How to Not Be the Protagonist
Wow, I am on a roll this week! Another book down. I sped through a newer novel this weekend- The Rest of Us Just Live Here, by Patrick Ness. I was pleasantly surprised by it!
Have you ever wondered what the background characters in a book feel? In your dramatic fantasy novels, with zombie apocalypses and vampire love triangles, what is going on in the heads of the innocent bystanders? That's who this story was about. Mike, Mel, Henna, and Jared all live in a nondescript suburb of a nondescript city. They're not "indie kids", those cool-but-also-geeky types who always end up saving the world. They're just average. There are indie kids around, sure, but they don't really talk to the normal kids- too busy stopping soul-eating ghosts to mingle. But Mike and his pals have their own, less supernatural, problems. Anxiety, complicated family lives, teen love, and even more complex issues come up. The four friends just want to make it through graduation- but will they make it out alive?
I was honestly surprised by this book and how much I enjoyed it. I haven't read much of Patrick Ness before, though I had heard he was good. He creates characters that are unexpectedly relatable. Some of the ones we meet in this story face serious issues that the modern young adult might not have a large amount of experience in. The ways he presents anxiety, OCD, anorexia, and other social issues doesn't make them a highlight or focus of the story, but just part of the lives of his characters. He demonstrates ways to deal with the problems, as well as how others react to them. I appreciated that the issues were not treated flippantly- they weren't just a throw away trait to make a character seem more tragic. They weren't flaws. The characters accepted them and dealt with them in a healthy manner, and it was refreshing to see.
Through what is essentially a coming-of-age tale, Ness gives a little bit of every genre. He uses adventure, romance, mystery, and social issues. It was a new take on an old tale, and I enjoyed it immensely. I highly recommend it!
P.S. The cover glows in the dark! So cool!
Have you ever wondered what the background characters in a book feel? In your dramatic fantasy novels, with zombie apocalypses and vampire love triangles, what is going on in the heads of the innocent bystanders? That's who this story was about. Mike, Mel, Henna, and Jared all live in a nondescript suburb of a nondescript city. They're not "indie kids", those cool-but-also-geeky types who always end up saving the world. They're just average. There are indie kids around, sure, but they don't really talk to the normal kids- too busy stopping soul-eating ghosts to mingle. But Mike and his pals have their own, less supernatural, problems. Anxiety, complicated family lives, teen love, and even more complex issues come up. The four friends just want to make it through graduation- but will they make it out alive?
I was honestly surprised by this book and how much I enjoyed it. I haven't read much of Patrick Ness before, though I had heard he was good. He creates characters that are unexpectedly relatable. Some of the ones we meet in this story face serious issues that the modern young adult might not have a large amount of experience in. The ways he presents anxiety, OCD, anorexia, and other social issues doesn't make them a highlight or focus of the story, but just part of the lives of his characters. He demonstrates ways to deal with the problems, as well as how others react to them. I appreciated that the issues were not treated flippantly- they weren't just a throw away trait to make a character seem more tragic. They weren't flaws. The characters accepted them and dealt with them in a healthy manner, and it was refreshing to see.
Through what is essentially a coming-of-age tale, Ness gives a little bit of every genre. He uses adventure, romance, mystery, and social issues. It was a new take on an old tale, and I enjoyed it immensely. I highly recommend it!
P.S. The cover glows in the dark! So cool!
(picture courtesy of goodreads.com)
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