The first half of the book keeps new revelations coming at us, each arriving like a bombshell that churns up the landscape of what we know so far. And there’s also an enemy, a sort of literal Death figure. There are others, who are dealing with their own grief. As it turns out, though, Seth isn’t alone in this mysterious afterlife. He’s had to deal with guilt over a terrible incident involving his younger brother, which he feels responsible for, two distant parents, homosexuality, and estrangement from his friends. As we learn from Seth’s flashbacks while he wanders the desolate, otherworldly place, which he dubs “hell”, his short life was rough. Except the town appears to have been abandoned for many years, and Seth seems to be alone. He wakes up, if that’s the right term, in his childhood town in England. In the opening pages, teenage Seth is dying in the ocean, broken against rocks. More Than This is a book that mixes weighty issues with a Twilight Zone-esque premise and a narrative that turns at right angles, keeping the reader guessing. That series explored some pretty dark, serious themes (adults lying to kids, religious craziness, manipulation, war) and had some interesting twists, so I thought I’d check out his latest novel. I was a fan of Patrick Ness’s harrowing young adult science fiction novel, The Knife of Never Letting Go.
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