More Than This in Oly Reads

Jul 05, 2013 Sara rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult-books, read-in-2013, dystopia, mystery, realistic, sad, lgbtq

So I think I am actually the only person on Goodreads to give this book 3 stars, so I think this must just be a matter of personal taste. I did like this book. Objectively, I liked it, and objectively I knew that it was interesting and unique and personal. But there was just SOMETHING about this book that did not click with me. Something felt off, and like I was SUPPOSED to be feeling some intense feels, but I just...didn't? And I don't know why. It might have been my mood while reading. It migh ...more

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Nov 18, 2013 Jodi Lamm rated it liked it

Confession: I LOVED The Knife of Never Letting Go (except for that one thing that made me cry, which I will never forgive Patrick Ness for), and I'm afraid I'll never be able to read another Patrick Ness book without comparing it. The Knife of Never Letting Go managed to grab me by the collar in the first sentence and never, ever let go. I think I probably ground my teeth through much of it just because it was so damned thrilling. Its characters were electric, its premise absolutely fascinating, Confession: I LOVED The Knife of Never Letting Go (except for that one thing that made me cry, which I will never forgive Patrick Ness for), and I'm afraid I'll never be able to read another Patrick Ness book without comparing it. The Knife of Never Letting Go managed to grab me by the collar in the first sentence and never, ever let go. I think I probably ground my teeth through much of it just because it was so damned thrilling. Its characters were electric, its premise absolutely fascinating, and the story paced like a roller coaster. So now that you know my history with this author, I hope these answers to my usual questions will be taken in context.

1. Was the story fun to read? More Than This certainly started out interesting, but it got slow fast (har har). Really, though, it did. We followed Seth everywhere. We watched him pee and shower and attempt to masturbate. We shared in his every meal. Every. Single. Meal. At one point he ate a bunch of canned food and placed it, half-finished, in rows on his back porch. This was such an odd detail to point out, I was SURE it would come back and mean something later. It never did. About halfway through the book, things picked up a bit, so I was able to finish, but so much of it was such a slog, I can't in good conscience say I enjoyed reading it. I mostly blame the pace, but the fact that the story is written in third-person present-tense (which took me time to get used to) might have contributed, and Seth's having no one to interact with for much of the story may also have been a problem for me.

2. Did the characters intrigue me? They weren't horrible characters, but I didn't find myself fascinated either. I was luke-warm about them. Occasionally, they seemed too contrived to be believable. I can't quite put my finger on why, to be honest, but there it is.

3. Did the premise make me think? Yup. This was what got me through the book. I enjoyed guessing the plot, and I was genuinely surprised a number of times. More Than This isn't dealing with an entirely new idea; this is one you've probably seen before, though I won't tell you where because that would spoil it. Still it felt fresh, and there were underlying themes and symbols I thought were quite relevant and well thought out.

I did enjoy the latter half of More Than This, but it couldn't hold a candle to The Knife of Never Letting Go. I will continue to read Patrick Ness like a rabid fan and pretend the awkwardness that was the first half of More Than This never happened between us. ...more

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Apr 23, 2014 Rebecca rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: children-ya

I liked the concept, I liked the writing when things were actually happening. The fact that no questions were fully solved could have worked for me IF THE WRITING HAD BEEN EDITED DOWN BY A GOOD ONE THIRD TO A HALF.

Don't know what I'm missing since this title is basically universally given top praises left and right. Oh well. ...more

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Sep 06, 2013 Raina marked it as to-read

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Jan 30, 2014 Eric Manix marked it as to-read

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Dec 08, 2017 Leanna Hammond marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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