The Rest of Us Just Live Here

Book Title: The Rest of Us Just Live Here

Author: Patrick Ness

Date Started: October 7th 2015

Date Completed: October 15th 2015

Genres: Contemporary, Fantasy, Adventure, Comedy
Quality Rating: Five Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Five Stars

Final Rating: Five stars

Review:

It's been a while since I've felt so comforted by a book, and I think that's a sentiment for this book that quite a few people could relate to. Alan Bennett's quote fits perfectly for me here: "It is as if a hand has come out and taken yours." While it's mostly known as a book about side characters rather than heroes (something that doesn't exactly explain the story), to me it's more the message that you don't have to be the chosen one to really be worth something, and you don't have to be up against the supernatural to struggle with your situation.

It doesn't matter what landscape Ness' stories take place in because there's always something about them that just enhances whatever you're reading about so that it can become so personal, sometimes even when you can't quite relate to exactly what's happening. I've thought a lot about this and I don't know what specific element it is, but I think the honesty in the stories has to be a part of it. There's such a natural honesty in his writing that it just makes you feel safe, because it's been proven to you that it's not just you that's felt this way. And even if it isn't a particular mutual experience, the fact that there's this person on the other side of a word, or a page, or a character that is so genuine that they want to just put into words a human existence so that it help someone is hard not to appreciate.

The Rest of Us Just Live Here deliberately juxtaposes the typical fantasy adventure common in (let's be honest here) Young Adult fiction. Something I really loved was the fact that it didn't outright criticise the genre; you do get the feeling Ness respects his fellow authors that have work in this genre. Instead he parallels the formula itself between what would be the regular 'entertaining' read, and then to what the reality would actually be. (If you've read any of my other reviews of Young Adult fantasy adventures, you'll probably have noticed that this was going to go in my good books straight away.) As well as the shockwaves within the story itself, the pre-chapter summaries of what was happening to the "indie kids" (your average Clary and Jace; Tris and Four; Percy and Annabeth) were hilarious. I think most of us are well aware of the near identical patterns of these plots by now, but watching them reduced to small paragraphs with exaggeration on the comedic awareness made it seem so insignificant compared to what was happening to our protagonists.

When I try and look back to comment on events in the story I keep coming back to the same thing: there isn't so much a traditional story throughout this book, there's development of the characters over time, and there's a brilliant idea well carried out. And that's enough. Sure, events happen, and I guess you could pick out a climax and a disturbance if you want, but for me the process of reading about these characters captured my attention and quite frankly my heart strings pretty well on their own. The message of the book is essentially to call out that in the 'real world' that we're given in some books (primarily in urban fantasy I would guess) isn't real at all: issues and suffering aren't solved as easily by defeating the bad guy and getting the girl. Sometimes it isn't about getting a happy ending, it's about being happy with where you are and dealing with the bad stuff while you're there.

I became genuinely attached to everyone in this book (except perhaps Nathan, but that's more to do with the position we're placed in by the narrator). I'll keep going on about the fact that Ness actually takes reality and does it justice, but it's just because it makes me so happy to see people who have issues not be portrayed as completely vulnerable and broken. There was a part near the end of the book where I was terrified Ness was going to romanticise the mental illnesses, or trivialise the familial and political issues - but then again I really should have more faith in Patrick Ness. He is Patrick Ness after all.

Mikey was a great protagonist. Mikey was the perfect protagonist, especially to communicate the message of the book. I would also say that he was a really good way to show mental illness in a slightly less scary way: for people that haven't necessarily experienced it themselves, or aren't close to anyone who has I do sometimes think that it can be easy to feel alienated from the issue because you don't have that personal awareness of it, and when people star talking about the darker sides of it it either pushes them away or throws up defences in someone's brain to avoid it altogether. Ness normalises it to the point where you can understand how 'normal' people struggle with these things - but it doesn't make them completely different to everyone else. And it also doesn't make them special or 'the chosen one.'

I could spend pages and pages (metaphorically since electronic reviews don't have pages) talking about each member of the group individually, but quite honestly you'd get bored - and my job is to tell you about the book, not to make you bored. So to summarise the other characters I'd say that they are a brilliantly diverse group all showing a different aspect of a 'normal' life that presents tough issues, but they all prove that it doesn't have to be solved by becoming incredibly talented and special and saving the world (bit of an exaggeration, but essentially what happens in the book). I adored Mel, and related to her a lot. Her sibling relationship with Mikey really helped me invest in them early on. Henna I loved because she didn't have to have this terrible past that allowed her to now be strong. Jared was genuinely lovely and again didn't have to be all torn up over his issues for him to want to help the others.

Admittedly the beginning of this book was a bit slow for me, especially since it was more in the contemporary genre than I had first expected. But at the end of the day it does establish the 'normality' - or rather lack of it - the characters have in their lives next to these crazy but repetitive narratives about the 'special' kids that wreck the town every couple of decades.

The Rest of Us Just Live Here was exactly what I needed when I read it, but even without that perfect timing I think it can still mean so much to a lot of people. The anti-hero/ant-stereotypical adventure idea is definitely included, but to me the contemporary genre show through a lot more than the fantasy, so I wouldn't recommend going into it when you're in the mood for an entertaining adventure. In fact the whole point of the book is to look at those books and say 'yeah, they're fun. But what the end of the day they avoid the harsher realities of life.'

Image Source - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22910900-the-rest-of-us-just-live-here