The Rest of Us Just Live Here

The Rest of Us Just Live Here, a novel by critically acclaimed young adult (YA) author Patrick Ness, tells the story of Mikey, a high school senior living in a fictional town in the state of Washington. The novel follows Mikey as graduation approaches and he navigates the anxieties and uncertainties of love, friendship, and the fear of leaving behind everything he’s grown up with. Ness, the author of the widely lauded Chaos Walking trilogy and standalone novel A Monster Calls, is gay and often uses the YA genre to explore the possibilities and pitfalls that modern masculinity offers young men. In The Rest of Us Just Live Here, Mikey’s senses of masculinity and self are tested by a mental health condition and the realization that all of the relationships he most cherishes in life are inescapably temporary.

This Study Guide refers to the first US edition of The Rest of Us Just Live Here published by HarperTeen in 2015.

Content Warning: The source text includes mentions of suicidal ideation, detailed depictions of obsessive compulsive disorder, and references to alcohol addiction, disordered eating, and anti-LGBTQ+ bias.

Plot Summary

The Rest of Us Just Live Here is narrated by Mikey Mitchell, a high school senior who lives in the state of Washington. Several of his classmates are “indie kids”—Chosen Ones who battle supernatural incursions that plague the town. However, Mikey only spends time with “normal” kids who are more concerned with graduating on time and preparing for college than they are with defending their loved ones from the paranormal.

The novel opens with Mikey spending time with his sister, Mel; his childhood best friend, Jared Shurin; and their good friend Henna Silvennoinen, whom Mikey is secretly in love with. The group discusses the difference between love and attraction, which is difficult for Mikey because the object of their conversation is Nathan, a new kid in school whom Henna is attracted to. The group’s chat is interrupted by an indie kid, Finn, running out of the forest, pursued by a girl who is glowing in blue light. Finn and the girl disappear into the trees, and a few moments later, Mikey sees a pillar of blue light rise out of the forest.

The group heads to the Mitchells’ house to hang out. Mrs. Mitchell, a state politician, is home early. The anxiety created by her newest campaign has reopened some old wounds for her children: Mikey’s obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is flaring up, and Mel is coping with anorexia. Mrs. Mitchell’s personal politics also create rifts with her children. She criticizes Mikey for hanging out with Jared, who is gay and out.

Mikey drives Henna to pick up her prom dress and finds the courage to share his feelings. Henna says she doesn’t think he’s really in love with her; before Mikey can respond, they hit a deer. Mikey wakes in the hospital to find that both he and Henna are badly injured. When his mother comes to see him, she tells him that their congressman has unexpectedly died, so she’ll now have a shot at running for a national office.

Every chapter in The Rest of Us Just Live Here begins with a brief summary of what’s happening in the life of an indie kid named Satchel. These interludes describe Satchel learning that Finn was killed mysteriously. Satchel and her indie-kid friend Dylan try to get more information from her uncle, a police officer. Satchel and Dylan don’t yet know that Finn was killed by the Messenger of the Immortals, who has come to earth in search of a Vessel, or that another indie kid, Kerouac, is opening the Gate of the Immortals, allowing the Royal Family and its Court through. Kerouac, tricked into doing this, is killed by the Immortals.

After he’s released from the hospital, Mikey meets up with Jared, who, it’s revealed, is descended from a supernatural race of Gods. Jared’s familial connection to a cat-Goddess has given him limited healing powers, which he uses to relieve Mikey’s pain. Later, Mikey goes back to the crash site. He sees the deer’s mangled body, still in the back seats, come back to life. The deer, with its eyes glowing blue, runs back to the forest.

Unsure of what to make of this, Mikey meets up with Jared, Henna, Nathan, Mel, and Mel’s new boyfriend, Steve. Mikey discovers that Nathan used to be an indie kid at his old school but, like Henna, lost a family member during an earlier vampire invasion. Mikey is distressed to find that Nathan has this emotional connection to Henna but later, as Mikey is driving her home, she asks if she can kiss him.

In the world of the indie kids, Satchel finds a note from Kerouac explaining that she should wear an amulet he’s left her. Touching the amulet, Satchel sees a vision of the most handsome boy she’s ever seen; the amulet also tells her that the Immortals have arrived. The Immortals find her uncle, kill him, and use his body as a Vessel. Satchel goes the police station in search of her uncle and finds that all the officers there have glowing blue eyes.

Mikey and Mel attend their mother’s campaign launch, which stresses Mikey: Not only does it place their family on the national stage, but his mother’s primary opponent is Jared’s dad, Mr. Shurin. Mikey has a candid conversation with his mother after the launch in which he admits that his OCD has returned.

Meanwhile, Satchel encounters the boy from the amulet, who tells her that he’s the Prince in the Court of the Immortals and his mother, the Empress, wants to take over Satchel’s world because the Immortals can “feed” on humans. The Immortals are trying to open fissures between the two realms. The Prince, though, has fallen in love with Satchel and wants to help her. The Prince is tricked into delivering Satchel and Finn to the Empress; Satchel saves them both and, as they flee, she sees the Immortal Crux, the source of the Immortals’ power. It has an opening in it that is the same size and shape as her amulet.

Mikey and Mel take Meredith to the Bolts of Fire concert, where an explosion rocks the stage and produces a beam of blue light. When they get outside, a reporter questions Mel about why their mother isn’t there to protect her children, and Mel punches the reporter. In the days after the explosion, Mikey has an appointment with his therapist in which they discuss his OCD, thoughts of suicide, and potential paths toward healing.

Mikey, Mel, Nathan, Henna, Steve, and Jared attend prom. The group has a good time, but Henna’s oscillating between Nathan and Mikey inflames Mikey’s jealousy. As the group is getting ready to leave and head out to Mr. Shurin’s lake cabin where they’ll spend the night, Mikey sees Satchel escaping the high school’s basement as blue lights flicker behind her. He wants to talk to her to see what’s happening, but Henna insists they go.

Satchel and the Prince hear an explosion from the edge of town. The Prince explains that Satchel’s amulet is protecting her, but it’s also an integral part of the Crux. Its absence is creating fissures to tear between their worlds, causing explosions. Satchel, feeling like she can’t trust anyone, tries to find the source of the fissures by following her uncle into the high school basement the night of prom. He tries to open a fissure in the basement that would destroy the high school, but she kills him.

While Satchel flees the school only to learn that the Prince and Dylan, who is really the Messenger of the Immortals, have betrayed her and have been working to open fissures, Mikey and his friends hang out at Mr. Shurin’s cabin. While skinny dipping, they see the fissures opening, which looks like distant blue lightning. Jared tries to save a wounded mountain lion in the forest, but his powers aren’t enough. Emotionally distraught, he confesses a secret he’s been keeping from Mikey: Nathan is gay but isn’t out, and the two of them have been covertly dating.

The emotional revelations continue as Mikey leaves the cabin and heads home. He discovers that Mr. Shurin’s campaign has rereleased the footage of Mel punching the reporter and framed Mel as the aggressor. Mikey, enraged, confronts Jared. Jared had no idea this was happening, but the boys end up airing grievances they can’t take back. Mikey, devastated, asks Henna to come over. They have sex.

Meanwhile, Satchel narrowly escapes Dylan and the Prince and figures out how to close the fissures. She gets help from Finn—the only person she can trust. On graduation day, they discover the final fissure in the high school basement. Finn confesses his love for her just as they’re about to close it. The last of the Immortals push through before they can. The Prince kills Finn, and the Immortals take Satchel so they can transfer the Empress into her body.

On graduation day, Mikey and Jared talk through their fight. They both admit that they said cruel things that had a bit of truth to them, and Mikey tells him that he had sex with Henna—and that he and Henna figured out that they’re better as friends. As they’re talking, they find Finn, nearly dead, in a bush. Jared uses powers unlike Mikey has ever seen before to heal Finn, who runs into the school’s basement to help Satchel. Jared confesses that he’s made a deal with the ancestral Gods: They’ve given him more powerful healing skills—including the ability to heal Mikey’s OCD—in exchange for Jared taking his grandmother’s place in their realm after college. Before Mikey can respond, Satchel comes running out of the school saying it’s going to explode.

Everyone gets out before the explosion. The whole town, having come for graduation, gathers in a nearby field and watches as blue lights flicker over the ruins of the school. Mikey rejects Jared’s offer of healing, saying he wants to work through his OCD himself. Mikey reflects on the uncertainties that face him after graduation but finds comfort in the fact that he gets to spend the summer with his friends.