Zeezy reviewed The Rest Of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
Review of 'The Rest Of Us Just Live Here' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Fun, original concept. Realistic teen voices and problems. Easy and pleasant to read. Minimal use of prose.
Hardcover
Published July 21, 2001 by Walker Books Ltd, imusti.
Fun, original concept. Realistic teen voices and problems. Easy and pleasant to read. Minimal use of prose.
Une idée géniale pour commencer : et si on suivait les personnages communs, banals, ceux qui sont toujours en arrière-plan dans les histoires avec des héros et des élus qui sauvent le monde ? Cela donne un roman très drôle et passionnant du début à la fin. A dévorer !
What happens to you when you get older? Do you just forget everything from before you turned eighteen? Do you make yourself forget?
Everyone grows up, everyone faces challenges, and how you carry that going forward is what matters. A straight forward principle disguised in a story that features strange phenomenons and a school that needs to be rebuilt once a decade.
Kindness is the most important thing of all. Pity is an insult. Kindness is a miracle.
Patrick Ness likes to deliver a gut punch to your emotions but he hides that surprise within a supernatural or unusual method. The Rest of Us Just Live Here follows the same pattern but I may be a bit older than the target audience of that message.
If it wasn't for the Indie kids or deity nature of some characters this would have been a straight forward YA story about conflicts, growing …
What happens to you when you get older? Do you just forget everything from before you turned eighteen? Do you make yourself forget?
Everyone grows up, everyone faces challenges, and how you carry that going forward is what matters. A straight forward principle disguised in a story that features strange phenomenons and a school that needs to be rebuilt once a decade.
Kindness is the most important thing of all. Pity is an insult. Kindness is a miracle.
Patrick Ness likes to deliver a gut punch to your emotions but he hides that surprise within a supernatural or unusual method. The Rest of Us Just Live Here follows the same pattern but I may be a bit older than the target audience of that message.
If it wasn't for the Indie kids or deity nature of some characters this would have been a straight forward YA story about conflicts, growing up and embracing your differences. Yet the supernatural elements weren't without their purpose either. The Indie kids of this generation, or the ghosts and vampires of past generations, is a nice metaphor for the age old argument between parents and kids about "not knowing what it's like to be a teenager".
"I wonder if realizing you're not sure about stuff is what makes you a grown-up?"
"Lots of adults seem really sure about things."
"Maybe they're not grown-up either"
Knowing that Ness was focusing more on the friendships, as opposed to the unusual events in their small town, I shifted my expectations accordingly. Even when I was properly prepared the message Ness was driving for still found a way through my adult armor and hit home.
Overall this was a solid story from Ness, where it is a little more grounded in reality (where soul eating ghosts and vampires exist), and even though I am a decade or so older than the intended audience it still delivered a few emotional punches.
He's my family, except better, because I've chosen him.