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bluejayreads's review against another edition
3.0
This book was recommended to me, and I generally attempt to read books recommended to me. This wasn’t my first foray into this author’s work, either. I’d read his book Recursion a while back and found it a sci-fi kind of weird that isn’t necessarily my jam, but that was well-written and had some interesting ideas. So I figured this probably wouldn’t be bad.
And I was correct. Upgrade wasn’t bad. The protagonist may not have had very many interesting characteristics beyond being the protagonist, but the concept was interesting and Blake Crouch is a competent writer. The action moved along, the story was largely well-paced, and it kept me engaged the whole way through. Nothing spectacular, sure, but perfectly readable.
However. As you might have guessed by the tone here, I do have some criticisms. Again, Blake’s particular brand of sci-fi weird isn’t quite up my alley, so some of this could definitely be me. But some of it is I just take issue with some of the fundamental concepts of the book itself.
Upgrade is ambitious in scope and interesting in concept. In a world where genetic modification is very possible (but also very illegal), an anti-gene-modification enforcement agent finds his genes being modified against his will, making him almost superhuman. Now he has to tackle questions like “why did this happen?” and “would the world be better if it happened to everybody?” But as interesting and potentially thematic as this idea could be, the execution is a little wacky. Some parts are frighteningly realistic, others are laughably not, and the discordant combination made the whole thing feel a bit silly. It would have made a perfectly serviceable mindless action movie, but the attempt at thematic depth just emphasized how ridiculous some parts of it were.
I spent a lot of time trying to put my finger on my actual problem with this book. I had notes about how Logan Ramsey has big “r/iamverysmart” vibes, and whether or not killing the same character twice was too much, and how cruel Logan’s mother was and how I couldn’t believe that neither of her children realized how much they were like her. But then I was reminded of the word “eugenics” and realized my issue. Without giving away too many spoilers, the arguable antagonist of the first half of the book thinks climate change would be solved if people were only better in a specific way and wants to accomplish that with mass gene modification. It really feels like what a eugenics movement would look like in a world where you didn’t necessarily have to breed better traits into people because you could just modify people’s genes instead. But our protagonist seemed pretty against that whole idea, so I wasn’t too bothered. Up until the end, when (minor spoiler alert) he decided his problem wasn’t so much the eugenics-style idea, just which traits should be changed. It left a really bad taste in my mouth.
It’s very possible that at least some of my complaints are because while I find these kinds of stories fine, they’re not the type of thing I generally really love. And on the whole, Upgrade was fine. I didn’t love it, I think its themes were handled poorly, and I really didn’t love some of the vibes it gives off. But it was readable. I found it interesting enough to finish. If it were made into an action movie, I think it would work pretty well. I just don’t particularly recommend it as it is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic and Terminal illness
Minor: Suicide
ababytapir's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Abandonment, Dementia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Body horror, Medical content, and Suicide
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, War, and Terminal illness
lindsayerin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, and Murder
Moderate: Torture, Blood, and Medical content
strawberrypinch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Drug use, and Gun violence
Minor: Drug abuse, Alcohol, Dementia, Terminal illness, Blood, Cannibalism, Gore, Car accident, Torture, and Suicide
avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I loved this book. The ending was perfect! You don't get a perfect ending with everything told to you. It doesn't end happily ever after, but that's what I love about Blake Crouch's books! I would have liked a bit more about his wife, Ava, Nadine, and Kara, but other than that perfect! It was a wild ride. I laughed, I cried, and I gasped in surprise. It was just a great book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic friendship, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Confinement, and Cursing
Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, and Terminal illness
booknerdxo88's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I have been a fan of Blake Crouch since I read Dark Matter a couple years ago. Upgrade is a fast-paced sci-fi thriller set in the not so distant future focusing on Logan Ramsey, an agent for the Gene Protection Agency, who has been "upgraded" by a virus for mysterious reasons. Which brings up the big question: Is it okay for a select few to play god over other humans in the world because they think they know better?
Science fiction is a genre I don't read too often, so there were some things pertaining to all the science behind the different genomes that went over my head. With that being said, I still enjoyed this book and was taken by surprise by some of the twists and turns.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Suicide
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