What if you aren’t the one supposed to be fighting all these zombies, soul-eating ghosts, or whatever it is with these blue lights and death?

Or, what if you’re Mikey, with OCD and anxiety, who just wants to graduate and work up the nerve to ask out his sister’s best friend, Henna, before the school explodes? Again?

Or maybe, there truly are problems bigger than your own life, and you just have to fight it out on your own.

Even if you have a couple of strange, possibly magical friends…

Worshipped by mountain lions.

• The Rest Of Us Just Live Here, by Patrick Ness

A bold and irreverent novel, one that strikes a deep chord, this is a YA novel that reminds us that there are many different ways that extraordinary is possible. Devastatingly funny, laugh-out-loud and heartbreaking, Patrick Ness is a genius author, one that conveys the most unexpected messages in the most unexpected ways.

• Mike is an iconic character, and I was instantly drawn to his humour, his straightforwardness, and his inherent, extremely protective sense for his sisters, Melinda, and Meredith. His explosive, troubled relationship with his mother, who aspires for high office felt honest and genuine, and I found his anxiety to belong, to be an important part of his friend group sympathetic, and I think, in today’s teenage world, even personally, universally relatable.
• Mike develops beautifully throughout the story, battling his hardships, his muddled feelings about Henna and Jared(his best friend), his alcoholic dad and his crippling OCD and anxiety. Mel used to be an anorexic, and nearly died when the illness was at its worst, his mum’s running for high office against Jared’s dad, his grandmother suffers from Alzheimer’s and Mike frequently finds himself trapped in “loops”, where he washes his hands over and over again until they bleed.
• The story draws attention to so many ignored and underestimated issues. The tender moments with his grandma are a reminder that Alzheimer’s doesn’t just cause trouble with loved memories, but also submerge your sense of independence and self-esteem. These little elements, woven into the strands of the story, emphasise on the little-discussed fact that mental illnesses can affect our lives, and those of others close to us as well.
• Meanwhile, Ness sidelines the “end-of-the-world” and the frequence of indie kids dying, strange blue lights, and the school exploding. Again. Without placing too much focus on this, he makes a hilarious, pun-riddled story with references from other books, while still focussing on our beloved main characters.

All in all, this book is an amazing, thought-provoking read, and for fans of stories that end with so many unanswered questions, to which you have to speculate a fitting conclusion, this book is perfect. I would highly recommend this read.

Signing off…