Sunday, August 28, 2016

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

Genre: young-adult, fantasy, contemporary

Published: October 6, 2015

Pages: 336

Publisher: HarperTeen




Synopsis (from book jacket)

What if you aren't the chosen one? 

The one's who's supposed to be fighting zombies or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever this new thing is with the blue lights and the death? 
     What if your 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 the ordinary. 
     Even if your best friend is worshipped by mountain lions. 

Thoughts

This is my first Patrick Ness book that I have read by him and I've heard amazing things about all his previous books. But I wanted more of a contemporary read by him, so I decided to pick this one up. Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable and entertaining read and I loved that he poked fun at the idea of the "chosen one." I thought that was a interesting element to the story. My only complaint with this book was the main character Mikey. I personally thought he was extremely needy, selfish and whiney. And I kept on getting frustrated with reading the book because his character was just so irritating. Other than that, I had no other issue. But, would I say this was my favourite book in the world? No, it wasn't. But I still enjoyed it and I recommend it. And I am also looking forward to reading more by him.

I initially had a hard time getting into this book, because I was in a little bit of reading slump. *Note: I previously posted some tips and tricks on how to get out of a reading slump. Go check it out.* So because of that, I really had no motivation to read whatsoever. But once I started reading a few chapters, I flew threw the book in a matter of 2 sittings. At first, it was a bit slow paced but by 100 pages or so, the book started to pick up from there. Bottom line is: Slow start, but fast finish. Despite the pacing, I believe that it is worth the read.

Like I previously mentioned, my biggest issue with this book was the main character Mikey. I thought he was very needy and selfish. Plus, I didn't like the fact that he would get upset over every little thing. However, I do understand that he was going through some struggles in this book, but he shouldn't of acted the way he did. I kept on getting frustrated with him especially towards the end, because that was when I really started to see those qualities within him. He was constantly doubting himself and tearing himself down and he was overall just a very negative person. And it even bummed me out while reading.

An unique aspect to the story, was in the beginning of each chapter there would be a little excerpt on what was going on with the "indie-kids" (who are the chosen-ones). That kept me thinking that there needs to be an entire book about what was going on and really get the full story. To be honest, I was slightly more interested to hear what was going on with them, than with the rest of the book.

Despite my thoughts and comments on the book, I enjoyed it for what it was and I recommend it if you want a more contemporary feel from Patrick Ness.

Rate 

4/5 

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