[Book Review] Harrison Squared
Harrison Squared / Daryl Gregory
Harrison Squared is the YA/Middle Reader prequel to Daryl Gregory's wonderful tale of horror and madness, We Are All Completely Fine. As indicated by the previous sentence, I really enjoyed We Are All Completely Fine. It hinted at horrors survived and explored living with the lingering trauma, and the struggles of seeing the world so clearly everyone thinks you are insane. In this context we meet Harrison Harrison, known to his mother as "Harrison Squared," and known to the world through a fictionalized retelling as 'the boy who kills monsters.'
Don't get me wrong, the events of Harrison Squared definitely count as horrific in their own right, and certainly would be devastating to a teen boy, but they are definitely of a level of existential horror aimed at a young teen reader. After reading We Are All Completely Fine I was left with a feeling of "that's all?"
The characters are a little old by Middle Reader standards, but this would be a great book to give to a Middle Reader who likes horror. Entirely appropriate for teens, but I recall most of my teenage associates making the jump directly to Stephen King, so this might be a little light on the horror for high school horror fans.
A well written book, just one that is hard to push aside expectation for when primed with We Are All Completely Fine.
Advanced Reader Copy copy courtesy of Netgalley; differences may exist between uncorrected galley text and the final edition.
Harrison Squared is the YA/Middle Reader prequel to Daryl Gregory's wonderful tale of horror and madness, We Are All Completely Fine. As indicated by the previous sentence, I really enjoyed We Are All Completely Fine. It hinted at horrors survived and explored living with the lingering trauma, and the struggles of seeing the world so clearly everyone thinks you are insane. In this context we meet Harrison Harrison, known to his mother as "Harrison Squared," and known to the world through a fictionalized retelling as 'the boy who kills monsters.'
Don't get me wrong, the events of Harrison Squared definitely count as horrific in their own right, and certainly would be devastating to a teen boy, but they are definitely of a level of existential horror aimed at a young teen reader. After reading We Are All Completely Fine I was left with a feeling of "that's all?"
The characters are a little old by Middle Reader standards, but this would be a great book to give to a Middle Reader who likes horror. Entirely appropriate for teens, but I recall most of my teenage associates making the jump directly to Stephen King, so this might be a little light on the horror for high school horror fans.
A well written book, just one that is hard to push aside expectation for when primed with We Are All Completely Fine.
Advanced Reader Copy copy courtesy of Netgalley; differences may exist between uncorrected galley text and the final edition.
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