September 2013 Book of the Month This exceptional new novel from multi-award-winning Patrick Ness will, once again, delight his readers with a superbly written, enthralling and provocative story that raises the most profound questions of adolescence – and answers some of them. Seth drowns. A horrible, lonely death in the icy sea that ends with a blow against the rocks. But does it end? Seth wakes up alone, naked and in an empty world. He remembers his life – and above all his all-consuming love – and finds a way to survive in his new, desolate place. With two other children he meets, Seth explores new possibilities including what other lives there may be after death.
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In addition to our Lovereading expert opinion for More than This a small number of teenagers were lucky enough to be invited to review this title. Here's a taster....'unique and special you will be overwhelmed by the tragedy throughout the story.'
A boy called 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 is 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 neighbourhood 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...
Ayesha Afghan - Thrilling, sad, and it absorbs the reader into the book. I have never read a book quite like this before...It was epic! Click here to read the full review.
Amy Knight, age 14 - Seth is supposed to be dead; at least that's what he thinks. He remembers the day of his death so vividly, but now he's abandoned and he finds himself asking is there really more than this? I thought this story was absolutely brilliant. Click here to read the full review.
Jenny Duffy, age 20 - Patrick Ness' new YA novel is a thrilling read, because it is just so unpredictable. Click here to read the full review.
Aimee Sweet - A great book to take on holiday, More Than This is unique and special you will be overwhelmed by the tragedy throughout the story. Click here to read the full review.
Harriet Cunningham - I took this book on holiday with me and had finished it by then end of the two hour plane journey. Please read it. Click here to read the full review.
Jack Graham - Overall this book is an excellent read. Patrick Ness is comparable to Rowling, Horowitz or Riordan in his deliverance of the story and ideas. Click here to read the full review.
Alice D'Angelo, age 14 - It drew me in immediately. Click here to read the full review.
Charlotte Crisp, age 13 This complicated story featuring Seth and his friends is full of surprises when he wakes up alone in a desolate world. It kept me hooked at every point. Click here to read the full review.
Izzy Read, age 12 I knew that from the moment I picked up this book that it was going to be good; it was amazing! Click here to read the full review.
Author
About Patrick Ness
Patrick Ness was born on an army base called Fort Belvoir, near Alexandria, Virginia, in the United States. His father was a drill sergeant in the US Army. He lived in Hawaii until he was almost six, spent the ten years after that in suburban Washington state, and then on to Los Angeles, where he studied English Literature at the University of Southern California.
His main job after graduating was as corporate writer at a cable company, writing manuals, form letters and speeches and once even an advertisement for the Gilroy, California Garlic Festival (this is true). If you're American and hated your cable company, he probably wrote you a letter of apology.
He got his first story published in Genre magazine in 1997 and was working on his first novel when he moved to London in 1999. He's lived here ever since. Sometimes he teaches creative writing but mostly he tries to write 1,000 words a day, 'come hell or high water'.
In May 2008, he published The Knife of Never Letting Go, his first book for young adults. It won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and the Booktrust Teenage Prize and he hasn't looked back since.
Here is an interview with Patrick Ness where he talks about his new book The Rest of Us Just Live Here.
10 Things You Didn't Know About Patrick Ness
1. He has a tattoo of a rhinoceros. 2. He has run two marathons. 3. He is a certified scuba diver. 4. He wrote a radio comedy about vampires. 5. He has never been to New York City but... 6. He has been to Sydney, Auckland and Tokyo. 7. He got accepted into film school but turned it down to study writing. 8. He was a goth as a teenager (well, as much of a goth as you could be in Tacoma, Washington and still have to go to church every Sunday). 9. He is no longer a goth. 10. Under no circumstances will he eat onions.
