More Than This

Book Title: More Than This

Author: Patrick Ness

Date Started: June 25th 2014

Date Completed: July 2nd 2014

Genres: Mystery, Adventure, Thriller, Sci-Fi, Dystopian

Rating: Four stars

Review:

I loved the beginning of More Than This, and the overall message was written so well. But unfortunately, I feel like this book was two separate stories. The first section, I absolutely adored. The second section, more the typical kids mystery adventure.

Seth died. He drowned. He remembers it. So how can he be all the way across the sea, in the English house he spent his childhood in. Why is he barely scratched, when he can remember being thrown into the rocks. But here he is, alive and breathing, in his now wrecked hometown. Completely alone.

While I might be harsh on the story itself, I can't fault Ness' writing itself. The narrative works for so many people, and it captures so many real emotions and situations perfectly and realistically. I stopped at several points in the first hundred or so pages and to quietly swear and absorb what just happened. Ness definitely knows how to create a thriller that gives the reader more than a few tense false-starts.

However, this did ultimately end in Ness losing the full appreciation from me when it turned out that Seth was not, in fact, alone. The atmosphere had been built to such a height, it would've been extremely impressive if the reveal of other characters had still shocked me. It also disappointed me that the writing lost a great deal of its depth and intrigue once Tomasz and Regine entered the picture. For me, More Then This was about those thoughtful monologues, and presented them incredibly well. But they all disappeared after the others arrived.

Like I've mentioned before, I felt this novel was split in two: the thoughtful, mysterious beginning, and then adventure of three kids in an empty world. If I hadn't been enjoying the intriguing part of the book so much I might not have been so irritated by the drastic change, but as it happened I preferred the first section far more than the second.

Furthermore, the first part had been broken quite early in, and I felt real empathy for Seth. But then the unoriginality of the main twist and the unnecessary inclusion of things such as the Driver just tore down the expectations I had built up. Another part that I didn't like about the latter portion of the book would be the lack of explanations we get - though I understand why these were not included, since the characters themselves are never really entirely sure what's happening.

For a story that only really has three principle characters, each person involved is presented in a way that tells the reader enough about them to understand their part, but leaves enough room for exploration.

Seth was a great protagonist. He felt very real to me, and was a sensible and wise, if slightly reckless, person. This fitted into the story exactly, as it gave plenty of time for Seth to wander around this empty hell by himself and prevent the reader form becoming bored. I also think the character himself is incredibly strong and resilient, to go through the things he has and come out as a hero at the other end.

I really liked Tomasz and Regine, and would have loved to learn more about their stories, but their arrival coexisted with the deterioration of the book for me. Though both are loveable, I can't help but wish they were presented in a way that didn't change the dynamic of the story.

More Than This is supposed to be a slow and thoughtful book. I was content to travel at the book's own pace when I was taking in the complex and confusing jumble of thoughts in Seth's head. But when new characters came in, and the pace still didn't pick up, I started to get bored. Finally, when the little action scenes did occur, I didn't really care enough to be fully engaged with the story.

Although More Than This did disappoint me, it was still a good book, and I think other people might like the second part of the book more than I did. Though the beginning of the book revolves around mystery and intrigue, I think you need to be interested in the adventurous side as well to enjoy the whole book.

Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21969786-more-than-this