A review by congressbaby143
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

5.0

This novel was so well-done that even though it took me a month to read the whole thing because of my busy schedule, I had to finish 50% of it in one go last night. It's so well-written and the world building was so intricate that even though it took me a long time to finish, it never piqued my interest. To begin with, the premise was brilliant. I think along with The Sudden Appearance of Hope, Claire North is going to be known for the childlike-wonder premises that she explores and executes in her novels. This book had me sticking by its side for a month. It has a very solid world-building. It is intricate and it is not not confusing all the time but you get used to it and you somehow clear the muddy points as you go along. There are likeable characters like Akinleye, Charity, and Harry... and then there's Vincent Rankis. The relatioship that Vincent and Harry shares is quite complicated, they're nemesis or like frenemies. And honestly, I think they're quite in love with each other— Vincent more than Harry anyway. There's so much homoerotic subtext, and you could read into their obsession to get to each other for centuries as something that's not just mutual hatred or the heroic goal of saving the world from its end, it could be something else but the novel doesn't quite explore that as much as I hoped it would have considering Harry's quest to understand "being" and "existing", gay has to be the answer or the question at one point in 900 years. Although a lot of bad stuff happens to Harry, it's very pro-protagonist and you kind of get that feeling as you go on with the story. (Spoiler alert, the protagonist wins, according to him anyway) With all of that being said, I gave it a 4.5/5 stars!