Spoiler Free
Well, Ness wrote a book answering this question. The Rest of Us Just Live Here focusses on Mike and his friends (Mel, Henna, Jared) in a world where zombie apocalypses and vampire heart throbs are the norm and though us normal guys aren't the victims of it all, we have to just survive it.
This book is very different and is nothing what I expected it to be. I think that may be why I didn't enjoy it as much. I was expecting a sci-fi/fantasy/survival novel that would be relatable somehow, woven with charm and sophistication. However, instead it was more of a book dealing with personal and self issues (still relatable) woven with awkwardness and humour. Oh and a little bit of alien freakiness. But only about 5%.
An element of this book that I did enjoy were the characters. So so different but also relatable at the same time which is weird. But this book was weird. It was refreshing to have a male narrator but also have a sensitive male protagonist who got frustrated and upset and had a little cry. I really appreciated the honesty and depth that Patrick Ness explored with all the characters; each having self-doubt and flaws. But I think the thing that made this book worth reading was the friendship between all the characters that truly did feel real. For that alone I'd pick up this book. There are seriously bizarre elements such as Holy powers and what not but its so cleverly done that it still feels...normal and okay. The fact that the book is written from Mike's point of view makes the story all the more personal and as if we're in the world with them and the craziness and would-be stupidness is great, wanted and funny.
This book was a read of mine for a couple of months (shameful, I know) because I've had many exams going on at school so instead boycotting reading I went for a lighter approach. I think this kind of book is perfect for anyone who wants a light read that they can put down and pick up whenever as this book didn't have a very complex storyline at all. This may be great for some people as a kind of reading cleanse (perhaps to get out of a slump) but for me, I kept thinking it was all going to build up and go somewhere but it didn't. It wasn't unsatisfactory it was simply unexpected and that's probably my own fault.
A very short review as there's little more to comment on really. I hope this review was useful to you in some way and if you've read the book, feel free to comment below your thoughts! Sorry for the huge lack of commitment to this blog. I have this week off and then back to exams so hopefully I will get to write another post!
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Hannah
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