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A review by bhnmt61
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
3.0
Harry August is one of a group of seemingly random people who die only to be reborn into the same life they just completed. Like Groundhog’s Day, except an entire life lived over and over instead of a day. He gradually finds others with the same ability/gift/curse. He discovers that they fall into two fairly distinct groups: the group that believes it is dangerous to interfere in the course of history, and thus ignores what is happening to normal, “linear” people; and the group who believes that they should use their unique knowledge to make the world a better place. The implications are interesting, and not always what I expected.
I didn’t dislike it, and towards the end, I was glued to it to find out what happens to Harry (and the rest of the human race). But on the other hand, this is not a book that connected well with me. Other than wanting to find out how it ended, I was not particularly invested. Harry never really seemed like a real person to me, he was more of a vehicle for considering ethical dilemmas. Disappointing, because I often love novels that have a theoretical or scientific bent.
It was a decent read, and there are moments when the writing is beautiful. The ending is clever, but it’s ambiguous enough that I wondered if North was leaving the door open for a sequel— but since it was published in 2014, probably not.
I’m waffling on what star rating to give it. Three? Four? I settled on three because I doubt this will be one of those books I think about for days/weeks after I finish it. But if that turns out not to be the case, I’ll come back and bump it up.
I didn’t dislike it, and towards the end, I was glued to it to find out what happens to Harry (and the rest of the human race). But on the other hand, this is not a book that connected well with me. Other than wanting to find out how it ended, I was not particularly invested. Harry never really seemed like a real person to me, he was more of a vehicle for considering ethical dilemmas. Disappointing, because I often love novels that have a theoretical or scientific bent.
It was a decent read, and there are moments when the writing is beautiful. The ending is clever, but it’s ambiguous enough that I wondered if North was leaving the door open for a sequel— but since it was published in 2014, probably not.
I’m waffling on what star rating to give it. Three? Four? I settled on three because I doubt this will be one of those books I think about for days/weeks after I finish it. But if that turns out not to be the case, I’ll come back and bump it up.