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A review by jenhurst
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
4.0
This story is about Harry August and his first 15 lives. On his 11 life a little girl appears before him and says "I almost missed you Dr. August, it's up to you to save the world". The end is coming sooner.
I think the story was very intriguing and very different from anything that I'd read or seen on TV before. It would make a great film. It's very much a character-driven story, with just the right amount of plot thrown in.
I liked how Harry had such development and seemed so mature compared to everything else. Even as a 6 year old, he was like a little adult. It makes sense with what he was and I like how it was shown. After he made it through a few lives, he found a good friend who was like him.
The book covered WWII, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Soviet Russia and other major parts of the 20th century as he experienced them all first hand. After his third or fourth time in the War, he figured out to avoid it.
I was very impressed by Claire North's ability to jump from life to life and back to a previous life in a seamless way. It was apparent, which life Harry was looking back on. I think this is actually something that made the story more enjoyable to me. There was a lot of dry humour thrown in that I don't think gets mentioned enough. Harry was a great narrative. Believable, likeable and relatable but still not completely relatable as he had lived so many times.
My issue is how you kill the type of people like Harry, it seemed very complicated to solve the issue. And personal issue. Time Travel fucks me up to much. I think of the butterfly effect too much, and about all the changes. This was a little too close to that. Still a fun, intriguing read.
I recommend this to older teens and up. Ever if you don't like fantasy it's a great read, because it only marginally touches on fantasy. It's more of a speculative fiction like David Mitchell. The different ways that Harry affects everyone and the idea of free will vs fate, it's touched on and is very thought provoking.
I think the story was very intriguing and very different from anything that I'd read or seen on TV before. It would make a great film. It's very much a character-driven story, with just the right amount of plot thrown in.
I liked how Harry had such development and seemed so mature compared to everything else. Even as a 6 year old, he was like a little adult. It makes sense with what he was and I like how it was shown. After he made it through a few lives, he found a good friend who was like him.
The book covered WWII, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Soviet Russia and other major parts of the 20th century as he experienced them all first hand. After his third or fourth time in the War, he figured out to avoid it.
I was very impressed by Claire North's ability to jump from life to life and back to a previous life in a seamless way. It was apparent, which life Harry was looking back on. I think this is actually something that made the story more enjoyable to me. There was a lot of dry humour thrown in that I don't think gets mentioned enough. Harry was a great narrative. Believable, likeable and relatable but still not completely relatable as he had lived so many times.
My issue is how you kill the type of people like Harry, it seemed very complicated to solve the issue. And personal issue. Time Travel fucks me up to much. I think of the butterfly effect too much, and about all the changes. This was a little too close to that. Still a fun, intriguing read.
I recommend this to older teens and up. Ever if you don't like fantasy it's a great read, because it only marginally touches on fantasy. It's more of a speculative fiction like David Mitchell. The different ways that Harry affects everyone and the idea of free will vs fate, it's touched on and is very thought provoking.