Happy music Monday! I’ve been trying to make this a thing, but haven’t been the most consistent. But I’m trying! This week, my playlist is dedicated to Seth Wearing, the main character in Patrick Ness’s More Than This. This might be one of Ness’s most haunting novels, and I will try to do it justice!
“March to the Sea” by Twenty One Pilots
Seth’s story begins in the sea, drowning his pain. Ness’s description of drowning at the beginning of the novel is one of the most harrowing I think I have ever read. What a way to start a novel.
“Rory” by Foxing
All Seth is looking for is someone who makes him feel less alone. He thinks he found it in Gusmund, but that just ends in tragedy.
“Breaking Down” by Florence + The Machine
Much of Ness’s novel is about Seth’s struggle with depression, always in the background, overshadowing his life.
“Be Still” by The Killers
Once Seth wakes up in the afterlife, he’s not quite sure what to make of it–especially with the memories that plague him every time he tries to sleep. “Is this real or just a dream?”
“Woods” by Bon Iver
Seth thinks he’s completely alone in this new world that he’s found himself in, working just to pass the time.
“Youth” by Daughter
The lyric “Shadows settle on the place that you left” fits Seth perfectly–his memories from before the after life are tainted by all of the bad.
“I Gave You All” by Mumford & Sons
Seth gave everything he had to his family, to his friends, and yet he still felt unbelievably alone in the world.
“Let Me In” by Glen Hansard
When encountering other people in the desolate land that Seth has found himself in, he has to convince them to let him in, as well as letting them in and trusting them.
“Save Myself” by Ed Sheeran
Before Seth is able to help his new friends, Regine and Tomasz, he has to overcome the horrors of his own past.
“Little Talks” by Of Monsters and Men
Despite the bleakness of most of the novel, it ends on a somewhat hopeful note–despite its ambiguous ending.