A review by smallish_bird
More Than This by Patrick Ness

Did not finish book. Stopped at 7%.
Saw this at a thrift store and liked the cover... turned out to be a lesson in not judging a book :-/

The current surges, slamming him into the killingly hard rocks. 

The writer appears to love adverbs, so much that within the first two pages he made up a new one.
Stephen King once compared adverbs to dandelions, and the time I spent reading this book very much  felt like struggling through an abandoned yard full of weeds.

To me, the descriptions were very uncreative; too busy prompting the reader to imagine an interesting and substantive story rather than telling one of its own. The writing's  constant repetition and sudden reveals seem intended to create suspense and emphasis, but I would argue it makes for a turgid and confusing read.

I don't think this book needed to be 500 pages. Despite using so many words, what I've read of this book feels surprisingly empty hollow and lacking on substance. The information in Chapter 5 alone could've been expressed as a few introductory paragraphs, rather than retreading the same ground over the course of five pages. 
 
A revisit from an editor armed with a metaphorical machete would do this book wonders. As of now, it's shaping up to be a timesink full of frustration and boredom, so I'm prematurely pulling this weed out by the root. 

TLDR: talks a lot, says little (so far). I'm not the target audience; I might be the opposite, actually.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings