Tag: the-rest-of-us-just-live-here • BookLikes

review 2019-11-07 02:46

Catch-Up Quick Takes: My Plain Jane; The Rest of Us Just Live Here; The Ables

My Plain Jane - Brodi Ashton,Jodi Meadows,Cynthia Hand

The Rest of Us Just Live Here - Patrick Ness

Here's a batch of overdue takes on some good audiobooks. I don't have the time for full-posts, so read the official blurbs if you need more information. Last time I tried one of these, I didn't do such a good job on the "Quick" part, so I'm being more strict with myself this go-around. To that end: the narrators of these do a very capable job with their texts, but I don't have a lot to say about their performance (I'd be happy to listen to other books by them, I should add).

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My Plain Jane

by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows, Fiona Hardingham (Narrator)

Series: The Lady Janies, #2

Unabridged Audiobook, 10 hrs., 7 min.

HarperAudio, 2018

Read: September 24-28, 2019

(the official blurb)

I was really looking forward to this sequel to My Lady Jane, especially because it would involve a supernatural Jane Eyre retelling with a strong comedic sensibility.

It wasn't what I'd hoped it would be, but it was still a lot of fun. The best part of it was having Charlotte Brontë as a character in the story—as Jane's best (living) friend. I enjoyed Charlotte's character enough that I'd willingly read a sequel about her.

And yes, I said, "living" there—Helen, the poor girl from Lowood Institution whose death was so hard for Jane is still around in ghost form. The death was still hard on Jane, but having Helen around as a ghost ended up becoming a different kind of obstacle for her to overcome.

I'd have expected a better link between the Janes—at least a stronger link in the supernatural aspects of the stories—than what we got.

Still, it was a fun listen and I'm definitely coming back for the next installment about Calamity Jane.

3 Stars

The Rest of Us Just Live Here

by Patrick Ness, James Fouhey (Narrator)

Unabridged Audiobook, 6 hrs., 23 mins

Read: October 7, 2019

(the official blurb)

I loved the idea of exploring the lives of the "regular kids" in a high school characterized by heroes, legends, slayers, etc. Basically, the kids at Sunnyvale High who know that Buffy is saving their skin on a semi-regular basis who aren't Xander, Willow, Cordelia, etc. While Buffy is fighting vampires and the rest, these kids have family drama, fall in love, get rejected, worry about the future (assuming they don't get eaten by the Monster of the Week) and all the rest. She may be the hero in general, but they're the heroes of their own lives.

So Patrick Ness tells the story of one group of these students on the verge of graduation (while the world is being saved from a threat too complicated to talk about).

Great, great concept. The execution was . . . okay. I enjoyed it, but it didn't leave me dancing in the aisle or anything. This is only my second Ness, but it didn't feel like this was really his wheelhouse—maybe I'm wrong, maybe A Monster Calls is that thing that's out of the norm for him.

3 Stars

The Abels

by Jeremy Scott, Eric Michael Summerer (Narrator)

Series: The Ables, #1

Unabridged Audiobook, 14 hrs., 5 mins

Tantor Audio, 2019

Read: October 18-21, 2019

(the official blurb)

The concept behind this was fantastic—seriously. An upper-MG/younger-YA novel about a Special Education class in a Super Hero High School? Genius. You've got the kid with telekinesis who was born blind, the teleporter who lost his vision in an accident, a wheelchair-bound telepath (okay, that's been done before), a kid with Down Syndrome who has the genetic markers for superpowers, but no one's sure what they are, and so on. These students come together and learn how to work together and become the heroes they dream of being.

This was a blast—think early-Percy Jackson kind of quality. Some solid emotional moments, real character growth, great action. There was one gut-punch of a surprise that I still can't believe that Scott had the nerve to make—and two big reveals that sealed the deal for me (one that I saw coming for miles, but he executed well enough that I don't care; and one that I should've seen coming, but didn't).

This one will be enjoyed by readers of all ages, I expect. Recommended.

3.5 Stars

Source: irresponsiblereader.com/2019/11/06/catch-up-quick-takes-my-plain-jane-the-rest-of-us-just-live-here-the-ables

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review 2019-08-25 23:19

"The Rest Of Us Just Live Here" by Patrick Ness - clever, original, authentic, compassionate coming of age story.

Mike Finn

What a pleasant surprise this, my first Patrick Ness book, turned out to be.

"The Rest Of Us Just Live Here" made it onto my TBR pile on the basis of a publisher's summary that pitched it as a fun YA novel looking at the people who went to the same Highschool as the kids who stop the hellmouth from opening or end the zombie plague or whatever this year's route to the apocalypse is but who are more concerned with making it to graduation and taking the person of their dreams to the Prom.

It actually does cover all that stuff, but where I'd expected something light, quirky and insouciant, filled within in jokes and Urban Fantasy references, I got something that went much deeper than that, getting beneath the skin of what it means to be at that point in your life where you're not yet independent, not entirely sure of who you are, not understood by your parents, understand your parents too well to expect much from them and where the most important people in your life are the friends you've chosen and your sister because, well, you're all the family either of you really have.

The conceit the book is built on is a lot of fun. Each chapter starts with a short summary of what the chapter would be about if it was a conventional YA Urban Fantasy novel. Here's the one that opens the book:

"Chapter The First in which the Messenger of the Immortals arrives in a surprising shape, looking for a permanent vessel and, after being chased by her through the woods, Indykid Finn meets his final fate"

After that kind of summary, the focus moves on to four friends and the things that they're doing while the Indykids, who all have names like Finn or Satchel, fight and sometimes die trying to save the world.

The story is told from the point of view of Mikey, a boy who is about to graduate high school, who is best friends with a kind and charismatic guy who has a couple of secrets that set him apart but which serve to enhance his charisma and kindness by adding in a charming humility, Henna who Mikie loves but can't work up the courage to tell her so, and Mikie's sister, Mel, who is a year older than him but is repeating a year and so will graduate at the same time and who is also best friends with Henna.

What I loved most about this book was that it avoided the clichés around coming of age and presented young people I could believe in and root for and parents I could recognise and flinch at without demonising them. Mikey's a nice guy but he gets jealous and snarky and sulks sometimes and doesn't always know why he feels the way he does or does the things he does. His relationship with his sister, how he helps her with her problems and how she helps him, was touching and credible.

As the Indykid's apocalypse unfolds, the four friends are directly affected and it turns out that at least one of them could have been in the Indykid set. The friends are also affected by what their parents are up to, two of whom are local politicians, running in opposition to one another in an election. The Indykids and the adults provide an environment over which the four friends have no control but the centre of the story remains the relationship they have with each other and the choices that they make.

I found myself completely immersed in the lives of these people and caring what happened to them. I never felt that my emotions where being manipulated to get a stock response. I felt as if i was being invited to look closely and really let myself see what was going on. To set aside the threat of the end of the world and the aggression and spin of local politics and look at four young people trying to live their lives well, even when nothing is going right.

I'll be back for more Patrick Ness.

I recommend the audiobook version of "The Rest Of Us Just Live Here" which is performed perfectly by James Fouhey. Click on the SoundCloud link to hear a sample.

https://soundcloud.com/harperaudio_us/restofusjustlivehere_ness

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review 2019-07-18 07:37

Last summer before graduation

XOX

A time that is about friendship and change.

Mikey is a teenager who has OCD. He is under a lot of stress as his mom is a politician. He has one older sister Mel and a young sister. He also has one best friend Jared and a crash Henna.

Typical enough? They are about a group of teenagers who live in a world where zombie and vampire is real. And that happened to the indie kids, a group of outsiders who interact with the supernatural.

His crash has a boyfriend Nathan who Mike dislike with a passion.

And it is about the last summer before they are going on their separate way. And how his best friend Jared is three quarters Jewish and one quarter god because his grandmother is a goddess.

It is a fun read as it is not so much about the supernatural but the life of these teenagers who are graduating that are interesting.

5 stars read. Highly recommended.

YA lgbti-friendly-children-books gay-writers

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text 2019-07-17 05:05

Reading progress update: I've read 200 out of 343 pages.

XOX

From the point of view of Mikey who has compulsive disorder, a teenager who is graduating and going to college. Who has dysfunctional family.

And it is about friendship. Between Mikey and Jared and all his friends.

From Mikey point of view, there are the supernatural in the wood, with zombie and vampires. It is just the landscape and the mystery in the book. But at the core it is friendship and love who is so uncertain because it is new and there is no rule book that one could navigate through it without getting hurt.

gay-writers

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text 2016-12-02 06:34

November Wrap-Up

Line Bookaholic

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - J.K. Rowling

I read a total of 6 books during the month of November. Not that good ! I'm still trying to adapt to my new home/job/life and I don't have as much time to read as I would like. Still, I enjoy all the books I read this month!

3 Stars