The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

Title: The Rest of Us Just Live Here
Author: Patrick Ness
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: August 27, 2015
Source: BEA

Summary from Goodreads:
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 worshiped by mountain lions.

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

Review

I understand what Patrick Ness was trying to do with this book, and there were things about The Rest of Us Just Live Here that I really appreciated/admired, but at the end of the day it just was not my cup of tea. The weirdness of it all and my periodic confusion overwhelmed the rest of my reading experience.

Mikey and his friends live in a world where unusual things have been known to happen, except that they aren't the ones unusual things happen to. Rather, it's the indie kinds (whatever that's supposed to mean) who are the heroes of this story. The latest threat has to do with a group of Immortals that are seeking to possess humans and inhabit our world. However, this story is in the background - told through a quick, semi-derisive paragraph at the start of each Chapter. The actual story is about Mikey and his friends living their lives on the periphery of it all. It's about their friendship, and their love lives, and their problems and their worries. But if there had been a clearer break between what was Sci Fi and what was Realistic Fiction, I might have taken to it more. But I think Jared, the quarter Cat God (yes you heard me right), threw me for a loop and blurred the lines, making things just a little too wacky.

But I did love Mikey's story. I loved the honest portrayal of his OCD tendencies and how amazing of a support system he had. I loved his character ARC - from someone who was a little too self-absorbed and self-deprecating to well, someone who wasn't. I loved the exploration of teen love and friendship. His relationship with Jared was a particularly strong and heartwarming part. I loved the messy family life that that was given a face lift in the end. Really, the contemporary aspects of this story were quite beautiful (minus a few derailments that I won't go into.) Again, it was just the complete package that didn't quite work for me. And that is totally a "me" thing.

So I would suggest giving this book a try since what didn't work for me was very specific to my reading preferences (unless you have similar reading preferences). Definitely give this a try if you are a fan of Patrick Ness, genre-defying stories, or stories that are a little out there but 100% unique. There were some really really beautifully told parts to this story and if you like the weirdness of it  too then you'll likely love it.