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imrg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Suicide
Minor: Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Child abuse
jace_lee_koe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Suicide, Vomit, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse
Minor: Fatphobia
criticalmiss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
This book had me guessing and it really shifted as you went along. The first part was a bit slow as Seth was alone and trying to figure out what this work was all about but once you hit part 2 and onwards it picks up.
Once you find out that it might be a simulation they woke up from, it gave me a bit of Matrix vibes (real world vs the online one) I enjoyed the bond between Seth, Regine and Tomasz, I believed it. And the Driver was a great villain? Entity? And you never quite know all the answers
TW: suicide, death, child abuse, child death, lgbtq harassment
Graphic: Suicide, Child death, and Fatphobia
didabean's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I have mixed feelings about this book, it wasn't what I expected but I think it's better to go in a little blind.
I liked the story. even when it felt predictable I was still engaged and didn't want to put the book down.
but what really put a bad taste in my mouth is the way regine is written. it feels like the sassy/angry black woman + sidekick trope to me and I think she deserved better. I understand that racism and fatphobia are a part of her story, but some of the lines ness wrote about her size and race were off putting to me, specifically when they weren't talking about her backstory. I'm not sure how to word it and I haven't seen many others talk about it, but I almost dnf'ed the book bc of it.
Graphic: Child death, Suicide, and Child abuse
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Fatphobia and Racism
beetlemortis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Suicide, Physical abuse, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Outing, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping
Minor: Homophobia, Murder, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, and Fatphobia
ameliaflint's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Gore and Sexual content
Minor: Cursing, Racism, Fatphobia, Grief, and Domestic abuse
wonkwink's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror and Suicide
Minor: Murder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Physical abuse
scout_jones's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Outing, Child abuse, Abandonment, Violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Domestic abuse, Death, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Xenophobia
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Child abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Vomit, Murder, and Gore
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Outing, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, Fatphobia, Car accident, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, and Homophobia
Minor: Infidelity, Racism, Bullying, Xenophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Misogyny, Ableism, and Excrement
Graphic drowning and unreality. Attack by animal. Smoking, underage drinking. Joke about teacher/student relationship, description of character as "concentration camp guard."emory's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It does tie in to one of my main complaints about the book, though. The prose was alright, if trying too hard to sound like slam poetry at times, but the plot could not seem to make up it's mind about whether to lean into the speculative science fiction or a poetic reflection. We never get enough explanation about the former and never enough exploration into the latter, which leads to a lackluster ending and grandiose conclusions without the writing effort to back it up.
Not to mention that the book doesn't even really hold up it's title. Towards the end, when the characters start to be shoehorned into their philosophical chit chat, Seth has a revelation about his suicidal ideation and how he feels about his life. The problem is that none of the discussion about what life means and what is left for them makes much sense. It's a commendable effort, and I'm not trying to say it's a horrible book or that I hated reading it; however, the conclusions have nothing to back them up. The characters talk in circles about the meaning of life. We get no justification about why Tomasz and Regine don't get the kind of "more" that Seth seems confident he will be able to find. Even the sweet little moment about friendship has little to nothing to back it up; they've known each other for about 3 days, and have been fighting for most of it. But suddenly they have a wonderful revelation that their amazing friendship is the point of life? That the broken world they live in isn't awful?
Again, I don't have all negative things to say about this book. The plot was enjoyable--just a bit empty. The writing was a bit ornate at points, but it was fitting for the hopelessness innate to the main character at points. The descriptions were theatric and vivid, and to be able to hold attention while the entire first part of the book is a single character living in an empty wasteland is no small feat.
Mainly, I just wish More Than This had had more.
Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Child death, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Outing, and Murder
Moderate: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Grief, Abandonment, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, and Fatphobia
A black character on a few occasions voices something fatphobic or antiblack she expects the other characters to say to her, even though ostensibly this doesn't need to be in the narrative at all, so that's a weird choice on the authors part. Additionally this is definitely not something to read if you're not in the headspace to deal with something akin to simulation theory or that the world is fake.