Reviews

Upgrade by Blake Crouch

ylshelflove's review against another edition

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hopeful tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

"π‘©π’†π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’”π’Žπ’‚π’“π’• 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 π’Žπ’‚π’Œπ’† 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 π’Šπ’π’‡π’‚π’π’π’Šπ’ƒπ’π’†. 𝑰𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 π’Žπ’‚π’Œπ’†π’” π’•π’‰π’†π’Ž π’Žπ’π’“π’† π’…π’‚π’π’ˆπ’†π’“π’π’–π’”.” 

Good: 
  • Logan and Kara in the woods when they start to realize that they hold mutually exclusive opinions on how to deal with their inheritance.

Bad:
 
  • Switching Logan and Kara’s positions would make a better book.
  • Second half of the book reads like an action film: Lots of running and fighting and not a lot of critical thinking. Fun but unsatisfying.
  • The β€œemotion vs logic” false dichotomy πŸ₯΄ Upgrade provides no fresh take or even any nuance
  • Logan is inspired by a group of have-nots sharing what little they have with each other, and the vibes were giving Christian missionaries venturing forth from their little privileged bubbles and going all the way across the world to see poverty for the first time in their lives.
  • Tinges of cli-fi, but nothing would change if the book were set in the present day. If an author sets their book in a post-climate world, I want to see the devastation and adaptation that reflects the way society has or hasn’t fought against climate change.
  • A gov. agent was surprised that Logan knew the concept of the Fibonacci sequence. Doesn’t everyone? This is basic pattern recognition!
  • The biggest offense are Logan’s final words and actions, which are depicted positively and thus I assume condoned to some degree by Crouch himself. I disagree with this most vehemently. It strips individual responsibility from humanity to do better and to be better. It’s like using the β€œsystemic” part of racism to say β€œmy biases exist because of the society I was born in, so it’s not my fault and it’s not my problem to fix”

A caveat to this review is that while Crouch does a decent job including genetic concepts and some basic terminology, molecular genetics is my day job and it turns out that I’m too familiar with the science to be able to accept the fiction of it.
 
A disappointment from Crouch, but I’m still willing to give his next book a shot.
 

lindseyannd's review against another edition

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3.0

Enjoyed the beginning and end. Struggled through the middle.

clario6372's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

ashernessers's review against another edition

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3.0

I'd prefer to give it a 3.5 or 3.75. I enjoyed it a lot but it was more of an action book than a sci-fi imo. And the DNA science aspect of it was over explained in some areas and under explained in others - this maybe annoyed me more because I am a scientist, might not bother a lay reader. I don't regret reading it though. It was certainly fast paced and fun!

princess_buttercup's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

lynmia's review against another edition

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reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

ewreath's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

julia11's review against another edition

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5.0

I absolutely loved this book. This is my third Blake Crouch book and he just never ceases to amaze me. This was such an interesting concept and so well done. An easy 5 star from me. Even if you’re not into science fiction, I think you could still easily be sucked into this one!

thealexarachelle's review against another edition

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5.0

I enjoyed this read. It was fun and scary if you think too hard about it. But I loved the message and hope we can all get there one day. I know I’m being vague lol. It was a journey for sure.

sara_gustaf's review against another edition

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slow-paced

2.0

The topic was interesting, but the was it was presented was a little underwhelming. Other books by this author were much more entertaining.