Patrick Ness Chats The Rest of Us Just Live Here

I am so THRILLED to welcome Patrick Ness here to chat about his latest novel, The Rest of Us Just Live Here. And what's more, the lovely people at Walker Books asked if I had any questions to ask for Patrick. Sadly, I couldn't go and meet Patrick face-to-face (stupid real life job), but again, the lovely Walker peeps recorded the video, edited it and sent it over!

I must thank Patrick for taking time out to answer these questions, Paul at Walker for YALC (he knows why...) but I have to give a big thank you to Sean at Walker for not only recording the interview but also for editing it as I know sod all about editing (I will learn! AM GOING TO BLOODY LEARN!), even though he was super busy. You are a star!!!

Oh, before you click play on the video, I must warn you that I asked 3 questions and 2 are quite spoilery (whereas the third is a noun). So, only watch this once you have read The Rest of Us Just Live Here. Ok? Ok.

Now, over to you, Patrick!



And because I only asked a few questions, maybe I show you guys these videos that demand more answers from Patrick (plus, I love these guys).

GoodRead - The Rest of Us Just Live Here

Ok, you will have to forgive me if this seems a tad rush, but I read this book within 3 days (would have read it in 4 but the postman couldn't put this through my letterbox so I had to go to he Post Office to collect it on Saturday morning).

And because this book isn't out till the end of August (yes, am writing an early review and I don't care!), am writing to write this as spoiler free as possible.

But yes, The Rest of Us Just Live Here. Where should I begin?

Most books focus on "The Chosen One". The one person that has been picked to save the day. But what if you're not the Chosen One? What if you're someone...well... normal? What if all you worry about is finishing school and getting as far away from the small little town you live in? Away from your parents? Away from the stresses? Away from the fear that another alien invasion/soul-sucking ghosts/vampires or goodness knows what comes next and usually ending up with you school getting blown up?

What if your problems are bigger than that and, somehow, you have to find extraordinary in the ordinary?

Like I said before, I read this in 3 days. And that is RARE for me to read a book that quick! Patrick Ness owes me 3 days of my life back, please and thank you.

But I loved this book. I know some of you guys won't, and that's ok, but I really loved this book. I just flew through it. I loved the idea, I loved the characters (some were instant, others took time - one or two took a VERY long time, but there are reasons. You have to stick with it), and I love how some subject matters is handle.

And this is one of the reasons I like it. This books tackles mental health. And he writes it in a way that, while shocking, feel very real. Patrick must have done quite a bit of research on what he tackled. He knows that these are awful diseases and tackles them, tell us that they are awful and yet, they is still hope. There will always be hope.

Another thing that was cool was the whole subplot of the world ending by the "bad guys" (let's just say that and be done with it). It was interesting as it felt very important as it reflected on our lives. With our main characters, stuff is happening to them - their own lives - but not the whole end of the world stuff. It's like most of us when we watch the news and we see war. Most of us aren't effect by it but we know it's happening. There is a line from another review - Darran from ShinraAlpha - that sums up this up much better than me. "It's a clever way of reflecting our own lives, too, because of course we live our own little stories against a backdrop of dramatic awful events that we're unable to influence." 

I could go on. I could gush over this book. I could. But I won't. I feel that most Patrick Ness fans will love this and for those of you wanting to try Patrick Ness, I feel this might be a good place to start (though I haven't read The Knife of Never Letting Go... DON'T JUDGE ME!). But yes, I just love this book and wish more books made me read them as fast as I did with The Rest of Us Just Live Here.