It follows a teenage boy named Seth who, after drowning in the ocean, wakes up alone on a desolate suburban English street in what he believes to be hell.

He finds himself in what he assumes is a hell made for him, as it resembles the Southern English town he was born in before moving to America but is completely abandoned.

This left him with psychological damage and prompted the family's move to Halfmarket, a small coastal town in Washington, USA.

Regine tells Seth her theory – on account of the world's decline the entire population decided to enter a simulated recreation (indistinguishable from reality) permanently, with automated coffins carrying out bodily functions.

Global issues mentioned include fires, climate change, wars, epidemics, economic chaos and closures of European borders.

The three children woke up in the real world because, while dying, they each knocked a system connection implant on the back of their heads.

Seth theorises that the gas from a particular tube numbs their memories, so if they do not inhale it, they can connect to the simulation while still remembering the real world.

"[2] Tony Bradman of The Guardian concurred, writing: "Seth is a terrific exemplar of the eternal teenage desire for there to be, in the words of the novel's title, 'more than this'".