More Than This

This review is just to help me remember key points about the book. If you find it helpful or relatable that's cool too.Pride Month Edition

Farmer wants his plot back.

More than this is a fine novel.

5.0

Fun book. Disappointing ending.

Just as the title of this review says: I was enjoying the book and suddenly it was over without actually resolving anything. Bummer.

I thought the book will be something more than this. I got good recommendations for it after all - philosophical, wanting to read it again when finished... But no. It's a fast paced cheap sci-fi. Started really good but most of the book was action ending chapter with cliffhanger and the end was very weak. Book is ok, easy to read. Just don't expect much.

The less you know about this book, the better, but I had definitely built it up a little too much over the years. I adore Patrick Ness and think everything he writes is brilliant, this one just didn't grip me as much as I'd hoped based on the reviews. Still, a solid 3.5/5 rounded up to a 4 because it's Patrick Ness.

2.5 stars
This review can also be found on my blog.

I felt quite underwhelmed with More Than This, which is a shame since so many people seem to have loved it. This is the story of a boy named Seth who wakes up in a strange place with the echoes of his death still ringing in his head. While the landscape is familiar, it is a world overrun with decay and there are no other human beings in sight. Seth is convinced he is in Hell, and the reader isn't quite sure what to believe.

To start with, I really enjoyed it. I liked the idea of a strange afterlife like this, and was increasingly convinced that Seth was actually in a purgatory of sorts, someplace liminal and in-between. I liked the flashbacks that we got, and felt the pacing was good. Seth would wander and contemplate for just the right amount of time before something new cropped up to grab our attention. And I was excited when the two (technically three) new characters were introduced.It really dropped off for me after that. Once the plot started to shift, I stopped caring almost entirely. It wasn't unreadable by any means, but I found myself pushing through so I could see how things ended rather than caring about the journey. Maybe I'm just jaded but... I've seen The Matrix and felt like I was just reading a new version. I didn't find it to be a novel, exciting concept and felt like so much was left unexplained -- in a lazy way, not an intriguing way. And honestly, I felt like a lot of things were dropped in just for shock value rather than actually adding much to the book itself.

All this is not to say that it's a bad book! Patrick Ness is a talented writer and there was plenty to enjoy. I was incredulous to find out that this was a 480-page read because it seemed to fly by so quickly. I don't want my criticisms to turn anyone off reading it, unless they seem like things that are pet peeves of yours as well.

Undecided on the rating. Even though the moral in here was strong and it ended abruptly, on an open note, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Also, why must you always end books like this 😑 Chaos Walking also did this at the end!

that's it, my new favorite book

I was really looking for a romance this time. But I really lived that it was a fictionworød it was set in, and romance in the flashbacks.

‘uuuggghhhhhhhhh' is all I have to say. a wonderful story, I loved every minute; I was hooked. I just kinda wish, oh I don't know, that there was more than this?
Besides that, I genuinely enjoyed the story, and every twist and turn it held. Interesting characters as well, and riveting stories told within. I would recommend it to those who enjoy sci-fi like books, and a good mind-blower.

The everyday horror in a strange world. Touches on the common enough secrets behind closed doors and inside closets and hidden genocide. Hard to review without spoiling the plot. Layers of metaphor and explores repressed memory and the blurred lines of lives virtual and real.

Estava em uma vibe young adult com reflexões e questionamentos sobre a vida quando fui jogado em uma aventura inesperada. Pensei que estava lendo uma coisa quando tudo se transformou em algo que eu não estava esperando que viesse naquele momento.

Adorei as personagens secundárias mas a vibe do livro no geral não me fez exclamar muitas vezes “Meu. Deus.”, embora tenha sido uma leitura rápida e agradável.

I can't deny the book keeps you guessing, and that there are twists upon twists. An interesting read if you're not someone that needs a neat bow and actual closure. :)

Un roman étrange et intriguant du début à la fin. C'est réussi, même si ce n'est pas mon roman préféré de Patrick Ness.

A very uncertain 3.5 stars. I need to review this book to get some thoughts down on paper so to speak.

Firstly, I think the ambitious topic, feelings, themes and philosophical ideas this book attempts to explore are handled very well.

Secondly, it took me several months to finish this book (with many books read in between the start and end date). This is unheard of for me, especially for a book which I can say I liked, at the very least. I will finish a book in 3-7 days, no more, unless I don't like it, in which case I will try to revisit it, but will probably not finish the book. I finished the last 40% off in one sitting this afternoon, but it took me many many attempts to get up to that point.

I was promised thoughtful brilliance, but instead was given a plodding plot that didn't know what it was, or what it wanted. And I stand by that statement, at the conclusion of my reading, even if I am better of for the reading of the book, even if something was imparted to me. My reaction to the book is still a big “hmm..okay”; because the book throws the ideas it explores in your face, then tries its best to arrange the puzzle in the course of 648 pages, leaves you with a general impression of what the puzzle depicts, and leaves in rages after it seemingly has used up all the pieces available. And I suppose that message, of confusion and something more, cryptic as it is, is the final message this book tries to leave. But are 648 pages really need to tell that? A 150 pages novella could achieve what this book has achieved.

Back to the quantifiable things I guess. Ness has a enthralling writing style that keeps you wanting more, even if you never get it. Tomasz and Regine are wonderful, and the book is clever and frustrating in all the best ways. The plot is layered beautifully, never complex for the sake of complexity, and always delivering something in the side plots ideas it explores. I never reached the same existential acceptance that others achieved over the course of this book. And that is okay.

So, if this review has confused you, go read the book. Its great, even if you don't really know why.

A really well laid out, thrilling sci-fi novel with many surprises. Only problem I had was its ambiguous ending, just waiting for a sequel but also has a feeling like there's never going to be one. This could very well map out our future world.

What a fantastic roller coaster ride of a book. It kept me off balance wondering what would happen next but not giving me much idea of what that would be. I can't even give the slightest detail to friends who may want to read it someday as I feel almost anything beyond what happens in the first 5 pages or so is on some level, a spoiler. Fantastic!

Pros: interesting philosophy, some fun characters, heart-wrenching situations

Cons: somewhat open ended story

For Parents: some sexual content, gay content (nothing graphic), suicide, some violence, off screen bullying and abuse

When Seth Wearing drowns in the ocean he expects that to be the end. So he's shocked when he wakes up outside the house in England where he lived as a child. The house his family moved from quickly after the incident. The incident that changed his younger brother.

His new world is abandoned, overgrown with plants and empty of human life. And Seth has no idea what's going on. But he suspects this is Hell.

This is an interesting story that will keep you on your toes. While I did see a few of the plot twists coming, others were complete surprises. It's a tough novel to discuss without potentially spoiling some of the plot twists, but I'll try.

I love Seth as a character. He's constantly doubting the new world he finds himself in, while at the same time reliving in dreams the best and worst times of his life. I also love Thomasz, with his broken english and intelligent plans. He really doesn't get the credit he deserves from the other characters. Regine is also great as a feisty overweight black teen who understands more about Seth than Seth's willing to tell. Seth's best friends are interesting too, and I was blown away when a particular relationship came to light. It put the use of the friendly insult ‘homo' they use in a different, and more positive, light.

Some of the characters have truly gut-wrenching moments to share. There is some abuse and bullying mentioned, as well as other violence. But as with the sexual content, there's nothing graphic.

It takes a while to discover what's really going on, and at times Seth's reticence to explain his past and inability to explain what he discovers about his present is frustrating as you want to know what he's learned/experienced. The ending was fairly open to interpretation, which makes the book thought-provoking, though I'd have liked another chapter delivering more of a sense of closure.

This is a book about growing up. About learning that everyone else is the centre of their universe just as you are the centre of yours. While it's easy to take everything others do personally, not every action is meant as a reaction to you or what you've done. Despite having some valuable life lessons this isn't a preachy novel and Seth doesn't come by these realizations easily. But they are good, hopeful, lessons for teens. And I hope a lot of teens - and adults - pick up this book.

Great story with many surprises and keeps you wondering what is going on.

So, the first time that I read More Than This was a month before it actually came out. I was sent an ARC, I read it ravenously, and then I just sat. Sat, and thought. Patrick Ness blew my mind with this book. In fact, I could never wrap my head around how I felt enough to be able to write a review. Recently, when I saw this as a featured audio book at my library, I thought I'd pick it up and give it another shot. It had been long enough that I didn't remember exactly what happened, and I looked forward to getting lost again. I admit it, once again I'm at a total loss for an adequate review. What do you say about a book that shakes you around like a rag doll, and makes you think? You ramble I suppose. Which is what I'm about to do.

Patrick Ness is an evil genius. The way that More Than This is laid out is brilliant. I'd be following along with the story line, comfortable in the fact that I knew what was going on, and then Ness would sweep the rug right out from under me. He never let me get too settled. Instead, this story expertly cobbles together different stories that you wouldn't even think would mesh. This is a science fiction story. It's a romance. It's a contemporary. It's about love and life. Birth and death. All the beauty and utter bleakness that make up the life of one individual. It's sad, scary, and stunning. That's exactly why I don't really know what to say about it.

I think that all you really need to know is that this story isn't always easy to read. There are moments where things become uncomfortably real, and before you know it there are tears leaking from the corners of your eyes. I've always liked that Ness isn't afraid to address real issues. He knows that, as much as society loves to sweep things under the rug, teens face life shattering moments all the time. His characters feel real. You want to hug them. You want to save them. It's maddening that they're inside a book and you can't do either.

Whether you read this in book form, or listen to it on audio, I think you'll be impressed. Both are equally amazing options.