sarahtribble 's review for:

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

4.0

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For The Rest Of Us Just Live Here and I, it was love at first sight; it had me at hello, and kept me infatuated the whole way through. I've heard a lot of positive praise for Patrick Ness, and as it turns out, he well and truly deserves it. The dude's a genius. The Rest Of Us Just Live Here deals with mental illness without romanticising it (a BIG pet peeve of mine in literature), discusses sexuality without dissecting it, depicts realistic teenage behaviour as a combination of poignant and petty, and, of course, gorgeously integrates Ness' atypical mainstream narrative -- that of the normal teens with normal names and normal issues -- into the for-once back-seated story of the classic dystopia heroes, whom The Rest Of Us Just Live Here is purposely and poetically not about. Why only four stars? It just felt like a four star book. I can't see the characters sticking with me outside of the reading experience, and there were elements of the story that gave me pause, but that in no way detracts from the book itself. I loved the book while I was reading it, and I would recommend it to anyone who loves Patrick Ness and stories about people with the same problems and you and I.