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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
This novel had so much potential to be a favourite. Now let me explain myself.
It's set in a world where indie kids, the ones with the strange names, the "absolutely normal ones" save the world from apocalypse, quite literally. But in this, the story is focused on the rest of the people, who are not the chosen ones.
The main character Mikey Mitchell is a normal teenager, with normal teenager problems, who just wants to graduate before the high school gets blown up by the indie kids.
Mikey has been in love with her friend Henna for many years, but has not been able to say it to her, his mother is a politician, father a miserable alcoholic and his sister, Mel, is recovering from an eating disorder.
What I really liked about this novel, is the kind of new, refreshing things I haven't really ran into in books I've read before. Henna Silvennoinen is a Finnish-African woman of color, which is already like several things that made me happy. Well, for one, as a Finn I was probably just as excited as all Finns are when Finland is mentioned, well, anywhere. Especially in a foreign novel. It was also funny for me that Mike described her surname as impossible to pronounce, so there's that.
This is also the first novel I've read that deals with and discusses OCD, and I found that important.
The story therefore follows teenagers, who, well, just try to live their lives, while the indie kids go into incredible adventures and try to save the world, or something. And it was good to notice that all of them were just fine with it. They didn't have a clue what was happening, sometimes some really strange things happened and there were absolutely no good explanation for it.
But the honest truth is, that even though I wanted to like this so much, I couldn't bring myself to fully be interested in the story. I liked the idea though, and I liked the fact that Patrick Ness took a whole another way of looking at things and that was good.
Sometimes the writing style felt a little too simple and it was lacking something, for me personally at least, and I didn't care much for the characters, like actually care care like you sometimes do for fictional characters in books, and that was a little disappointing. I wish I could've gotten a better connections to the characters. My feelings towards the main character really varied a lot through the book and now that I think of it I would've maybe wanted to read it rather from the perspective of Mel or Henna, or even Jared, who is a semi-God (how cool is that?). I don't know, that just a thought that popped into my head just now.
Over all, not my favourite, but still glad I read it.
EDIT: (SPOILER ALERT)
Just wanted to add that even though I did find Mikey annoyingly whiny sometimes, I thought the decision he made in the ending showed a little bit of character development which made me happy. Jared, the semi-God, his best friend, gained the ability to fully cure someone (like from dying, etc.) and offered to cure Mike's anxiety and OCD. I was so proud of Mike when he responded with that he'd rather have his sister Mel forever cured from her eating disorder. Mel and Mike's relationship, alongside with Jared and Mike's, was definitely my favourite one. And I was also so relieved when he decided he didn't want to be cured himself, he wanted to keep taking his medication and see what'll happen and try to work it out by himself. I think that was just a great decision for the author to make, cause in real life you can't just push a button and be cured from a mental illness. You can only try to live with it. And although Mike didn't want to go back to medication, he realised they did help him not get into the OCD loops he normally would, and I think that's a good thing to show too: that it's okay to have medication for any mental illness, if you need it, if it helps you anyway. It doesn't make you a failure.
Yesterday I watched the first episode of One Day At A Time on Netflix and the mom, who's name I can't remember right now sorry, didn't want to be on medication for depression because she thought she could handle it. And her co-worker, who had given her the antidepressants, said something along the lines: "If you had heart problems, and I gave you drugs for your heart to act normally, you would take it, right?" And that just kind of stuck to me. Mental illness is just as much of an illness as the physical ones.
It's set in a world where indie kids, the ones with the strange names, the "absolutely normal ones" save the world from apocalypse, quite literally. But in this, the story is focused on the rest of the people, who are not the chosen ones.
The main character Mikey Mitchell is a normal teenager, with normal teenager problems, who just wants to graduate before the high school gets blown up by the indie kids.
Mikey has been in love with her friend Henna for many years, but has not been able to say it to her, his mother is a politician, father a miserable alcoholic and his sister, Mel, is recovering from an eating disorder.
What I really liked about this novel, is the kind of new, refreshing things I haven't really ran into in books I've read before. Henna Silvennoinen is a Finnish-African woman of color, which is already like several things that made me happy. Well, for one, as a Finn I was probably just as excited as all Finns are when Finland is mentioned, well, anywhere. Especially in a foreign novel. It was also funny for me that Mike described her surname as impossible to pronounce, so there's that.
This is also the first novel I've read that deals with and discusses OCD, and I found that important.
The story therefore follows teenagers, who, well, just try to live their lives, while the indie kids go into incredible adventures and try to save the world, or something. And it was good to notice that all of them were just fine with it. They didn't have a clue what was happening, sometimes some really strange things happened and there were absolutely no good explanation for it.
But the honest truth is, that even though I wanted to like this so much, I couldn't bring myself to fully be interested in the story. I liked the idea though, and I liked the fact that Patrick Ness took a whole another way of looking at things and that was good.
Sometimes the writing style felt a little too simple and it was lacking something, for me personally at least, and I didn't care much for the characters, like actually care care like you sometimes do for fictional characters in books, and that was a little disappointing. I wish I could've gotten a better connections to the characters. My feelings towards the main character really varied a lot through the book and now that I think of it I would've maybe wanted to read it rather from the perspective of Mel or Henna, or even Jared, who is a semi-God (how cool is that?). I don't know, that just a thought that popped into my head just now.
Over all, not my favourite, but still glad I read it.
EDIT: (SPOILER ALERT)
Just wanted to add that even though I did find Mikey annoyingly whiny sometimes, I thought the decision he made in the ending showed a little bit of character development which made me happy. Jared, the semi-God, his best friend, gained the ability to fully cure someone (like from dying, etc.) and offered to cure Mike's anxiety and OCD. I was so proud of Mike when he responded with that he'd rather have his sister Mel forever cured from her eating disorder. Mel and Mike's relationship, alongside with Jared and Mike's, was definitely my favourite one. And I was also so relieved when he decided he didn't want to be cured himself, he wanted to keep taking his medication and see what'll happen and try to work it out by himself. I think that was just a great decision for the author to make, cause in real life you can't just push a button and be cured from a mental illness. You can only try to live with it. And although Mike didn't want to go back to medication, he realised they did help him not get into the OCD loops he normally would, and I think that's a good thing to show too: that it's okay to have medication for any mental illness, if you need it, if it helps you anyway. It doesn't make you a failure.
Yesterday I watched the first episode of One Day At A Time on Netflix and the mom, who's name I can't remember right now sorry, didn't want to be on medication for depression because she thought she could handle it. And her co-worker, who had given her the antidepressants, said something along the lines: "If you had heart problems, and I gave you drugs for your heart to act normally, you would take it, right?" And that just kind of stuck to me. Mental illness is just as much of an illness as the physical ones.
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
i first read this when i was in high school and i before i was diagnosed with OCD, and i remember feeling seen in this book and not quite knowing what was going on. re-reading it while at work, it made me ache for my younger self who just couldn't get out of loops and not having an understanding that it's okay and you're okay. it's different now because while i have the name, the loops come and go and makes me remember how far ive come. this isn't really a review but more a reflection. it was a joy re-reading and knowing this was something that i got to read and be seen.
Personalmente tenía muchas expectativas en este libro y me ha defraudado bastante. Cuando leí la sinopsis me pareció muy original y decidí leermelo por lo poco común de la historia, por estar en el otro lado, pero una vez leído tengo que decir que me hubiera gustado más saber sobre lo que no cuenta el libro (la historia secundaria sobrenatural del mundo) que la historia en sí. Te mantiene entretenida sí, pero en realidad no pasa nada más allá que distintos problemas de cuatro adolescentes, y ni si quiera profundiza lo suficiente en estos problemas como para empatizar algo con los protagonistas.
No sé, no me ha convencido nada del libro, de nuevo digo que me hubiera gustado más saber de lo que no se cuenta, aunque sólo fuera una explicación o un contexto para entender dónde se sitúa el libro. En fin, le pongo dos estrellas porque te mantiene entretenido y es fácil de leer, pero no me gusta nada que un libro me venda algo que luego no es.
No sé, no me ha convencido nada del libro, de nuevo digo que me hubiera gustado más saber de lo que no se cuenta, aunque sólo fuera una explicación o un contexto para entender dónde se sitúa el libro. En fin, le pongo dos estrellas porque te mantiene entretenido y es fácil de leer, pero no me gusta nada que un libro me venda algo que luego no es.
And he does it again! Weird and wonderful, like nothing else out there, but so very, very relevant in many ways. I just can't get enough of Ness' writing. This was the first time ever that I had to mark a page so I will always be able to go back to this quote: "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."
I just read this book in one sitting.
Honestly, I loved it. I thought it was clever, funny, unique, and very very real. I should mention that I'm a sucker for satire in all its forms and I thought the play on the "chosen one" narrative in this book was incredible and hilarious. It did get a little generic-contemporary-romancey at times, but for the most part I very much appreciated the characters and all their diversity and all their flaws, which I thought Patrick Ness described beautifully. Highly recommended for anyone into fantasy who's tired of the typical YA hero trope.
Honestly, I loved it. I thought it was clever, funny, unique, and very very real. I should mention that I'm a sucker for satire in all its forms and I thought the play on the "chosen one" narrative in this book was incredible and hilarious. It did get a little generic-contemporary-romancey at times, but for the most part I very much appreciated the characters and all their diversity and all their flaws, which I thought Patrick Ness described beautifully. Highly recommended for anyone into fantasy who's tired of the typical YA hero trope.
3.5/5
I enjoyed this book, I really did. Just not as much as I hoped I would.
The characters were surprisingly refreshing, compared to what other books offer, but after having read "More Than This" I don't think any book of Ness' will actually top that.
One thing that will always blow my mind though is, that this book glows in the dark?!? My paperback version legitimately glows in the dark!! 5/5 stars for whoever came up with that idea.
I enjoyed this book, I really did. Just not as much as I hoped I would.
The characters were surprisingly refreshing, compared to what other books offer, but after having read "More Than This" I don't think any book of Ness' will actually top that.
One thing that will always blow my mind though is, that this book glows in the dark?!? My paperback version legitimately glows in the dark!! 5/5 stars for whoever came up with that idea.
This book has a cool premise (what is life like for the background characters in YA fiction?), an easily readable style and enough diversity among the main characters to make them compelling. However, I found the narrator's odd bouts of antagonism towards the reader weird and off-putting. He'll just start accusing 'you' as if you've been complaining at him for what he's saying. Also his jealous hatred of the character Nathan never really went anywhere, so it was just kind of annoying. I didn't feel that the depiction of OCD was that well-handled, it seemed like a fairly standard 'soft' version that you often see in TV that barely addresses the intrusive thoughts side of it. The falling out of the best friends trope was so quick and sudden and easily resolved I really don't know why it was there.
Ultimately, while the cheeky send up of YA tropes means that the 'indie kid' plot going on in the background does sound lame and I'm glad I'm not reading their story, the story we do get just wasn't that interesting. I thought the characters and their issues were fairly compelling on an individual basis, but the story didn't really feel like it went anywhere, and somehow I wasn't attached to any of them. Oddly enough, despite their multitude of issues they all came across as far too well-adjusted and happy to be interesting heroes. Okay a tropey plot might be lame, but no plot at all is quite boring. Even some of this 'normal kid' plot happens off screen too. Maybe I just super did not care about the narrator's vague romantic feelings to get invested, but then since none of that went anywhere, probably for the best.
It's okay, I'm sure some people will love it, but I just didn't really click with it.
Ultimately, while the cheeky send up of YA tropes means that the 'indie kid' plot going on in the background does sound lame and I'm glad I'm not reading their story, the story we do get just wasn't that interesting. I thought the characters and their issues were fairly compelling on an individual basis, but the story didn't really feel like it went anywhere, and somehow I wasn't attached to any of them. Oddly enough, despite their multitude of issues they all came across as far too well-adjusted and happy to be interesting heroes. Okay a tropey plot might be lame, but no plot at all is quite boring. Even some of this 'normal kid' plot happens off screen too. Maybe I just super did not care about the narrator's vague romantic feelings to get invested, but then since none of that went anywhere, probably for the best.
It's okay, I'm sure some people will love it, but I just didn't really click with it.
The indie kids are fighting off an attack by the Immortals, but their story is told succinctly (and quite well) in forwards to each chapter. Instead, the bulk of the novel is a coming-of-age story about an ordinary boy who suffers from low self-esteem and anxiety.
This has a cool concept for what seems like a short story. Focusing on the background characters in one of those young-adult supernatural outsider-saves-the-school-and-therefore-the-world type situations.
I'm only a couple of chapters in and I'm concerned that the gimmick will get tired, but if it's really just about a bunch of regular teenagers as they go through their struggles while an end-of-the-world battle rages on about them, maybe this'll be good. I mean I've really liked (and loved) all of Patrick Ness's other books so I have high hopes.
*Several chapters later*
Okay, so Ness manages to keep the concept going by including the summary of the Indy kid adventures at the start of each chapter. It really is just about a bunch of normal kids (mostly) living in a weird world.
I'm about to go into spoiler territory for the most part, so read on with care.
I really liked Mike's discussion with his psychiatrist about mental illness and the stigma attached to it. About how it's okay to take medication just like any other illness. It's not about any sort of moral deficiency, despite how it's often portrayed.
So I found it disappointing Ness went with the trope of Mike deciding against the easy fix and wanting to fight it on his own. Why? If it's really no different than having cancer or a broken leg or osteoporosis then why does Mike have to fall back on that time honoured cliche of seeing mental illness as something that needs to be overcome the hard way? Why is it seen that by taking the easy route Mike is somehow of lesser moral fibre?
This isn't my favourite of Ness's books. It's possibly my least favourite, but that's more about how much I love what I've read before and the resolution of Mike's illness.
I'm only a couple of chapters in and I'm concerned that the gimmick will get tired, but if it's really just about a bunch of regular teenagers as they go through their struggles while an end-of-the-world battle rages on about them, maybe this'll be good. I mean I've really liked (and loved) all of Patrick Ness's other books so I have high hopes.
*Several chapters later*
Okay, so Ness manages to keep the concept going by including the summary of the Indy kid adventures at the start of each chapter. It really is just about a bunch of normal kids (mostly) living in a weird world.
I'm about to go into spoiler territory for the most part, so read on with care.
I really liked Mike's discussion with his psychiatrist about mental illness and the stigma attached to it. About how it's okay to take medication just like any other illness. It's not about any sort of moral deficiency, despite how it's often portrayed.
So I found it disappointing Ness went with the trope of Mike deciding against the easy fix and wanting to fight it on his own. Why? If it's really no different than having cancer or a broken leg or osteoporosis then why does Mike have to fall back on that time honoured cliche of seeing mental illness as something that needs to be overcome the hard way? Why is it seen that by taking the easy route Mike is somehow of lesser moral fibre?
This isn't my favourite of Ness's books. It's possibly my least favourite, but that's more about how much I love what I've read before and the resolution of Mike's illness.
I’ve been on a Patrick Ness kick ever since I recently read the young adult novels, “Release” and “A Monster Calls” (both highly recommended for YA fans!).
This book has two story lines, one featuring high-school senior Mike, who wants to live a normal life and just go to prom and graduate, and the other with the extraordinary “indie kids” – all seemingly named Finn or Satchel – who have the power to save and destroy the world, and, occasionally, blow up the high school.
In the “real world,” Mike struggles with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and the family has issues that may be familiar for some readers: Dad is an alcoholic recluse, Mom is a power-hungry politician, sister Mel is an anorexic in recovery who nearly died, and Grandma has Alzheimer’s and lives in a nursing home. The other-world plot is appealing and integrates surprisingly well into the story, especially for those who are fans of superhero movies and realistic fiction television shows with vampires. I recommend this for fans of YA fantasy books and characters like those in a John Green novel.