The Rest of Us Just Live Here

Some problems are bigger than the end of the world. With the end of school looming, it is Mikey’s last chance to tell Henna how he feels. He’s not one of the Indie kids, the chosen ones who always seem to be battling something. This time there’s a strange blue light. He just hopes he can graduate before they blow up the school…again.

I loved the concept behind The Rest of Us Just Live Here, imagine the story of all those people who lived in Sunnydale that weren’t part of the Scooby gang. It’s not set in the Buffyverse, but it very much reminded me of it, right down to the poor high school that keeps getting blown up and the references to the Chosen One. These things come in cycles, each generation having its own supernatural thing that the Indie kids fight off and the adults seem oblivious too.

This story doesn’t follow that though. This is about the regular kids who are living their own dramas. Mikey, Mel and Meredith are the offspring of a politician mother and an alcoholic father. Mikey suffers from OCD and Mel is recovering from anorexia. Both of them wish to protect their younger sister from getting as messed up as they are.

I liked the inclusion of a boy who has a gay best friend. It’s usually the clichéd girl/gay bestie friendship so it was good to show that everyone can be friends no matter what your sexuality. The platonic, romantic and familial love between the whole group is lovely. They care so much for each other even if that isn’t always obvious to the person feeling left out.

Kindness is the most important thing of all. Pity is an insult. Kindness is a miracle.

The only thing that didn’t quite work for me were the chapter introductions. You know how in some older books there would be a summary of what was going to happen in the chapter? I get what Patrick was trying to do, each chapter starts with a description of what is going on in the Indie kids’ story. Maybe they contained a bit too much detail, like I was meant to keep track but it was so simplistic that none of it really stuck. I thought the glimpses the main characters get of what was going on was enough for me.

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Also reviewed @ prettybooks | ShinraAlpha

Book Source: Purchased