Month: May 2025

Book Review: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

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The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
by Claire North
read by Peter Kenny

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Speculative fiction

When a little girl visits Harry August on his deathbed and tells him that the world is ending, he takes the message with him to the grave…and then into his next life. Harry is one of a small number of people who live their lives over and over again—dying only to be born again in the same place and time as their previous lives. Harry never sees the future, but the dire message has been passed back from the future, and now it’s up to Harry to do something about it.

This book is going to be difficult to review. I’ll say up front that I enjoyed it, even while being a little uncertain about what was going on for much of it. Now I’ll go into more detail about my journey with this book: My husband got the audiobook for me a while back, thinking it was something that would interest me, but it took me a while to get to it, mostly because the synopsis is fairly vague and didn’t grab my attention more than the general question of how the whole “multiple lives” thing works. When I started listening to it recently, I appreciated that the author starts with a decent hook, that being the little girl telling Harry on his deathbed that the world is ending, the end is coming faster, and that it’s up to him to do something. But then it hits the brakes from there to give us Harry’s backstory, and the pace is quite slow for a while. The thing is though…I don’t really remember ever being bored. And I think that’s because the author intersperses information about some of Harry’s later lives, even while talking about his first life, which is the one before he found out that he was going to go on to live multiple lives, and thus the “boring” one.

I labeled this novel as speculative fiction, and I think that actually fits more than one way. It’s certainly some kind of fantasy or sci-fi that sets up the world in which some people live their lives over and over again. But the plot itself is basically full of speculation about how a person might spend their time if they did live their life over and over again. For the longest time, I wasn’t really sure what the main plot or conflict was going to turn out to be, but even as I waited for it to develop, I didn’t mind the meandering. Then when it showed up, I was completely hooked for the rest of the book. Though even then, it slowed down a bit after that. Even then, the author would still pause the narrative for a moment to jump to a different time in Harry’s timeline—sometimes that would feel a little jarring, but most of the time, I appreciated the connection the author was making. The ending was completely satisfying, except I was left with just one question, which would be a spoiler to include. (If you’re curious enough to know what my question is, check out my review on Goodreads, where I could put it behind a spoiler tag.)

I worry that my review might be a little confusing, but it’s probably fitting, considering the nature of this book. Overall, I will just say that I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I should as I listened. My main complaint is the major slow-downs along the way here and there, plus there was some unnecessary political commentary. The narrator, Peter Kenny, is pretty amazing and a great choice for this book, considering that Harry’s lives take him all over the world, so there are quite a few different accents incorporated. This is the kind of book that I fully intend to listen to again some time, because knowing more about Harry’s situation and the worldbuilding, I’ll probably catch more in the details early on. Since it’s difficult to explain what the book is about and what kind of genre(s) it fits into, it’s difficult to know who to recommend it to. I will say, though, that it reminded me a bit of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, at least in the mechanics of the worldbuilding, so there would probably be a crossover in fans there. Outside of that, if you have any interest in the book after reading my review (or before reading it), I do recommend it.

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Book Review Podcast Episode 20

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In episode 20, we review The Unbreakable Code, book 2 in the Book Scavenger series by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman and North! Or Be Eaten, book 2 in the Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson. Also, Kristi reviews The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and Lena reviews The Seat Beside Me by Nancy Moser, both originally reviewed by the opposite person in episode #2.

In case it wasn’t already clear that we’re not professionals, this podcast was recorded in segments at different times, and the fact that we’ve had to change microphone set-ups throughout the months we’ve done the podcast is pretty obvious in this update episode.

Also available on Spotify:

Book Review: The ABC Murders

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The ABC Murders
Hercule Poirot #13
by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

The story of the magnanimous serial killer was one of the better Poirot novels I’ve read so far. Christie pulled me in and had me looking exactly where she wanted me looking, which was in the wrong direction. I did start to realize my mistake before the turn came in the book, and I was pretty excited to realize there was more going on. I didn’t guess the culprit or the motives behind the murders, though—my theories were pretty far off—but I still had a lot of fun coming up with them and then learning how wrong I was. It was also nice to see Hastings back. Though several of the Poirot books have been less enjoyable for me, gems like this make my quest to keep listening worthwhile.

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Book Review: The Navigator

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The Navigator
Lorien Legacies: The Lost Files #11
by Pittacus Lore

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: YA sci-fi

Spoiler notice: The following review may contain spoilers for the main series, starting with I Am Number Four.

Decades before the main series begins, when the Mogodorian attack begins on Lorien, Lexa is conscripted to fly an old-fashioned space ship in an attempt to escape. Once on Earth, she and her companions must try to track down the other Loric that made it off the planet, but more than that, they have to survive in this alien world.

I don’t remember having any particular attachment to Lexa when reading the main series or wondering about her backstory, but this was still an interesting read. I appreciated seeing Lorien before and during the invasion and also getting an idea of the culture and political climate from the perspective of someone who actually lived there. I enjoyed this novella a little more than the previous, which could be due in part to Sarah (my least favorite of the major characters from the main series) not being involved at all. For those who have read and enjoyed the main series and want to revisit the world, you definitely consider reading this as well.

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Book Review: Face of Death

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Face of Death
by Blake Pierce

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Crime drama

Zoe Prime is an FBI agent with the ability to see everything in numbers, measurements, patterns, etc. She does her best to keep this side of her hidden from co-workers, even while using it to solve crimes. But when a series of murders seems to have no pattern, Zoe is worried she won’t be able to stop the killer before he completes his spree.

The mystery aspect of this book was decent overall. Murders are shown from the POV of the soon-to-be-dead, which is an interesting style choice. It lends itself to some fairly disturbing scenes, when the attack occurs and the victim becomes aware of his/her impending death. The killer also has some POV scenes, which I felt may have taken away some of the suspense of the mystery. Because in the end, Zoe’s work to solve the crime ends up feeling like a rehashing of what we already know from the killer’s POV. And I think I would have liked a little more explanation as to the motives in the end.

Zoe understandably has some major social shortcomings, which I can relate to, though hers take a different shape than mine. What bothered me the most was the fact that she felt she had to hide her ability, which was really an incredible boon for her job. I think the author attempted to make sense of that by giving her some trauma about her ability from her childhood, but even in that, I was annoyed, because it was an unnecessary poke at Christianity. Zoe’s mom claimed Zoe’s abilities were from the devil. Zoe’s mom was “strictly religious, and that meant intolerant.” A very tolerant statement on the author’s part… And frankly, just not great writing, because it’s a weak argument for why Zoe needs to hide her investigatively helpful abilities from her colleagues and superiors.

In the end, this book wasn’t for me on multiple fronts. It wasn’t a bad book, and for a book that is either self-published or at least published with a super small press, it’s decently edited. It could have been paced better, but it’s clear from other reviews that this book (and the following series) has an audience that I’m just not part of. If it sounds like something you’d be interested in, please check out other reviews at the link below.

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Book Review: Night Swimming

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Night Swimming
by Aaron Starmer

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: YA fantasy romance

After graduating high school in 1994, Sarah and Trevor decide to swim every pool in their small town, without permission, in an effort to make the last summer before they move on with their lives last as long as they can. Then they hear about a natural pool in the woods that they know they need to check out. And what they discover there might just turn their dream of making the summer last into a reality.

The premise of this book was fairly vague but intriguing, so at only around 240 pages, I decided to give it a try. The book is fairly straight-forward for a while—Trevor likes Sarah, but she has an on-again-off-again boyfriend and keeps him at arm’s length. He goes along with her plan to swim all of the pools as a way of spending time with her, though he understandably begins to get annoyed with her flirtation, since she’s not ready to let go of her boyfriend yet. Then when they get to the mysterious pool in the woods, the story takes a turn. It becomes more of an introspection on life, romance, youth, and moving on. It’s a little slow overall, a little bizarre, and has an odd, yet not unsatisfying, ending. It’s interesting, but I don’t really feel like it added a lot of value to my life, especially since there’s a fair amount of emphasis on alcohol, drugs, and sex as normal parts of life for teenagers (even in the 90s). I am not sure what kind of reader to recommend this to, so I’d just say that if the premise sounds interesting to you, by all means check it out.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: The Inheritance Games

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The Inheritance Games
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

My rating: 2.5 / 5
Genre: YA mystery, romance

When Avery Grambs finds out she’s been named in the will of a recently deceased billionaire, it turns her world upside-down, especially considering that she’s been practically living out of her car. On top of that, in order to be eligible to inherit, she has to live in Tobias Hawthorne’s massive estate for a year. The only problem is that the rest of his family still lives there, and for the most part, they aren’t happy with this young usurper. It doesn’t help that no one knows why the fortune was left to Avery at all. But one of Hawthorne’s grandsons explains his grandfather’s love of puzzles and suspects that Avery is just another puzzle to solve…if only she can survive long enough.

I went into this book expecting to be bothered by the teenage drama. I liked the idea of the mysterious inheritance and puzzles and such, but I’d read enough reviews to decide that it would probably be too angsty for me. Then my daughter got it for Christmas and read it and loved it, so…well, now I had to at least give it a try. And yeah, I got about what I expected. The story isn’t bad, but it’s so bogged down by the “romance”/love triangle. Every time Avery is in a room with one of the two middle brothers, she practically quivers. There is no chemistry or romance, really, just…way too much physical attention and tension for my preference. So since the actual story of why Tobias Hawthorne left everything to Avery takes a backseat to an aspect I didn’t like at all, it’s understandable that I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I could have.

Then the resolution to the mystery was incredibly lackluster—one might even say non-existent—so that detracted from my enjoyment even more. I think that some of the issue is that I thought the answer to why Avery was given the entire Hawthorne estate was the story goal for this book, but really, it turned out to be discovering who is behind some attempts on Avery’s life. But that means that either the set-up isn’t done very well, or I just didn’t follow along very well. I plan to keep reading the series, not so much because Barnes hooked me with this first book but because my daughter loves the entire series and says some of what I didn’t like about this one gets better later. For now though, it’s difficult for me to recommend this book to anyone, but I do think I might have liked it more if I’d read it as a teenager. And if you read my review and don’t feel that what bothered me would bother you and you’re interested in the story, you might consider trying it out yourself.

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Book Review: When Tides Turn

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When Tides Turn
Waves of Freedom #3
written by Sarah Sundin

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Historical Christian romance, mystery

Tired of only being used as a saleswoman in her job and wanting to be useful to the war effort, Tess Beaumont joins the newly established Navy WAVES program for women. She knows her tendency to be outgoing and peppy makes her look shallow to someone like Lt. Dan Avery, a deeply serious man who hopes to make admiral someday. Unfortunately, he’s been taken off the sea and assigned to a position that he doesn’t feel is as helpful to the Navy or to his own career advancement. As both Tess and Dan struggle to make themselves more useful, they also struggle to not be distracted by each other.

I’d put this book somewhere between the first (3 stars) and the 2nd (4.5 stars) in the series. Tess is a fun, energetic character, though difficult for me to identify with, since she’s far more outgoing than I am. I appreciated her desire to be known as more than just a pretty face (though again, I can’t identify, because that’s not an issue I’ve ever had) and actually be useful. Dan drove me crazy for a while with his strict workaholic ways, but I think that just made his character’s progression in the book that much more satisfying to me. I liked the emphasis on rest and integrity in his arc.

The mystery in this book was less engaging than the mysteries in both of the previous books. I think that was at least partly because it’s really just Tess alone working it out. Dan helps a little when he’s on land, but I like the way the mystery stretched across both MC’s stories in the previous book, and that didn’t happen here at all. In fact, after a while, I tended to start skimming during the scenes when Dan was at sea. I struggled to understand or frankly care about the work being done to help the Allies be able to find and combat German subs–not that that wasn’t super important work during WWII, but I’ve known Sundin to make history much more interesting in the past than this book did. That’s probably just personal preference though.

Overall, this is not my favorite of Sundin’s books or series. Still, I think many others wouldn’t be as bothered by those things that detracted from the book for me, so I do recommend it for fans of Christian romance, especially those set during WWII.

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