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A review by boezaaah
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
4.0
“We're each other's questions, aren't we? The question that never gets an answer.”
The Rest of Us Just Live Here is essentially what it says it is. A novel about a group of teenagers who aren't the 'chosen ones'. This story is about a group of friends. That’s literally it. And I think it was done brilliantly.
The cast of characters were diverse and well developed and they felt like real people. This is the second novel by Patrick Ness that I've picked up and I think it's safe to say that representation of LGBTQ+ individuals is a common and reoccurring theme. The Rest of Us Just Live Here includes exploration and experimentation of sexuality as well as Jared (whom I adore), a gay character. It includes Henna, a young biracial girl (who is a sweetheart), Mel,who suffered from anorexia and who still struggles with harmful thoughts about food and lastly, our narrator Mikey, who suffers from serious anxiety and OCD. I think the way Patrick Ness writes his characters is fantastic and realistic that you can't help but praise him in every way possible.
Some elements of this book tended to be quite poor. This isn’t to say that the novel was weak, but simply that the message it was trying to get across (about not everyone having to be 'the chosen one’), wasn’t as strong as I originally thought it would be. At the beginning of every chapter, a tiny paragraph is written about 'the chosen one', which features the 'indie kids'. This plot felt poor. It seemed as though it wasn't thought through very well.And the whole thing with Jared and the Gods was quite random and I didn't feel like it was a very necessary plot point . But none of this lessened by enjoyment of the book, since this book is heavily character driven and I personally didn't care what happened in the book, as long as I was with my characters and they were well.
I would really recommend this book. I think there's something in it for everyone. I really adore Patrick Ness and I hope to pick up the Chaos Walking Trilogy as soon as possible!
The Rest of Us Just Live Here is essentially what it says it is. A novel about a group of teenagers who aren't the 'chosen ones'. This story is about a group of friends. That’s literally it. And I think it was done brilliantly.
The cast of characters were diverse and well developed and they felt like real people. This is the second novel by Patrick Ness that I've picked up and I think it's safe to say that representation of LGBTQ+ individuals is a common and reoccurring theme. The Rest of Us Just Live Here includes exploration and experimentation of sexuality as well as Jared (whom I adore), a gay character. It includes Henna, a young biracial girl (who is a sweetheart), Mel,
Some elements of this book tended to be quite poor. This isn’t to say that the novel was weak, but simply that the message it was trying to get across (about not everyone having to be 'the chosen one’), wasn’t as strong as I originally thought it would be. At the beginning of every chapter, a tiny paragraph is written about 'the chosen one', which features the 'indie kids'. This plot felt poor. It seemed as though it wasn't thought through very well.
I would really recommend this book. I think there's something in it for everyone. I really adore Patrick Ness and I hope to pick up the Chaos Walking Trilogy as soon as possible!