4.27k reviews for:

The Rest of Us Just Live Here

Patrick Ness

3.68 AVERAGE

laureenb's review against another edition

5.0

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Great book with really great characters. I'm glad that the rest of us has a book that deals with the real world problems even if a cat God is involved.

turningzpages's review against another edition

3.5

emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Overall, not a bad book! It was easy to listen to. I wasn’t entirely drawn to it and it wasn’t super exciting, but it wasn’t bad. Just a good book. 

amyheap's review against another edition

4.0

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This is like what life would have been like for Hufflepuff students whose names we never knew. While Harry Potter and friends were off saving the world, they just had to get on with high school. It's about a group of teenagers just about to finish school, dealing with family problems, mental health challenges, relationships, and planning for the future, while the "indie kids" have to save the world from supernatural forces. I found it a funny, touching, and hopeful book about friendship and growing up.

catrionabookdragon's review against another edition

3.0

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I didn't necessarily hate this book, but it just fell a bit flat for me overall. It certainly picked up towards the end but I didn't find anything spectacular about the writing style and I also felt a couple of the characters were just there for the sake of being there. I like the idea of the book and I could relate to a couple of characters, but there were times where I felt it dragged on a bit.

jessica_lorentzsmith's review against another edition

3.0

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This is not Ness' strongest book. I found the take overs of teenagers that led to disappearances as metaphors for generations to be a bit to profound an idea for my readers to understand. My favorite book is still The Knife of Never Letting Go, but I will say that Patrick's strength is in the way he draws his characters. They are always well done and identifiable to teens.

amythompy's review against another edition

3.0

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3.5

kammons's review against another edition

4.0

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I was pleasantly surprised by this book!  I’ve seen both very positive and very critical reviews of this book in the past, so I wasn’t sure which way I would lean on it.  It’s about a group of high school seniors living in what would appear to be the background of an urban fantasy type of book.  What is it like to be one of the people just going about their everyday lives while other characters fight fantastical life-or-death battles offstage (so to speak)?

The main character is Mikey, who has anxiety and O.C.D., and his sister, Mel, is recovering from anorexia (also a high school senior even though she’s older, because she had to pull out of school for a bit when she almost died from the anorexia).  Their father is an alcoholic, and their mother is a state senator who is obsessed with her family’s self-image at the cost of her children and their childhoods. There’s also Mel’s best friend and Mikey’s crush, Henna, who is black and also has anxiety, as well as Jared, Mikey’s best friend who is gay and part-god.

I liked that the characters’ everyday lives included mental illnesses, because those are everyday problems for a lot of us.  In particular, Chapter 16 included a scene between Mikey and his therapist that absolutely gutted me in how much it hit home for me, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t bawl the entire time I was listening to that part of the audiobook.  The characters are just so relatable and the book was very poignant at times.

It’s also funny!  My favorite running gag was that the chapter titles were very long summaries of what was going on with the “indie kids” (the high schoolers that are doing all of the supernatural fighting to save the earth, like Harry Potter and his best friends would’ve been to the side characters at Hogwarts) during that chapter.  You barely get a glimpse of the indie kids throughout the actual chapters, but the chapter titles keep you updated on the goings-on of the “urban fantasy” stuff.

The ending didn’t have enough “oomph” for me, which is probably the only reason it didn’t feel like a 5-star book.  Interesting stuff happens, plots tie up neatly, character arcs are completed, but there was nothing at the end of the book that hit me hard enough to make the book a new favorite.  But I still really, really enjoyed it.  Great characters and relationships, pretty good pacing, funny, and original. I’m very glad I read this book and I highly recommend checking it out to see if you’d enjoy it, too.

(Cross-posted on Youth Book Review)

danaedeschenes's review against another edition

4.0

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If you pick up this book expecting it to be an urban fantasy you will be disappointed. but if you see it as it is, a coming of age story set in a fantasy world where the fantasy doesn't play a role in the main story, then it is a beautifully well executed and touching book. The characters are very much teenagers with confusing emotions and family dynamics who struggle with their mental heath, identity and love life.

-1 star for having a 19 yo (who's still in high school) date a 25 yo and having him comment on how weird it is to go to prom after 7 years

alysa's review against another edition

2.0

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concept was good but the book itself was just ok kind of boring honestly

tiffanynz's review against another edition

4.0

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I only picked this up to read for work purposes and I am far from its young adult target audience. But I loved it! Really quirky and clever. I'll definitely be adding this to the list of books I recommend to customers - and reading more Patrick Ness for my own benefit.