The Rest of Us Just Live Here

Patrick Ness was born in the USA, lived in London from 1999, and now lives in Los Angeles. He writes both novels and short stories for adults and children, but is best known for his books for young adults. His first books for teenagers make up the Chaos Walking trilogy, of which the first book, The Knife of Never Letting Go, won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and the Booktrust Teenage Prize, followed by The Ask and the Answer, which won the Costa Award. All three titles in the trilogy were shortlisted for the prestigious Carnegie Medal, an unprecedented event, and in 2011 the third title, Monsters of Men, won the award. Patrick's sixth book, A Monster Calls, was based on an original idea by Siobhan Dowd and illustrated by Jim Kay. It won every major prize in children's fiction, including the Galaxy National Book Award, the UKLA Book Award and the Red House Children's Book Award. In 2012 it became the first book ever to win both the Carnegie Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal. Patrick has also written the screenplay for the film of A Monster Calls. Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and starring Liam Neeson, Sigourney Weaver and Felicity Jones, the film was released in 2016. The first film in the Chaos Walking series was released in 2021. Patrick Ness's critically-acclaimed novels include More Than This, The Rest of Just Live Here, Release, And the Ocean Was Our Sky and Burn.

What if you weren't the Chosen One? The one supposed to fight the Zombies or the soul eating ghosts? What if you have problems bigger than the end of the world, and just want to graduate and go to prom? This is a novel about ordinary kids, their hopes, dreams and relationships, while the indies kids run around saving humanity in the background. Ness is a writer who always surprises and this won't disappoint. I greatly enjoyed the subversion of YA tropes - the chapter descriptions are a particular delight - but the warmth of the relationships stood out for me: siblings, friends and lovers. Smart, funny and original. Don't miss it.

Fiona Noble

The Bookseller Fiona Noble The Bookseller