Growing up in a small town somewhere in America (schools, family-themed restaurant, lots of cars, a bunch of huge churches, a Wallmart, a couple of multiplexes, so many trees), Mikey and his sister Mel (don’t call her Melinda) are just trying to get through their final year of high school, hoping that something so momentous happens that the indie kids have to blow up the school gym again. Who are the indie kids, you ask?
The indie kids are the ones that all the YA paranormals are usually about. They have names like Finn (there are several in this book), Dylan, Kerouac, Satchel or something else unusual (Joffrey, Aquamarine and Earth are also mentioned) and they are bound to attract whatever new threat is coming, be it sparkly vampires, aliens, faeries, contracting cancer so they can all die beautifully together. Currently, something or someones called the Immortals are looking for human vessels and looking for a portal through to our world. Their first victim is one of the Finns, but Mikey, Mel, Mikey’s gay linebacker best friend Jared and Mikey and Mel’s best friend Henna (her father is Finnish) don’t really care about that. They see Finn running into the woods, but don’t give it much thought, as they are unlikely to be directly affected.
This is my first Patrick Ness book (I’ve heard so many good things about so many of his novels) and I decided to read it as it was one of the runners up in the YA Cannonball Book Club poll. My full review is on my blog.
My best book buddy just let me borrow this and I’m excited to give it a go after reading your review. Thanks!
I started this myself last night (I haven’t been in the right headspace for The Underground Girls of Kabul and agree with most of your thoughts. I understand why Ness drops us in to action in progress, but it took a little while to get the hang of the story he was telling, and the story he was satirizing.