REVIEW | More Than This by Patrick Ness

More Than This by Patrick Ness
September 10, 2013
Candlewick Press
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A boy named Seth drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments, losing his life as the pounding sea claims him. But then he wakes. He is naked, thirsty, starving. But alive. How is that possible? He remembers dying, his bones breaking, his skull dashed upon the rocks. So how is he here? And where is this place? It looks like the suburban English town where he lived as a child, before an unthinkable tragedy happened and his family moved to America. But the neighborhood around his old house is overgrown, covered in dust, and completely abandoned. What’s going on? And why is it that whenever he closes his eyes, he falls prey to vivid, agonizing memories that seem more real than the world around him? Seth begins a search for answers, hoping that he might not be alone, that this might not be the hell he fears it to be, that there might be more than just this. . .

First sentence: “Here is the boy, drowning.”

FIVE REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD READ
MORE THAN THIS

More Than This is an incredibly beautiful story about a boy, Seth, who wakes up in a wasteland and learns that he is all alone (at least, he thinks he is). I won’t say anymore because you should experience the story for yourself. I will say that this book is just so frickin’ wonderful and heart-wrenching. I love everything about it. It’s one of those books that makes you think and ~feeeel. I just want to thrust this book into everybody’s face and force them to read it.

• You need Patrick Ness in your life. 

Seriously. Get him in your life! He’s one of those authors you HAVE to read or else you’re seriously missing out on awesomeness. Patrick Ness is frickin’ incredible. I’m so in love with his prose. His writing will hit you right in the heart, the gut, the head, everything and everywhere because everything he writes is incredibly beautiful and emotional. You can’t help but invest yourself into the characters and the world he creates. It’s not possible not to.

• The raw emotions will kill you. 

I HAD TEARS FALLING DOWN MY CHEEKS. TEARS, PEOPLE.

That is rare! I don’t really cry when I read YA, but this book just got to me.

More Than This is really emotional book. I was clutching at my heart for the majority of the book because I felt Seth’s every emotion and fear. Although I haven’t gone through the things that Seth went through, I empathized with him because Ness presents Seth in a way that is completely relatable. As human beings, we all feel that neglect from our parents or our friends, that guilt from doing something you know you shouldn’t have done, that panic of the unknown, that fear that you’re all alone in the world and that realization that you’re actually not. It’s all so wonderful!

I still have all the emotions coursing through me and I’m embracing it! I love it all!

• Friendships are everything!

I weep at the beautiful friendships in this book! It fills me with so much love thinking about it.

These kids are a family, and I’m a big sucker for found families. They are all they have in the world and they’d do anything for each other, and that makes me incredibly emotional. They have to rely on each other and they eventually grow to mean so much to each other. They aren’t alone in the world even if it seems like it. I am so attached to each of them and their happiness. I just want them to be together forever and ever. As long as they are together, they can beat anything!

Did I already say how much I love the friendships?

• The world is creepy and a mind fuck! 

Excuse the language, but it is.

More Than This is set in this creepy post-apocalyptic (sci-fi-ish) wasteland that resembles Seth’s old home in England. To Seth, he has entered Hell. This is a place where his mother left because of the horrible memories that occurred there. You definitely wouldn’t want to be caught up alone in this world because it’s just too quiet and eerie. You don’t know who or what is lurking about, and when you see something extremely out of the ordinary, you’ll end up asking, to nobody in particular, what the fuck is going on.

Be prepared to get confused. I often questioned whether this world (or the world that Seth dies in) is entirely real or just made up. This world was not what I had thought it to be. It’s actually a great commentary on life, and what it means when you can choose a different path, and if there is more to life than meets the eye. It’s just so startling. That’s the beauty of this book.

•  It makes you reflect on your life and the world outside of you.

I cherish any book that makes me think, and More Than This does that. It’s an absolutely thought-provoking story about life, reality, loss, and friendship. Life is much more than what we see and is really beautiful. We make life what it is. We all have people who are constantly there for us and as long as you have them in your life, then everything isn’t as bad as it seems.

Guys, you know I absolutely adore each and every one of you, right?

More Than This doesn’t answer all the questions that come up, but I didn’t really care because the emotions I had for Seth and every single character blinded me. The characters discovered the most important thing, which is that there is more to life and that they aren’t alone (not so much why they’re in this place or even what’s actually happening to the world). It made me think about what this world means and how important friendships aer.

This is a book I could relate to even though I didn’t go through what Seth went through. Everything about it is just so beautiful — the writing, the characters, the emotions. I acknowledge that this book can either be a hit or a miss for readers. You have to be ready for the slow-build, the lack of action, the emotions, and the confusion. This is not the type of book you should read too fast because you’ll end up not connecting with the story, and that will truly be a tragedy.

Seriously though, get Patrick Ness in your life.