That moment when you realize you’re a Sidekick in your own novel… This post is a review of The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness, which I’ve been wanting to read for a few months now. I’m so glad I finally got around to it, as it was quiet a good read. Enjoy!
Summary – from the Back of the Book
I read this book in Kindle form from my local library, so this isn’t *technically* the blurb from the back cover, but you get the idea lol.
A bold and irreverent YA novel that powerfully reminds us that there are many different types of remarkable, The Rest of Just Live Here is from novelist Patrick Ness, author of the Carnegie Medal- and Kate Greenaway Medal-winning A Monster Calls and the critically acclaimed Chaos Walking trilogy.
What if you aren’t the Chosen One? The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death?
What if you’re 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 is worshipped by mountain lions.
Amazon summary
Themes and things
This book is unlike anything I’ve read before, and that’s saying a lot considering that I’ll read just about anything 🤣 The first thing you notice about it is the summary of Important Events at the beginning of each chapter. Each one of these little paragraphs describes people and things that have only a marginal importance to the characters and events of the rest of the chapter. This technique highlights the fact that the Exceptionally Ordinary characters of the novel, while ignored by the Main Characters who are off discovering new powers and saving the world, are the real protagonists of the story. There’s a running joke that the Indie Kids who are living the Chosen One narrative that’s super common in YA novels are actually the unoriginal Side Characters whom nobody really knows anything about. We aren’t supposed to be invested in them. Again, super unique and highly intriguing premise!
I also appreciated the way that the author dealt with some of the characters’ struggles with mental health issues and how they overcame them. That was quite well done. There’s also a rom-com-esque undercurrent of the narrator having a crush on his girl best friend, and the classic We’re All Leaving For College Soon trope as well. Again, pretty well done there too.
Want more superhero-related content? You’ll 🦹🏻♀️🦸🏾♀️🦸🏽these posts!
- Hawkeye Bullet Journal Theme – Avengers + Christmas
- Superhero Books is a thing that needs to happen more often – Mini Review
- Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special – Review
Super Quotes
The indie kids, huh? You’ve got them at your school, too. That group with the cool-geek haircuts and thrift shop clothes and names from the fifties. Nice enough, never mean, but always the ones who end up being the Chosen One when the vampires come calling or when the alien queen needs the Source of All Light or something… The rest of us just have to live here, hovering around the edges, left out of it all, for the most part.
page 15 (ebook) – the one that makes the title make sense lol
The mistake of every young person is to think they’re the only ones who see darkness and hardship in the world.”
Patrick Ness
…
“The mistake of every adult, though, is to think darkness and hardship aren’t important to young people because we’ll grow out of it. Who cares if we will? Life is happening to us now, just like it’s happening to you.
Just remember, please, most of that stuff is in the past. It isn’t the story I want to tell. At all.
Patrick Ness
You needed to know it, but for the rest of this, I’m choosing my own story.
Because if you can’t do that, you might as well just give up.
Not everyone has to be the Chosen One. 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.
Patrick Ness
I hope you’ve enjoyed this review of The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness. What was one of your favorite reads from 2022?
Happy reading!
Let’s connect! Subscribe to email updates below so you never miss a new post from me, plus get lots of FREE THINGS!! 💖