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| ★★★✰✰ |
Synopsis: What if you aren’t the Chosen One? The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death? What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again. Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life. Even if your best friend is worshiped by mountain lions.
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Review: This is the third of Patrick Ness's books that I've read, the other two being More Than This and A Monster Calls. As with More Than This, I really liked the concept, but was underwhelmed, if not outright disappointed by the execution. With his blatant love of Buffy The Vampire Slayer seeping into the novel, its difficult not to make comparisons, particularly the the actual episode of Buffy that followed the same concept. The thing about Buffy, however, is the viewer is actually invested in and understanding of the Chosen One and the Scoobies, whereas with Ness's novel, the few tidbits we do hear about the 'Indie Kids' are too sparse and generic to do anything except sit weirdly in contrast with a book that is otherwise just drama.
It's kind of an eccentric book, with some hilariously funny moments, but the vast majority of it seems unaffected by the proximity of supernatural occurences and results in it feeling disjointed. The drama side could easily have held its own in a book without the contrast. I'm probably somewhat biased as I have previously failed to 'get' Ness's writing, but I'm just not sure what some people think is so exceptional about it. It was easy to read, as I say quite funny at times, and I liked some of the characters. There were a couple of moments where I saw an uncomfortable amount of myself in Mikey, and these were among the moments that are always present in Ness's books - where I really see the talent in his writing. I just wish I could see whatever else it is that I apparently miss in it.
Rating: 3/5
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