Review: More Than This

More Than This by Patrick Ness

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



The sea is cold and rough, but Seth is just a boy and it breaks him. After, he wakes up in his own hell. Somehow he arrives in his English childhood home and is naked, thirsty and tired. Although he is alive, he is alone. Everything appears as if it has been abandoned for years, but Seth does not know how or why. As if this hell is not strange enough, his dreams are haunted by memories of his life and he begins to wonder if they are trying to tell him something. As Seth explores the area round him and continues to blame himself for terrible things that occurred in his life, he hopes to find answers and maybe even people in this isolated world he has found himself in.

More Than This is about more than death and afterlife. It is about friendship, family, accountability and forgiveness. Seth has been blamed for the unexplainable tragedy the family endured 8 years ago. Because he failed his family in such a serious way, he looks for more in the relationships around him. Ness explores the actions of life and pushes them into a parallel life. The philosophical discussions in Seth’s head, his dreams and with those around him cause the reader to question what really happened and what will happen as the story progresses. I had found the story extremely intriguing and consumed the entire book in one day. I alternated between having the Kindle app read it to me while doing house work and taking breaks on the couch to read. If the voiceover option was not available, I probably would have been a couch bum all day. Although I don’t see any information about this being a series, the ending does leave an opening for Ness to continue this story for a few books more.




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