ARC review: The Rest Of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

Title: The Rest Of Us Just Live Here

Author: Patrick Ness

Hardcover, 336 pages

Published: October 6th, 2015

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: YA - Contemporary - Paranormal

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.

Award-winning writer Patrick Ness’s bold and irreverent novel powerfully reminds us that there are many different types of remarkable.

Purchase at: Amazon | B&N | TBD | Kobo 

Thanks to EpicReads for providing a copy in exchange for a honest review

"Feelings don't try to kill you, even the painful ones. Anxiety is a feeling grown too large. A feeling grown aggressive and dangerous. You're responsible for it's consequences, you're responsible for treating it. But Michael, you're not responsible for causing it. You're not morally at fault for it. No more than you would be for a tumor."

As soon as I learned that Patrick Ness was writing another book I just knew that it was going to be awesome. Every single book by Patrick Ness rocks my world! I love how in his hands, even your usual dystopian becomes something totally new and different from anything you've ever read. Whoever doesn't think that writing a book about the "extras", those who are in the background when the chosen-one saves the world and falls in love, please raise his/her hand. Nobody? Yeah, I thought so, because it's genius. 

Every chapter begins with a brief summary of what's happening to the chosen one, but we actually follow the story of Mikey and his friends, who are trying to decide what to do with their lives after graduations. I love how Patrick Ness managed to overturn all the usual YA tropes in just a few sentences at the beginning of every chapter. The chosen-one's story was so absurd, I couldn't help but laughing every time I was reading her story. 

But there's so much more than satire in this book. Ness also succeeded in wonderfully portraying two characters with mental illness, in particular anorexia and O.C.D. I'm well-acquainted with both disorders, and I can attest that, based on my experience, they were accurately described. It's really rare to find a book about mental illness where the therapist is actually helpful, and this one is one of them. Mikey had only one session with his psychologist, and Patrick Ness nailed it, right down to the last word. It's also rare to see friends who help out without judging you (both in real life and in books), and I loved how Mikey and Mel's friends worried about them and stopped them from being destructive without forcing things too much. 

The novel also featured a gay character whose story didn't revolve around his coming-out, and I believe it's very refreshing that nobody cared that he wasn't straight. Moreover, Mikey admitted that he fooled around with him in the past, without being ashamed of it.

If I really had to say one tiny thing that bothered me, was Hanna's behavior towards Mikey. With the pretense of wanting to "experiment", she kept leading him on even if it was clear she would never see him as more of a friend. I didn't like her hot-and-cold attitude towards him, and I definitely didn't want them to be together at all! 

Overall, this book was both serious and satirical, it tackled important issues and it was an amazing portrayal of the importance of friendship without losing its funny side. I definitely recommend it to everyone!.

Totally EPIC! One of the best books I have read. A MUST read!!