The Rest of Us Just Live Here
-
-
5.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
Award-winning writer Patrick Ness’s bold and irreverent novel powerfully asks what if you weren't the Chosen One? The one who's supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death? What if you were like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again. Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life. Even if your best friend might just be the God of mountain lions... An exceptional novel from the author praised by John Green as "an insanely beautiful writer".
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We first encountered Patrick Ness through The Knife of Never Letting Go, a brilliant but blisteringly dark dystopian tale. The Rest of Us Just Live Here is lighter fare, but no less affecting. Mikey struggles with serious anxiety—the end-of-high school jitters are just exacerbating his struggles, as are his concerns about his older sister, Mel, and his unrequited love for his close friend, Henna. With a knowing wink, Ness injects his emotionally resonant story with a dose of freaky fantasy. We fell in love with this book’s characters, who look and talk like real teens and set the bar for true friendship.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Having written both exquisite fantasies and heartbreaking contemporary stories, Ness (More Than This) forays into satire, and mostly succeeds, poking fun at the Chosen One trope imagine a novel about Bella and Edward's classmates wrestling with exams, college admission, and unrequited love, with all those vampire/werewolf shenanigans as backdrop. Siblings Mikey and Melinda know something sinister is happening when the "indie kids" start dying in mysterious ways. Zombie deer and eerie blue pillars of light suggest apocalypse (again) in their remote town in Washington State, but they are busy trying to survive familial dysfunction (their father is an alcoholic, their mother a power-hungry politician) that has worsened Mikey's anxiety and given Mel an eating disorder. Their diverse circle of friends includes Henna (Mikey's crush) and Jared who is (secretly) part god. Each chapter opens with an ominous (and hilarious) synopsis about the imminent showdown between the Immortals and the hipster clique, and while the payoff after all the supernatural and emotional buildup is minimal, this is Mikey's story to tell and he's not trying to save the world, just himself. Ages 14 up.
