I am usually not one for sci-fi-type books because I feel like there are only so many stories you can write about time travel, or simulated universes, or space civilizations that it just gets old. But More Than This explores a common sci-fi trope in such an excellent way that I can confidently say that this is the only novel that has truly captivated me. I could not put it down when I started. 

   When a story begins with the death of a main character, you just have to keep reading. I expected the story to take a few steps backwards and cover Seth, the main character’s, life prior to death like a typical book would, but Ness packed this novel full of surprises.

   Seth wakes up on the sidewalk in front of his childhood home in England, somewhere nearby London, and finds that it is completely abandoned. It looks like nothing had been touched in years, with overgrown front lawns, and houses caked in dust.

   Of course, he is confused. He remembers dying. He drowned. But here he is, seemingly alive, in what he decides is his personal hell. Why else would he be here, in front of his nightmare of a childhood home after he had died? When Seth was young, and his little brother, Owen, even younger, they were left home alone, and a prisoner that escaped from the prison behind their house stalked the children through their windows. It was truly disturbing to read about this creepy man peering through their windows. Eventually, Seth ended up letting the stranger in and he kidnapped Owen for three days. Luckily, they found him, and the family moved to the United States to escape the trauma that house now carried. It was reasonable for Seth to believe he was in hell after appearing in front of his old house in a completely different country after he remembers dying.

   Seth stays inside his house for a few days, trying to survive off of water from a tap that barely works, and random cans of food in the cupboards. He does not go upstairs where his bedroom was for a while. My favorite part of the story comes when Seth notices footprints in the dust on the stairs that he had not yet touched. I was frightened by this, because of course my first thought was that Seth was not alone and that he was being watched. But, of course, the story went a direction I was not expecting—Seth actually had been upstairs. That’s where he woke up. In a coffin, in his childhood bedroom.

   After meeting two other people, Regine and Tomasz, Seth learns that he never really died. He was living in what is essentially a virtual world, and now he was in the real world. When the three of them “died,” something had actually malfunctioned, which led them to escaping their coffins. Then, when Seth visits the prison behind the house, he finds thousands and thousands of people, also in coffins. He finds his parents, but not Owen. And there lies my favorite plot twist of all: Seth’s family never moved to the United States. Even worse, Owen was never found alive after being kidnapped. His family opted into the virtual world to cope with the pain. Now there is also this little love story too, as Seth remembers he had a secret relationship with a boy named Gudmund, who’s coffin is probably actually in the United States. It was really surprise after surprise with this novel.

   Another interesting plot point occurs when Regine is captured by a man dubbed the Driver (he pretty much just drives around and captures people who escaped their virtual world), and he forces her back into her coffin so she can die properly. Chapter after chapter, readers are subjected to the same telling of Regine’s horrible death, and it is such an interesting writing choice to me. Though, it was yet another disturbing thing to read.

   The book ends on the worst cliffhanger imaginable, with Seth re-entering his coffin to try and connect the real and virtual world. With no promise of a second book, it is truly hard to get such a story off of your mind. It really makes you think—how do you know you aren’t in a virtual world yourself?