'More Than This' by Patrick Ness

The book begins with Seth experiencing his own death, being smashed against rocks by the sea. He then finds himself in the town he lived in as a child, a town empty of people and overgrown with weeds. Is this an afterlife, or was the life Seth remembers, and of which he experiences overwhelmingly vivid memories, leading up to that of his death, a kind of virtual reality; this bleak townscape being the actuality? If the latter, what has happened to all the people? Seth meets two other young people who have found themselves cast away in this bleak world. They must learn to trust each other, avoid the sinister Driver, solve the mystery, and maybe even take action to change the story they re-immerse themselves in. Although occasionally the story’s cogs jam and occasionally they slip, this is compelling, thought-provoking Young Adult fiction from a fine writer unafraid to address serious personal and social issues.

(Feb 2014)