what to read
when you're in a months-long reading slump.
If you’ve read my October's anticipated reviews then you’ll know I was and to be honest, still am in a reading slump. Reading slumps are such a common yet annoying thing that happens to all readers so I compiled a list of books that I loved and will hopefully help you get out of a reading slump.
★★★★★
I will NEVER shut up about this book. It’s my favourite book in the entire world; it is truly a masterpiece.
This book changed how I write. Before reading More Than This, I normally wrote romance and angst, but after reading this, it showed me the love I have for sci-fi and post-apocalyptic themes. It was like entering a new world.
I’ve always enjoyed science, but this book just intensified that feeling. I instantly wanted to know more about the technological side of More Than This and ended up writing a report on it.
*spoilers ahead
What are the coffins, and how are the people in ‘More Than This’ alive?The novel ‘More Than This’ follows a teenage boy named Seth Wearing who died by drowning himself and ends up waking up in a version of his childhood hometown that is now abandoned. As he spends more time in this distorted version of reality, he discovers that everything has reverted back to just before his family moved away.
Seth concludes that this must be his personal hell, but later discovers that, in actuality, humanity has instead entered an alternate, online reality to escape ecological collapse in the ‘real’ world. Seth's death was his disconnecting from the simulation. His death and disconnection force him to confront his mental health and troubles as a young gay man who was outed against his will to his whole community; he is also forced to confront the death of his younger brother, which was why his family entered the simulation during its trial stage.
While exploring the disconnected world, Seth meets other teenagers, Tomasz and Regine, who also died and were disconnected from the simulation. Together, they attempt to avoid the Driver, a machine built to maintain anomalies in the real world while humans were in the simulation, which included capturing rogue people and putting them back in the simulation. While they’re trying to avoid capture, Seth is also coming to terms with his place in the world and what the circumstances were that brought him to his eventual suicide.
In the novel ‘More Than This’, there’s a technology called Coffins. The name of this technology was given by Seth, as well as the majority of information about the technology; therefore, the reader will never know the full extent of it. The coffin's purpose is to keep people's bodies alive and functioning while their consciousness is living in an artificial world.
This article will focus on the social impact of coffins and there ability to keep people alive while they live in a parallel universe.
The article will decipher the social and economic applications of the coffins and the world manufactured by the coffins. The article will discuss the limitations that coffins present within both the real and artificial world.
The effect of coffins and virtual reality on the economy is massive. When the technology was in its trial stages, people were wary of the virtual world, unsure how it worked, but the concept was intriguing; people were curious how the technology would work, and the drawbacks if people were to connect their consciousness to a virtual reality.
The organisation that created the coffins was called The Link. The Link is brought up by a council member, so the reader can assume The Link was either created by the council or by an organisation working with the council.
Through the novel, Seth has dreams which are discovered to be memories; he had dreams from both the simulation and before. In one of these memories, a woman from the council speaks to Seth’s family. She described The Link as a second chance, “you can’t stop a human from acting like a human, of course, but compared to what we have now, it’s paradise. A paradise of second chances,”
The existence of The Link begs the question: what are the limitations?, Would the person's body disintegrate from being idle for years on end? And how ethical is The Link?
As time progresses, it is shown that The Link has become very popular, this is shown when the three go to the jail and discover it is full of coffins, each and every one containing a living, breathing person.
The technology was made for people who want a second chance. In More Than This, Seth’s parents enter The Link because of their grief. in the authentic world, Seth’s little brother was kidnapped by an escaped convict and murdered. The Wearings were unable to move past this incident and entered The Link during its trial stage so they could get their son back.
This is a large limitation, running away from the issue isn’t a way to live, it will always catch up, the longer an issue is avoided the worse it becomes. an artificial world where you can change the outcome isn’t a solution.
Especially since The Link is developed in a way so the people in the coffins have no recollection of entering The Link, they don’t ever realise they are in an artificial world, meaning they don’t have the choice to leave, which is extremely unethical.
“Lethe is a subtle process, one with amazing properties. But it has to work with what's already in you. It can’t erase memories as big and important as what’s just happened-’ ‘- but what it can do is give you an alternate outcome”
It is clear that the development of The Link had a clear purpose of a second chance world, but it becomes less of a choice. It is never specifically said, but it is implied that there was a natural disaster and ecological collapse in the real world that forced everyone into a coffin. This technology was no longer a choice but rather a requirement. People were forced into an artificial world against their will when the collapse started, and were forced to return if disconnected, even if they wanted to stay in the authentic world, they no longer had a choice.
★★★★☆
* spoilers included
This was really cute and fun to read, I finished it in 4 hours and loved it so much, their dynamic was so good and I loved that it wasn't one of those enemies to lovers where 'they always loved each other' and 'I pretend to hate you because I was scared of my feeling' and instead they truly did hate each other, but over time they realised there reasons were shallow and stupid.
It was a really cute book with some really important and powerful scenes, it was so much more than just a romance book.
I loved the fake dating trope and how they were together when they were slowly starting to realise they liked one another was so cute but frustrating because one would do something that was flirty and the other would just think 'Wow good acting' and that was the end of that scene.
I loved them so much thought and I definitely think more people should read this just check the triggers before you do.
★★★★★
I love literally all the characters in this book so much.
I have always loved the movies and decided to finally read the books and omg I loved this book so much, I love all the little details that James Dashner adds and I love how it's formatted.
I love Gally's character so much and am so upset that they didn't keep him going through the turning in the movies because it gives his character so much more depth, and more of a legitimate reason for his hatred for Thomas, I will always love him and defend Gally I don't care I'm am Gally apologist.