The Rest Of Us Just Live Here

Have you ever watched an action scene in a film where all the extras are running away in terror, and a lot of them get hurt, and for a minute you wonder whether or not they're going to be OK, but you never find out? This book is about those people. The basic idea here is that there's this big, clichéd YA novel going on (which the chapter headings are the chapter heading for, explaining that story) whereas the bulk of the book focuses on Mikey, just an ordinary guy trying to live an ordinary life while the "indie kids" are trying to stop an invasion.

But the thing is, it's not just about how the lives of the indie kids affect Mikey, not at all. His problems are real. For example, he suffers with OCD (real OCD, not "I'm a bit OCD" OCD) and he's about to leave his home town to go to college. By juxtaposing these real, emotional problems next to the exaggerated problems of the indie kids, Ness highlights how important and enormous anxiety is as well as the general worries of growing up, of being a teenager.

Now, if you know me, you know I've long been a fan of Patrick Ness (I think fan might be a bit of an understatement actually, but I digress) so it's hard for me not to compare it to his other books (which you should all definitely read). So I will say this - this is a very different read to "More Than This", his previous YA novel. Instead of big ideas and philosophy, this book shows the importance of real-life worries and how they are the real issues that YA novels are dealing with when they portray an exploding school or a tyrannical regime. This book is also a lot funnier (with Ness poking fun at YA traditions) and in places more "light" or even light-hearted, but seriousness does have its place here and is, perhaps, what makes this book's point. And while I would say that it's not his best, it comes pretty close indeed. I have never felt more emotionally attached to any characters in any book ever and the narrative sparkles with a wit and realism I've not really ever experienced in a book. I think this book also showed me how Patrick Ness succeeds where John Green fails - his characters are meaningful and likeable and always flawed in realistic ways just like a Green character isn't. They say meaningful things without sounding like 30-something pretentious novelists. That said, there are the occasional few lines where I was wondering "would anyone really say that?" but then I thought, perhaps here, in this situation, someone actually might.

This book looks at, in a world of "Chosen One"s, the boy who feels like he could never be chosen, like he's the least needed. And it's so beautifully, sensitively, cleverly and originally written that it works on every level in every way. At times when the storyline could go into "everything's resolved as if by magic mode" or is heading towards predictability Patrick Ness makes a point of changing the direction. It's a fresh, exciting, daring and brilliant novel that will probably become one of Patrick Ness' most popular books. Talking about it just won't do it justice. You just need to read it.

10/10

Look Who's Back

And yet again, I find myself in a strange position. I have no idea how to review this book. It's a difficult one, but for different reasons.

This book's premise is simple. Hitler wakes up in 2011 Berlin. And by the looks of things, it's going to be a bit of a black comedy. Unfortunately, it fails to really deliver. I think there are a number of reasons for this.

Firstly, this book has been translated from German, meaning lots of the puns are lost in translation. German humour is different to British humour on the whole as well, and satirical references to German culture are often lost on a British reader.

Secondly, Vermes has set himself an impossible task. How do you write a comedy about Hitler without downplaying what Hitler actually did and actually was like? You can't! It would be too disturbing and uncomfortable. Instead we get what I have previously seen described as a Nigel Farage with a moustache. Rather right wing, but ultimately harmless. And this is a dangerous and potentially insulting thing to do. Hitler was an evil man, to portray him as a bit grumpy at worst is perhaps a bit of an issue. There were, however, some moments that were supposed to be serious and not funny that worked really well as Vermes explored real repercussions of Hitler's actions. Sadly, moments like this were few and far between.

Thirdly, I was left with a sense of confusion about what the whole point was. Things happen in the novel, of course. But its plot is more of a device in order to show off Hitler. Yes, it's about his rise to power again, but there is no antagonist (well, you know what I mean) or "problem", just Hitler being Hitler all the way through. Vermes' satire depends on Hitler's ridiculous observations about the world, yet once in a while he will make a very true and pertinent point. The novel ends (spoilers) without explaining a) How Hitler ended up in 2011 or b) why Hitler was wrong. In fact, the novel ends with Hitler essentially getting what he wanted. And when you combine this with his increasingly accurate observations about the world, it's hard not to wonder whether Vermes might be trying to say that Hitler wasn't "all bad", something which I found quite an alarming message for a book.

And finally, the middle was really boring. There were a lot of confusing rants that sometimes didn't make a lot of sense and lots of flashbacks to the past. What little plot there was didn't continue for a while.

There were some redeeming factors, as there were a few jokes that genuinely were funny and some interesting characters and themes as well as the odd thought provoking moment as mentioned above. But overall, I'm sad to say, this potentially very good idea isn't really worth reading.

4.5/10