What an incredible book! I loved every minute of it and didn’t want it to end. The initial concept might feel a bit done to death, but this take on the ‘Groundhog Day’ concept was so much bigger, so much bolder and so much better than any other that I’ve come across before.

The main character, Harry August, discovers to his horror and surprise, that when he dies he not only comes back to life but he does so at the exact same time and place as his original birth. Only from now on, each time he dies and is reborn he retains all of the knowledge and memories of his previous lives. This concept allows the full story to play out over many (the first 15) lifetimes, which lends a score and breadth to the events that is beyond comprehension.

Harry learns that there are others like him and a secretive club that supports the rebirth process of their kind. But as is always the case, there is someone who wants to use their unusual gift for nefarious means. And so begins one of the longest and most complicated relationships I think I have ever read about.

I absolutely loved the ambition of this book, the scale is epic yet at the same time the characters and their interactions are deeply personal and touching. The themes are sometime dark and troubling and there is real peril for our protagonist despite his tendency to respawn (I won’t spoil that part for you!).

Thoroughly loved it, totally recommend and can’t wait to read more by Claire North.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August