Name: Zachary Roberts's review of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
Item: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
Rating: 4
Author: Zachary Roberts

Claire North

'ONE OF THE FICTION HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DECADE' Judy Finnigan, Richard and Judy Book Club Featured in the Richard and Judy Book Club, the BBC Radio 2 Book Club and the Waterstones Book Club Winner of the John W. Campbell Award Shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award SOME STORIES CANNOT BE TOLD IN JUST ONE LIFETIME No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes - until now. As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. 'I nearly missed you, Doctor August,' she says. 'I need to send a message.' This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow. This is the extraordinary journey of one unforgettable character - a story of friendship and betrayal, loyalty and redemption, love and loneliness and the inevitable march of time. Perfect for readers of How to Stop Time by Matt Haig, The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. 'Utterly readable, utterly believable and compelling' Judy Finnigan, Richard and Judy Book Club 'Beautiful and gripping' Guardian 'An astonishing re-invention of the time-travel narrative. Bold, magical and masterful' M. R. Carey, author of THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS 'Terrific, smart and entertaining' Patrick Ness 'The writing is impeccable . . Plus Harry is a fascinating main character' Heat 'I don't say this lightly but The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is one of the top ten books I've ever read' James Dashner, bestselling author of THE MAZE RUNNER Also by Claire North Novels: Touch The Sudden Appearance of Hope (winner of the World Fantasy Award) The End of the Day (shortlisted for the Sunday Times/PFD Young Writer of the Year Award) 84K (shortlisted for the Philip K. Dick Award) The Gameshouse The Pursuit of William Abbey Digital novellas: The Serpent: Gameshouse Novella 1 The Thief: Gameshouse Novella 2 The Master: Gameshouse Novella 3

The word-of-mouth bestseller you won't want to miss

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

Wildly original, funny and moving, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is an extraordinary story of a life lived again and again from World Fantasy Award-winning author Claire North. Harry August is on his deathbed. Again. No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes. Until now. As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. "I nearly missed you, Doctor August," she says. "I need to send a message." This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.

Zachary Roberts

When I am optimistic, I choose to believe that every life I lead, every choice I make, has consequence. That I am not one Harry August but many, a mind flicking from parallel life to parallel life and that when I die, the world carries on without me, altered by my deeds, marked by my presence. Then I look at the deeds I have done and, perhaps more importantly considering my condition, the deeds I have not done, and the thought depresses me, and I reject the hypothesis as unsound. What is the point of me? Either to change a world - many, many worlds, each touched by the choices I make in my life, for every deed a consequence, and in every love and every sorrow truth - or nothing at all. 

High Fidelity

Blackmail is surprisingly difficult to pull off. The art lies in convincing the target that whatever harm they do themselves–for, by definition, you are compelling them rather than coaxing them into obedience–is less than the harm which will be caused by the reve lation of the secrets in your power.

Are you the only living creature that matters? Do you think, because you remember it, that your pain is bigger and more important? Do you think, because you experience it, that your life is the only life that gets counted? Do you?”

Alesha Clifford

Time is not wisdom; wisdom is not intellect.

Gaurav Verma

Takes literally forever to get going, but when it does, it really soars 

It took me a solid 150 pages to get into this book, but then it finally took off. This is one of those books that is better read in one or two long reading sessions rather than spread out. The ending was great. 

Jennifer Palmer

Geetika 

Only the beginning and the end were good. Thank god I stuck on through the boring middle part of this book. Actually the rating is 2.5 but apparently you can't give stars in half. So here..

This is difficult for me to rate since I did not feel too invested in the book between 10% and 75% of it. However, the ending section was so excellent, it really had me reeling in a way only Claire North achieves.

I read "Notes from the Burning Age" last year and it was easily my favourite book I read in 2022 9(or top 3 for certain). Which is where my issue is. NFTBA and TFFLOHA are very similar books, with some elements appearing heavily borrowed from each other. And while the latter is the first chronologically, I read "Notes" first and it cannot but affect my impression of the book. I also liked the setting there better.

However, TFFLOHA is still very fast-paced book that builds up gradually to insanity. Claire North has a great sense of drama and a good handle of writing trully impactful dramatic moments, and "Harry August" is full of them. The ending though, absolutely riveting. Eiichiro Oda writing Marineford type of riveting.

Half of this, of course, is the Vincent and Harry dynamic. Apologies for bringing up another author but having this next to Eli and Victor in "Viscious" has stripped V.E. Schwab off the one thing I liked about her writing. Now - and apologies if this is a spoiler - here is a toxic friendship and partnership turned life-or-death enmity with homosexual undertones. 

(Do I wish there were more female significant characters, though? Yes, but North is making up for it with "The Songs of Penelope" books, the first of which is too fresh in my mind not to make me forgive her for previous transgressions).

This is difficult for me to rate since I did not feel too invested in the book between 10% and 75% of it. However, the ending section was so excellent, it really had me reeling in a way only Claire North achieves.

I read "Notes from the Burning Age" last year and it was easily my favourite book I read in 2022 9(or top 3 for certain). Which is where my issue is. NFTBA and TFFLOHA are very similar books, with some elements appearing heavily borrowed from each other. And while the latter is the first chronologically, I read "Notes" first and it cannot but affect my impression of the book. I also liked the setting there better.

However, TFFLOHA is still very fast-paced book that builds up gradually to insanity. Claire North has a great sense of drama and a good handle of writing trully impactful dramatic moments, and "Harry August" is full of them. The ending though, absolutely riveting. Eiichiro Oda writing Marineford type of riveting.

Half of this, of course, is the Vincent and Harry dynamic. Apologies for bringing up another author but having this next to Eli and Victor in "Viscious" has stripped V.E. Schwab off the one thing I liked about her writing. Now - and apologies if this is a spoiler - here is a toxic friendship and partnership turned life-or-death enmity with homosexual undertones. 

(Do I wish there were more female significant characters, though? Yes, but North is making up for it with "The Songs of Penelope" books, the first of which is too fresh in my mind not to make me forgive her for previous transgressions).

Frustratingly close to brilliant; a really surprisingly original idea and really intelligent in spots, but shallow and patchy. Weakest when it tries to do 'other countries' — China and India both paper-thin, in a way that feels less like limitations of culturally-bound narrator and more like limitations of the quick-Google-search approach to research (person called 'Patna' eg. lol). Genuinely enjoyed reading it despite this.

SOME STORIES CANNOT BE TOLD IN JUST ONE LIFETIME. Harry August is on his deathbed. Again. No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes. Until now. As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. "I nearly missed you, Doctor August," she says. "I need to send a message." This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.

Rohan Uddin

I love time-travel tales. This one is an exception, a beautifully written Groundhog Day style narrative which kept me in its grip from the moment I read the first page. The plot is amazingly structured, with nice twists and turns and the style of the prose is strong and unique. The characters are amazing and we actually feel their emotions. This is a great achievement, and a very fine story.

aisha

(3.5/5.0)

I tried to read this November 2017, and obviously gave up. The pacing of the story of Harry August’s first fifteen lives is slow and steady. Action picks up somewhere in the mid-point but that’s pretty much it. The book albeit a slow read, always kept me curious. I like its structure too, we don’t get the whole story, only bits and pieces — it kept me engaged. Harry August isn’t that interesting of a character but he got the job done, I guess. There’s plenty of great quotes scattered in the book, I might add some to this review later. Final thoughts: good but tedious read.

Belle

3.5 rounded up. There was a chunk in the middle that dragged, but the first and last thirds or so were great. The premise is really interesting, and I liked all the detail about the kalachakra and how they navigate the world. The ending was full of action, which was fun. I'd definitely read this again in future.

Janice Hopper

What an interesting and well-done book! I'd heard good things about this book. The audio version came available from Scribd, so I listened to it almost straight through.

It's a story of a group of people who die, only to be reborn and to live their lives over (and over, and over). It starts slowly. We discover what's happening along with the narrator. The story of his lives unfolds slowly. We learn how Harry comes to grips with who he is, and how he can spend the time that he has. And then there's the slow unfolding of the threat to Harry and to the whole world.

Only Harry can fix it...

It's easy to read a description like this and think "Oh, like Groundhog Day, or All You Need is Kill". Well, yes, it's kinda like that. But it's not any kind of imitation of either of those stories. Claire North has her own take on this genre. I'm still scratching my head, trying to figure out some of the implications of the world of these serial lifers. And I think maybe the books goes on just a little long for me. But it's GOOD. The writing is good and the ideas are interesting.

The audiobook I listened to had an EXCELLENT narrator -- Peter Kenny. He really made the book for me. :)

Ri Liu

An intricately crafted and imaginative novel. Entertaining, but probably nothing more profound to be gained than that. It follows the standard morality of superhero tales --- of talented individuals superior to mere humans being the only ones blessed with agency and ability to change the world. I found the text itself a little hard to follow, it wasn't as flowy of a read as I would have liked.

Kyle S

Whew what a book. I loved everything about it.

Natalia Hernandez

Dejé una reseña en español en mi blog: http://natified.com/2015/06/02/2015-e...


That was kind of awesome. 

The story goes like this: Harry August is born in 1919, in England, he lives his life as any other mortal does and when he's old, he dies; but then he is born again, in 1919, with all the memories of his previous lives. The book shows us his first fifteen lives. Cool, huh?


I loved this book, it was so much fun to read. It's not in chronological order so it was cool to try and put the story together, what had happened to him and other people he keeps meeting in different lives. It's an interesting concept and it makes you think about what you would do if you had that happened to you. Would you live completely different lives each time you got to be born again? Would you meet the same people? Would you love the same people? Endless possibilities! I loved that.

jam 🍯

A begrudging four stars to this thrilling science fiction/fantasy novel. I will say that it has a slow start and a stuffy tone at times, which is a totally understandable deal breaker to many, but speeds up as you go along. The third quarter is the most thrilling.

Hannah Derzanovich

This book was everything I wanted out of Touch and more. I loved the premise (time travel has always been something I've been interested in, even as a child) and the execution: it was clever, interesting, terrifying, and all I've ever hoped to read in a single book. Normally, I read a book, absorb the story, and move on. That didn't happen. I felt fear for Harry, an inevitable but destructive love for Vincent, the intense wish that I was also a kalachakra. (Who knows? Maybe this is my first life!)

The only complaint I have is that it ended as it did. GIVE ME MORE.

Chiara Malaspina di Orezzoli

Se per la prima metà ho pensato che non fosse poi così male, a partire dalla seconda parte ha fatto un salto di qualità notevole -almeno per quanto mi riguarda. Pensavo di aver letto abbastanza romanzi legati ai tempi non "lineari", che si parli di Wells, King o una più "semplice" Niffenegger, ma mi sono ampiamente ricreduta: l'ho apprezzato moltissimo e, strano a dirsi, ho amato profondamente il protagonista.

Quattro stelline e mezzo, nell'enfasi.

Amanda Valentin

The main problem I had with this book was that it was choppy...it was constantly flipping from life to life and it was difficult to follow. Also it took over 200 pages for the main plot line to speed up and become remotely interesting...I was highly disappointed in this book because it was a cool idea but it just was not executed well. Also it was highly predictable and the supporting characters were not well developed...

Maria

не без клюквы, но темп держит. прочитала, по сути, пока торчала в аэропорту и за время полета. в советской части понравилось, как герой в 50-х годах приезжает в отдаленный северный поселок и там заходит в БАР, где ему кладут миску риса с бобами и наливают какой-то алкоголь, видимо самогон. спросила у мамы, был ли у них в деревне бар в её детстве. мама подумала и сказала, что была СТОЛОВАЯ, где по пятницам вечером и субботам, когда все шли из бани, наливали пива на разлив

но такого сценария клэр норт, думаю, не могла себе представить

Sunyi Dean

I am so fucking angry over how good this book is. I might have to go void-scream into an abyss because of its incredible scope and ambition, of the depth and the beauty of its writing, of the sheer ridiculous scope of this story. 

I am RAGING with incredulous angry admiration and not even going to attempt a "proper" review--because I can't. I don't understand how it was written. I don't understand how it was put together. I can't conceive of such a concept being executed in such a way and, basically, the story utterly surpasses my ability to deconstruct.

Olivera Mitić

2.5 stars I guess? 

Huh... I wanted to love this, and, in fact, I went into it thinking I would end up with a 5 star book, but what it turned out to be was rather underwhelming.

One of the two main reasons for my dislike of this book is that, once I tried to wrap my mind around the concept Claire North created for this story, all I could see were plot holes and inconsistencies. Perhaps it was my fault, I might not have paid enough attention and the things that didn't make sense to me were actually explained at one point or another, but I just found it hard to ignore my didbelief of the whole thing. 

Or, as Deadpool would phrase it: 

 

The second problem I had with this book was the lack of personality Harry had. So many lives, and yet he lives as a paper cut out of a person. Most of the time he was annoying, and when he wasn't, he was boring. There was so much that could have been done with a character who gets to live so many lives, but it seems like the author chose not to explore it too much.

Also, I suppose I took one more star off because of how late the actual plot appeared in the story. While the mere beginning was interesting, recounting random parts of Harry's life for multiple chapters at a time was tedious to get through. Once the plot was introduced, tho, it turned out to be rather meak. I expected so much more out of it. 

Summa summarum, I'd say I'm disappointed.

Mary Graham

Almost the whole time I was reading this book I was figuring I was going to give this a 3.5 or 3 star rating, but it was those last few pages that bumped it up to 4 stars for me.

Anastaciya

Good. Confusing at times, but things fall into place.

Elodia

Jiayi

Samantha Ridge

I know that some people love this book, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped to.

Gaurav Verma &
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Gaurav Verma &The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Gaurav Verma &
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North