Early Review – More Than This by Patrick Ness

I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

More Than This by Patrick Ness
Published by Candlewick Press on September 10th 2013
Pages: 480
Genres: Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic, Fantasy
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
Amazon
Goodreads

Also by this author: A Monster Calls

From two-time Carnegie Medal winner Patrick Ness comes an enthralling and provocative new novel chronicling the life — or perhaps afterlife — of a teen trapped in a crumbling, abandoned world.

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. . .

‘Haven’t you ever felt like there had to be more? Like there’s more out there somewhere, just beyond your grasp, and if you could only get to it…’

Imagine you wake up unaware of where you are or how you got there but the last thing you remember is dying. You died, yet somehow you didn’t because you’re obviously still alive, right? But imagine that you wake up in a world that seems strange; off somehow. And you can’t find a single soul, it’s as if the world has been completely emptied leaving only you. This is the situation Seth finds himself in.’He can feel himself teetering again, an abyss of confusion and despair looking right back at him, threatening to swallow him if he so much as glances at it.’This is such an engrossing tale. I was riveted and couldn’t put this down. I went into this with a completely different set of expectations but they were completely dashed. The beginning of this tale had the same feel of quiet desolation that The Road has and I was enthralled, but Ness turned this into a total game. Just when you think you finally have a grasp on what’s really going on he not only removes some vital piece of evidence but completely transforms the landscape. And this happened many, many times. I was still attempting to get a good grasp on what was truly happening with only 5 pages remaining. It’s tagged as YA but involves such a sophisticated storyline that makes it vastly different than anything out there. I can’t think of a single book to compare it to and that’s a wonderful thing. I hope that the YA designation doesn’t deter typical adult readers. I hope that the philosophical designation doesn’t deter YA readers. Suffice it to say, this book needs no designation and is something that I recommend to all for the mind-boggling experience this entails.’Real life is only ever just real life. Messy. What it means depends on how you look at it. The only thing you’ve got to do is find a way to live there.”More Than This’ is an incredibly multi-layered and surprisingly philosophical story about how your outlook and interpretation on life has the power to change…everything. It’s about living life and realizing that there is always something more to live for and always… more than this.

Related Posts