Let me be completely honest for a second. None of us are going to grow up to be “the chosen one” like Harry Potter. We won’t have to fight someone who is bound and determined to take over the world, gods are not going to descend upon us for whatever reason they have, and we don’t have to find some magical object that’s going to make sure everyone lives happily ever after in the end.
These kind of things just don’t happen to everyday people, but it sure would be cool if they did happen.

“The Rest of Us Just Live Here” by Patrick Ness gives readers a glimpse of the not so chosen ones are up while the chosen ones are trying to fix things.

Mickey and his friends are just trying to finish high school in a town that seems to be a magnet for trouble.  At the beginning of each chapter the reader is given a glimpse into what the chosen ones, or Indie Kids as they are called by normal kids, before the story continues with what Mickey and everyone are up to.

It’s a very unique why to tell two stories in one when you are focusing on the lives of the non-Indie Kids.

After reading this book I wouldn’t really call anyone in this story normal. Normal is defined as “the usual, average, or typical state or condition” in the dictionary, which sounds impossible to obtain when your best friend is worshipped by mountain lions.

However, if you think about it long and hard enough maybe that what Ness is trying to tell his readers. You don’t have to be the chosen one or just normal, because in this world it’s impossible to be either.

School won’t be destroyed because immortals are taking over and your parents definitely don’t have stories about the time flesh eating ghouls tried to kill everyone, but normal isn’t really realistic either.

The white picket fence lifestyle doesn’t happen for everyone because things like strict parents, mental illnesses, and one sided loves happen. Still in a town where immortals are planning to attack, it’s fun to see how everyone else is living.