"The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August" First Impressions *No Spoilers*

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

But for real, let's talk about this.

What do you think so far? Have you read the other Claire North on our shelf?

Please be vague about details, particularly as they regard plot, character development, twists, or change in story structure.

Content warnings for those who want them: (view spoiler)[ graphic rape, graphic and repeated torture scenes including teeth and eyes, child abuse, abortion, dire world situations, depictions of war, drug overdose, AIDS, suicide, psychosis/mental breakdown, PTSD. (hide spoiler)]

[DivaDiane]

I just have to listen to Picard: the last best Hope before I start this, but I’m going to use my Audible credit on it.

[Christopher]

Those content warnings sound a bit rough...

[Ryan, Your favourite moderators favourite moderator]

Those content warnings are precisely why I didn't jump right into another Claire North novel last year despite liking this book. It looks so bleak when written out like that and I'm not even sure it's a complete list. :/

Tread lightly book lovers.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

it's not a light read, Christopher

[Mareike]

Oh wow, that is a lot of content warnings.

This is my first Claire North and I found the first two chapters to be intriguing. I'll listen some more now to see how this continues.

[Jennifer]

But, its such a good story. I have read it twice.

[Cheryl]

I don't recall being overly disturbed by the content. I did find it disappointing and do not plan to reread. (fyi, fwiw)

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

oh ouch - I was all excited for this after virtual book club but after seeing those warnings I might skip. Need something lighter than this I think....

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

So...I think it was all well-handled, but you know me, I won't risk your emotional safety!

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

Well it’s still a couple weeks til it comes off hold so I’ll sleep on it for now. As always - appreciate the heads up Allison.

[Mareike]

Is it me, or are the chapters in this very short?

[Jen]

Not just you, the chapters are very short. At least initially.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

She seems to favor shorter chapters, but it works for me I guess. Do you not like that?

[Mareike]

I don't generally dislike short chapters. But with this book it almost feels like I've only just settled into the narrative when there's another chapter break. Though I wonder if I'd notice it less if I was eye-reading. And, now that I'm thinking more about it, there may be a reason for it that I'll safe for the spoiler-thread.

[Ryan, Your favourite moderators favourite moderator]

There was a point in this where I literally said a loud 'No! Stay there damn you!' when a new chapter started.

[Paul]

So far so good. A very intriguing premise. I'm generally a fan of time travel stories but so far this is less time travel more ... I'm not sure yet - that's first impressions for you :)

[Chris]

With the lockdown taking hold here in Thailand this is the first book I’ve had time to actually read. Good God, did I get stuck into it. I started reading it 3 days ago and now I’ve finished it.

I loved the questions it threw up, and I find the writing style easy to get into. This book was absolutely great and I really look forward to the non-spoilers topic to come. Whoever suggested and voted this in, thank you very much.

[J.W.]

Very highly reviewed book. Wow! I was worried I’d not be able to get my hands on a copy easily but the library had an ebook! Time to dive in!

[Anat]

Interesting to see everyone else’s impressions. I tried to read this last year I think? And couldn’t get into it.. the structure really irritated me, I guess I need something more linear for my ocd tendencies, I dunno. Don’t think I’ll try to read it again- maybe when I’m done with my tbr list, but not sure how many lives that would take me :-)

[Gabi]

Changed to this one, because I got frustrated by my current audiobook. This is the first time this year where I actually read both BotMs of this group … ^^'

I like the premise of the novel. It has exactly that jumping around in chapters and TLs that I love and that keeps my mind from wandering off while reading (listening). Good premise.

[Amanda]

Gabi wrote: "Changed to this one, because I got frustrated by my current audiobook. This is the first time this year where I actually read both BotMs of this group … ^^'

I like the premise of the novel. It has..."

Yeah, I'm really enjoying the "out-of-order" aspect of it.

[Mareike]

Amanda wrote: ...
"Yeah, I'm really enjoying the "out-of-order" aspect of it. ."

I do very much like that! I just needed to get over my initial surprise at the short chapters.

[Jen]

I'm around 70% and really enjoying this story, it's different. I haven't read the other Claire North on the group shelf, but I might have to now.

[Anna]

Spoiler thread is open!

[J.W.]

Okay I’m struggling to get into this. I went in not having a clue what to expect and I’m just not into it right now. I’ll try to persevere because I want to try to read all the new group picks this year.

[Christopher]

Skipping this one, I just think it’s a bad fit for me right now, hope the rest of you enjoy it!

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Fair enough, Christopher! Hopefully our May books will work better for you ^^

[Hank, Hankenstein's Modster]

Just getting going on it, about 1/3 of the way through. Because the narrator is the same it feels very much like Touch....almost too much but I am enjoying it.

[Jordan]

Started this today and listened to about a quarter of it. I tend to like non-linear narratives, so that's a plus for this one. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it yet, but I'm at least interested at this point. I guess I'll see where it goes.

[BookTurtle360]

I started reading this a few months ago and stopped at 35% (reading on my kindle). It was definitely more serious than I had expected. Now that we are stuck at home because of Covid-19, I'm going to try to give it another go.

[Meredith]

I have finally started reading (after messing up the ebook download from my library and having to wait out the two week checkout period before I could try again). I’ve read 4 chapters. So far I am intrigued, trying to adjust to the narrative style after just finishing a book where the MC is a lot more direct and blunt about things.

[Dixie]

I found the narrative style off-putting. I gave it 50 pages but that was enough. DNF

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

they can't all be winners! hope the next one is better Dixie!

[MadProfessah]

Curious. I liked it. Bizarrely I read it in the same month i read DAVID Mitchell’s brilliant THE BONE CLOCKS which has a similar premise abd also features an ouroboros.