick, but I was getting antsy just sitting around the house. It felt like I was waiting for something to happen. Which has to be the worst part of being young. So many of your decisions aren't yours; they're made by other people. Sometimes they're made badly by other people. Sometimes they're made by other people who have no idea what the consequences of those decisions might be. The bastards.
***
"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."
***
Henna and I find a couch. We're surrounded by people taking pictures of each other with their phones and then sending those pictures to a person ten feet away and then everyone commenting on them. This makes perfect sense to me.
***
"Jared is a quarter God, Mike. And I've got freak parents who are taking me to a war to talk about Jesus and feet. Everyone's got something. Not even just us, everyone we know." She looks thoughtful. "Except maybe the indie kids. They're probably the most normal ones out there."
"I wonder what was going on last night. With the lights."
She shrugs. "Probably some apocalypse."
***
And that was the end of our high school. Which was only eight years old, because it had replaced the last one that had been blown up to destroy the soul-eating ghosts.
The circle of life, I guess.
Meanwhile there are the "indie kids", who all have whimsical names and mysterious pasts and inevitably get embroiled in world-ending drama while everyone else looks on, bemused and a little exasperated. Mike and his friends may not be indie kids, but they're a breath of fresh air: I love that Ness has populated his cast with characters who are black/mixed-race, Jewish, gay, bearing mental illnesses and alcoholic fathers and strict parents. They're relatable and realistic, and it's just such an interesting balance seeing them struggle with their contemporary YA problems while, in the background, a supposedly much bigger adventure unfolds -- and that they don't give a damn about. The "real-world" problems loom in the forefront instead.
The chapter titles/intros vaguely describe what's happening with the indie kids (meanwhile, back at the ranch...), and are absolutely hilarious as a pitch-perfect satire of YA. The casual namedrops of ludicrous things that have happened in the past were pretty much my favourite thing; sometimes you'll recognise sly references to other YA novels; and I just, this shit is golden:
CHAPTER THE SEVENTH, in which Satchel and the rest of the indie kids share their grief for Kerouac by throwing stones soulfully into a nearby lake; wandering off on her own, Satchel takes the amulet in her hand and has a vision of the single most handsome boy she's ever seen in her life; Dylan, finding her, takes the opportunity to kiss her, and though his lips taste of honey and vegan patchouli, she pushes him away, revealing what the amulet told her; "The Immortals are here," she says.
In our main cast, Jared is my absolute favourite character. Our protagonist, Mike, sometimes gets into gross friendzoney jealousy and mopey self-pitying , but a) he gets called out on it! which is so wonderful! and b) his journey is super important for its depiction of mental health, for the importance of digging yourself out with a positive support network. But I adore, adore, adore Mike's sisters so much, and it's also great seeing such a strong focus on strong sibling relationships and a group of friends who have each others' backs, unconditionally.
In the end, the book isn't as stunning as I wanted it to be -- a running trend in reviews is that we've all read other better Ness books, so the expectations were high and this one falls short -- but it was still great fun and a quick two-day read.
Now, seriously, people give me even more non-Chosen One narratives.
Favourite quotes below, spoilery:
Spoiler
They've always got some story going on that they're heroes of. The rest of us just have to live here, hovering around the edges, left out of it all, for the most part.Having said that, the indie kids do die a lot. Which must suck.
***
[B]ut I just can't believe the things that people won't believe. Or the things people won't even see. I was in the ninth grade when the vampires came. But even though people started dying, even though people disappeared and stayed gone, even though you could point at one and say, "That's a vampire," most people, most adults, still don't believe it ever happened.
What happens to you when you get older? Do you just forget everything from before you turned eighteen? Do you make yourself forget? I mean the cop was old enough to have been a teenager when the whole soul-eating ghost thing was happening, so did he block it out of his mind? Did he talk himself into not believing it actually happened? Convince himself it was a virus, that the explosion at the old high school was a gas leak? Or is it that he thought what happened to him was so original, so life-changing and harrowing and amazing, that there's no way he could ever imagine it happening to anyone else?
***
Satchel goes into hiding at an abandoned drive-in with fellow indie kids Finn, Dylan, Finn, Finn, Lincoln, Archie, Wisconsin, Finn, Aquamarine, and Finn.
***
Things get darker in the days after the cop incident.
There are two more dead indie kids. I didn't really know either of them, except to see them in the hallway at school, but still. "This is worse than when they were all dying beautifully of cancer," Henna said, and she's right.
***
I could have called in sick, but I was getting antsy just sitting around the house. It felt like I was waiting for something to happen. Which has to be the worst part of being young. So many of your decisions aren't yours; they're made by other people. Sometimes they're made badly by other people. Sometimes they're made by other people who have no idea what the consequences of those decisions might be. The bastards.
***
"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."
***
Henna and I find a couch. We're surrounded by people taking pictures of each other with their phones and then sending those pictures to a person ten feet away and then everyone commenting on them. This makes perfect sense to me.
***
"Jared is a quarter God, Mike. And I've got freak parents who are taking me to a war to talk about Jesus and feet. Everyone's got something. Not even just us, everyone we know." She looks thoughtful. "Except maybe the indie kids. They're probably the most normal ones out there."
"I wonder what was going on last night. With the lights."
She shrugs. "Probably some apocalypse."
***
And that was the end of our high school. Which was only eight years old, because it had replaced the last one that had been blown up to destroy the soul-eating ghosts.
The circle of life, I guess.
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Interesting concept, but in the end, just wasn’t my favorite. I may be too old to relate to the characters.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The premise is really clever and this, plus the narrator's sass, are a good foil for the teenage angst on steroids that is the real subject of the book. It felt long - but maybe because I listened to the audio.