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adeliacomplex's review against another edition
3.0
I actually found the previously written 'we are all completely fine' better written. For a book with elements of horror, it read far more like a children's book? There's so many great elements- the cult-like school. The 'blood pilot'. The 'dwellers'. But they don't feel fully realised.
On the other hand though, I loved the inclusion of Harrison's mother being Terena. It's a conscious choice that wasn't necessary for any sort of plot reason, but made for a nice change from a Caucasian protagonist.
On the other hand though, I loved the inclusion of Harrison's mother being Terena. It's a conscious choice that wasn't necessary for any sort of plot reason, but made for a nice change from a Caucasian protagonist.
annaclo's review against another edition
4.0
Oooo I realllly enjoyed this! It was a quick read and fast paced. Different than any book I've read before and it was really mysterious and kind of spooky. Definitely recommend it :). (Leb is my favorite ah)
"That's another thing. Totalitarian regimes tend to collapse as soon as people speak up."
"That's another thing. Totalitarian regimes tend to collapse as soon as people speak up."
pollyno9's review against another edition
4.0
To be honest, I'm not sure how this book came to be on my radar. I have no recollection of seeing the synopsis of it, but I must have liked what I saw (whenever I saw it) enough to click "Want to read" and then get it in ebook. Chance led me to choose it out of the dozens of ebooks I have to read, and chance was smiling on me today!
This book is, I guess, Lovecraftian? I've never really read anything else within that particular genre, but it has the earmarks: Weird Massachusetts town, vague memories of sea monsters, lots and lots of damp looking people.
It's really good though, I found myself looking for further books about Harrison (I mean, where does he go from here?!), and clicking "Want to read" on a bunch of Mr. Gregory's other works. If I had to liken it to anything else I've read, it would be Christopher Moore.
Definitely looking for more from this author.
This book is, I guess, Lovecraftian? I've never really read anything else within that particular genre, but it has the earmarks: Weird Massachusetts town, vague memories of sea monsters, lots and lots of damp looking people.
It's really good though, I found myself looking for further books about Harrison (I mean, where does he go from here?!), and clicking "Want to read" on a bunch of Mr. Gregory's other works. If I had to liken it to anything else I've read, it would be Christopher Moore.
Definitely looking for more from this author.
verkisto's review against another edition
4.0
This is an odd book. It's a prequel to Gregory's We Are All Completely Fine, in that it tells the story of one of the characters in that book, Harrison Harrison, whose life inspired a series of children's books. The thing is, Harrison Squared is that children's book (well, YA at best), which makes it not just a prequel but also a meta story related to the original work.
Harrison travels with his mom, a marine biologist, to a town in Massachusetts called Dunnsmouth, where she hopes to capture footage of an underwater beast. Harrison thinks she's after giant squids and the like, but Dunnsmouth is hiding something far more interesting than the usual deep-sea creatures. In fact, the creature she's hoping to discover relates back to when Harrison's father was killed, and when Harrison himself lost his left leg.
This is a wildly compelling book, which surprises me, since WAACF didn't grip me the same way. Gregory captures his characters well, doing that thing good writers do where you try to pinpoint where, exactly, you started to relate to the characters so well, but it happens so slowly over the course of the narrative that you can't do it. They grow organically, building relationships in the same way real people do, over time and (sometimes) reluctantly, and they do it so well that it's impossible not to root for them.
The plot is a little simplified, but the story doesn't suffer for it. Key characteristics of the characters will obviously play into plot resolutions near the end, but Gregory handles his characters so well that it's hard to complain about it. The story itself doesn't answer all the questions it asks, which isn't always a bad thing, but here it feels more like a cliffhanger ending than an ambiguity that's intended to make the reader think. I read an interview that suggests Gregory hopes to make a trilogy out of this, but that he hasn't written anything else in the series yet. I feel a little cheated by it, but hopefully the book does well enough to justify getting the rest of these books written. You know, as soon as possible.
Harrison Squared wasn't a book I was itching to read, but it surprised me. WAACF wasn't one of those books that made me want to go out and read everything Gregory wrote, but Harrison Squared is. I see a lot of his books have won acclaim and awards, so I've added another book of his to my to-read list (current count: 600+). I'm eager to see how Pandemonium shakes out.
Harrison travels with his mom, a marine biologist, to a town in Massachusetts called Dunnsmouth, where she hopes to capture footage of an underwater beast. Harrison thinks she's after giant squids and the like, but Dunnsmouth is hiding something far more interesting than the usual deep-sea creatures. In fact, the creature she's hoping to discover relates back to when Harrison's father was killed, and when Harrison himself lost his left leg.
This is a wildly compelling book, which surprises me, since WAACF didn't grip me the same way. Gregory captures his characters well, doing that thing good writers do where you try to pinpoint where, exactly, you started to relate to the characters so well, but it happens so slowly over the course of the narrative that you can't do it. They grow organically, building relationships in the same way real people do, over time and (sometimes) reluctantly, and they do it so well that it's impossible not to root for them.
The plot is a little simplified, but the story doesn't suffer for it. Key characteristics of the characters will obviously play into plot resolutions near the end, but Gregory handles his characters so well that it's hard to complain about it. The story itself doesn't answer all the questions it asks, which isn't always a bad thing, but here it feels more like a cliffhanger ending than an ambiguity that's intended to make the reader think. I read an interview that suggests Gregory hopes to make a trilogy out of this, but that he hasn't written anything else in the series yet. I feel a little cheated by it, but hopefully the book does well enough to justify getting the rest of these books written. You know, as soon as possible.
Harrison Squared wasn't a book I was itching to read, but it surprised me. WAACF wasn't one of those books that made me want to go out and read everything Gregory wrote, but Harrison Squared is. I see a lot of his books have won acclaim and awards, so I've added another book of his to my to-read list (current count: 600+). I'm eager to see how Pandemonium shakes out.
alexanderpaez's review against another edition
4.0
Full review
Harrison Harrison es nuestro protagonista. O deberíamos decir Harrison Squared, es decir, Harrison2. O como él mismo dice, H²×5 (Harrison el quinto de su nombre) protagoniza esta novela de Daryl Gregory. Harrison Squared es una precuela independiente de We are all completely fine, ya que se desarrolla en el pasado del protagonista de esta otra novela. En esta nueva novela el tono es más juvenil, nuestro protagonista es un adolescente de 16 años y sus aventuras las pasará en un colegio de lo más tétrico en la población de Dunnsmouth (lugar que le hace famoso en We are completely fine).
Harrison y su madre se han mudado a Massachusetts, al pueblo costero de Dunnsmouth donde deberá ir a la escuela durante algunos meses hasta cumplir la mayoría de edad. Su madre es una bióloga marina especializada en descubrir bestias marinas enormes (grandes ballenas, tiburones y, durante el transcurso de esta novela, la búsqueda del calamar gigante). Harrison tiene un sentido del humor mordaz y una peculiar e inteligente forma de ver las cosas. Lejos de dejarse intimidar ante los oscuros muros de la escuela, se pasea por ellos con aire indiferente, observando lo extraño del lugar. El autor aprovecha la narración en primera persona para realizar una curiosa parodia de lo que podría haber sido una novela de terror. Por poner un ejemplo, Harrison acude a la clase de natación que se realiza en una oscura y profunda cueva, con una piscina natural de agua oscura. Este lugar parece más un templo que una piscina y como lectores nos esperamos lo peor. Ahí llega, una enorme figura blancuzca se acerca buceando a toda velocidad hacia él y al salir del agua no es nada más que el pálido profesor de natación. Daryl Gregory nos engaña numerosas veces, dando giros de guión muy astutos para preparar el terreno de forma que no podamos confiar en nada de lo que se nos cuenta de forma literal.
Aquí la reseña completa
Harrison Harrison es nuestro protagonista. O deberíamos decir Harrison Squared, es decir, Harrison2. O como él mismo dice, H²×5 (Harrison el quinto de su nombre) protagoniza esta novela de Daryl Gregory. Harrison Squared es una precuela independiente de We are all completely fine, ya que se desarrolla en el pasado del protagonista de esta otra novela. En esta nueva novela el tono es más juvenil, nuestro protagonista es un adolescente de 16 años y sus aventuras las pasará en un colegio de lo más tétrico en la población de Dunnsmouth (lugar que le hace famoso en We are completely fine).
Harrison y su madre se han mudado a Massachusetts, al pueblo costero de Dunnsmouth donde deberá ir a la escuela durante algunos meses hasta cumplir la mayoría de edad. Su madre es una bióloga marina especializada en descubrir bestias marinas enormes (grandes ballenas, tiburones y, durante el transcurso de esta novela, la búsqueda del calamar gigante). Harrison tiene un sentido del humor mordaz y una peculiar e inteligente forma de ver las cosas. Lejos de dejarse intimidar ante los oscuros muros de la escuela, se pasea por ellos con aire indiferente, observando lo extraño del lugar. El autor aprovecha la narración en primera persona para realizar una curiosa parodia de lo que podría haber sido una novela de terror. Por poner un ejemplo, Harrison acude a la clase de natación que se realiza en una oscura y profunda cueva, con una piscina natural de agua oscura. Este lugar parece más un templo que una piscina y como lectores nos esperamos lo peor. Ahí llega, una enorme figura blancuzca se acerca buceando a toda velocidad hacia él y al salir del agua no es nada más que el pálido profesor de natación. Daryl Gregory nos engaña numerosas veces, dando giros de guión muy astutos para preparar el terreno de forma que no podamos confiar en nada de lo que se nos cuenta de forma literal.
Aquí la reseña completa
brandonc04af's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
unsquare's review against another edition
3.0
This review originally appeared at Full of Words. Full disclosure: Although I did receive a free review copy of this book from Net Galley, I listened to the audiobook on Audible.
Daryl Gregory’s Harrison Squared is a much sillier book than its cover implies. The sinister Lovecraftian overtones suggested by the tentacles looming behind the protagonist are present, but the book’s overall tone is actually pretty goofy even though it’s about a kid trying to find his missing, possibly kidnapped mother.
Most of the goofiness comes from the random literary jokes and pop culture references that Gregory includes throughout, but it doesn’t help that Harrison Squared feels pitched at a younger audience than I was expecting. Instead of a Tor SF&F novel with a teenaged main character, it reads more like a young adult novel in adult packaging.
Of course, I read plenty of YA, so I don’t necessarily have a problem with the book’s reading level. The real issue is that I was expecting something deeper and richer than Gregory delivered. The book’s town of Dunnsmouth is sketchy and underdeveloped, and Harrison barely spends any time going to the school at the center of the story.
Gregory also sets up a number of threads that don’t really pay off. The other students at Harrison’s new school speak in a complicated sign language that he never actually learns. They also take part in a religion that seems to consist mostly of singing in an unknown language. More damning is a late revelation about Harrison himself that feels superfluous to the story. All of these details hint at a world without actually making it feel lived-in.
Harrison Squared ends in a way that seems to require a sequel, but it turns out that a semi-sequel already exists. One of Gregory’s previous novels, We Are All Completely Fine, includes an adult Harrison in its ensemble, although the summary makes him sound very different from the version portrayed here.
Harrison Squared is a quick read, and I did laugh a few times, so I’d be willing to give Gregory’s work another chance. Ultimately, though, I thought this book was a bit forgettable. It just doesn’t break any new ground in the fashionable mini-genre of Lovecraft pastiches.
Daryl Gregory’s Harrison Squared is a much sillier book than its cover implies. The sinister Lovecraftian overtones suggested by the tentacles looming behind the protagonist are present, but the book’s overall tone is actually pretty goofy even though it’s about a kid trying to find his missing, possibly kidnapped mother.
Most of the goofiness comes from the random literary jokes and pop culture references that Gregory includes throughout, but it doesn’t help that Harrison Squared feels pitched at a younger audience than I was expecting. Instead of a Tor SF&F novel with a teenaged main character, it reads more like a young adult novel in adult packaging.
Of course, I read plenty of YA, so I don’t necessarily have a problem with the book’s reading level. The real issue is that I was expecting something deeper and richer than Gregory delivered. The book’s town of Dunnsmouth is sketchy and underdeveloped, and Harrison barely spends any time going to the school at the center of the story.
Gregory also sets up a number of threads that don’t really pay off. The other students at Harrison’s new school speak in a complicated sign language that he never actually learns. They also take part in a religion that seems to consist mostly of singing in an unknown language. More damning is a late revelation about Harrison himself that feels superfluous to the story. All of these details hint at a world without actually making it feel lived-in.
Harrison Squared ends in a way that seems to require a sequel, but it turns out that a semi-sequel already exists. One of Gregory’s previous novels, We Are All Completely Fine, includes an adult Harrison in its ensemble, although the summary makes him sound very different from the version portrayed here.
Harrison Squared is a quick read, and I did laugh a few times, so I’d be willing to give Gregory’s work another chance. Ultimately, though, I thought this book was a bit forgettable. It just doesn’t break any new ground in the fashionable mini-genre of Lovecraft pastiches.
theartolater's review against another edition
5.0
Once upon a NaNoWriMo, I had opted to try and write a Lovecraftian piece for young adults. I think I got to about 1700 words before throwing in the towel.
Daryl Gregory has a book here, Harrison Squared, that decidedly is not young adult but has some strong YA overtones, and ends up not only being a better book than I could have come up with, but really one of the better modern interpretations of Lovecraftian themes I've read in a while.
Harrison Harrison (thus the nickname) had his father die in a freak accident at sea when a large creature capsized the boat his father was on. Now, Harrison and his marine biologist mother have moved to Dunnsmouth on the east coast, and nothing seems quite right with the weird rituals, weirder people, strange myths and stories, and, finally, Harrison's mother also becoming lost at sea. Harrison's new problem is not only trying to find his mother, but trying to navigate a town that doesn't seem to want him there and that he doesn't seem to quite fit into or understand.
All the classic tropes are there, even if they're Lovecraft-adjacent (Dunnsmouth instead of Innsmouth, creatures with strange, difficult-to-pronounce names, offhand jokes about ancient languages), and they're treated with equal reverence and with tongue firmly in cheek. It's not so obvious that a non-Lovecraft fan would catch all the references, but it's also such a good homage that there are more than a few jokes and references interspersed to make you smile. Even better, most Lovecraftian pieces seem to feel as if they must also be as verbose and descriptive as Lovecraft himself was (to the detriment of many of his stories), and this does away with that habit - possibly part of the reason so many people want to call this young adult.
Overall, this was a fun and quick and enjoyable read. As a fan of the related Lovecraft Mythos, this is a welcome addition to the overall subgenre, and there's more than enough here for fantasy or light/weird horror fans to dive into. Overall, it's closer to a 4.5, but I'd give a lot of bonus points just to my overall sheer enjoyment of the ride that I went on with this one. Highly recommended.
Daryl Gregory has a book here, Harrison Squared, that decidedly is not young adult but has some strong YA overtones, and ends up not only being a better book than I could have come up with, but really one of the better modern interpretations of Lovecraftian themes I've read in a while.
Harrison Harrison (thus the nickname) had his father die in a freak accident at sea when a large creature capsized the boat his father was on. Now, Harrison and his marine biologist mother have moved to Dunnsmouth on the east coast, and nothing seems quite right with the weird rituals, weirder people, strange myths and stories, and, finally, Harrison's mother also becoming lost at sea. Harrison's new problem is not only trying to find his mother, but trying to navigate a town that doesn't seem to want him there and that he doesn't seem to quite fit into or understand.
All the classic tropes are there, even if they're Lovecraft-adjacent (Dunnsmouth instead of Innsmouth, creatures with strange, difficult-to-pronounce names, offhand jokes about ancient languages), and they're treated with equal reverence and with tongue firmly in cheek. It's not so obvious that a non-Lovecraft fan would catch all the references, but it's also such a good homage that there are more than a few jokes and references interspersed to make you smile. Even better, most Lovecraftian pieces seem to feel as if they must also be as verbose and descriptive as Lovecraft himself was (to the detriment of many of his stories), and this does away with that habit - possibly part of the reason so many people want to call this young adult.
Overall, this was a fun and quick and enjoyable read. As a fan of the related Lovecraft Mythos, this is a welcome addition to the overall subgenre, and there's more than enough here for fantasy or light/weird horror fans to dive into. Overall, it's closer to a 4.5, but I'd give a lot of bonus points just to my overall sheer enjoyment of the ride that I went on with this one. Highly recommended.
avlieber's review against another edition
4.0
This was so good! Incredible atmosphere, amazing characters, some swearing in portuguese and lots of Lovecraft references! Plus, Harrison's mom is Terena, how awesome is that?! (Terena is a brazilian indigenous group, btw).
Daryl Gregory said he has ideas for two more books on Harrison, so I'll definitely be waiting for them. Super recommended for anyone who likes funny, witty horror-ish stories with a pinch of Lovecraft's mythology.
Daryl Gregory said he has ideas for two more books on Harrison, so I'll definitely be waiting for them. Super recommended for anyone who likes funny, witty horror-ish stories with a pinch of Lovecraft's mythology.