Reviews tagging 'War'

Recursion by Blake Crouch

64 reviews

kristinj1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I feel like this book just chased the idea even further than upgrade did, by the same author. They had a idea, and they kept impacting it and impacting it and impacting it. They went through truly every possible thing that could happen as a result of this new information. And it was terrifying. I feel like I was pretty connected to the main character, barry. Especially because he was a parent and had experienced the death of his child. And a divorce. The book was terrifying and fascinating. And also maybe totally expected, given that I feel like this technology would absolutely be used by governments to get ahead.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Cursing, Suicide, Gun violence, Violence, Child death, Dementia, War, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, and Car accident

Minor: Dementia

chloebaboey's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, War, Gun violence, Murder, Car accident, Blood, Suicide, Violence, Child death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

Minor: Drug use

norcalchris's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Really classic sci-fi. I hate sci-fi. 

Tried to expand my reading horizons since it was my book club’s pick of the month. 

Some interesting meditations on memory and humanity especially at the beginning. 

Absurdly lengthy and depressing ending. I need to go watch a comedy after finishing this. 

I’m sure Tom Cruise will star in the film version. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Suicide, and Violence

isacarvalho91's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Death, War, Dementia, Suicide, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

evelynritzi's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This is one of those books where you just need to accept that it will be a bit confusing. Keep pushing through because you don’t need to understand everything completely to follow the plot and it will get a bit repetitive anyway.  That said, I really enjoyed this one! I could see this being a movie or show for sure. Like Dark Matter, this is a love story wrapped in a sci-fi novel! 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Suicide, and War

gondorgirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Grief, Violence, Genocide, Blood, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Gun violence, War, Death, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Alcohol, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent

casualk's review against another edition

emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

Moderate: Grief and Child death

Minor: Suicide attempt, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

wanderinglynn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

The time present of things past is memory; the time present of things present is direct experience; the time present of things future is expectation.

St. Augustine

This trippy story is like being in an episode of the Twilight Zone! While I was initially hesitant because the synopsis didn't quite engage me, I picked it up because it was recommended to me and was one of my 12 months, 12 books, 12 friends challenge. So I started the book and surprisingly, found myself quickly getting lost in the story. I couldn't put it down. What a wild ride!

Broken into 5 books, the story flips between Helena's and Barry's POVs, between different times and alternative timelines. I listened to the audiobook and Jon Lindstrom and Abby Craden did a wonderful job narrating the dual POVs.

This book is a crazy blend of science fiction and thriller with a slice of romance. Since I was listening to the audiobook and was doing other things, I would think the story was about to conclude and BAM! Another twist. Another angle. Right up until the end, I was hooked. I wasn't sure Crouch was going to be able to pull it off, but he did. It made me question everything and now I want to go back and reread all the philosophy books I read in college.

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.

Soren Kierkegaard

This was my first Blake Crouch book but it won't be my last!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, War, and Injury/Injury detail

sambolin's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Recursion is such an interesting premise- when armed with technology that challenges and changes the very fabric of society, how do we as humans react and how far are we willing to go to prevent the mistakes we’ve made. While this technology might never be a reality, it’s a great allegory of our current landscape and how we need to balance advancement and prevention. The characters are engaging and keep you turning pages. It is heavy book- with both themes and the writing. Some passages took a couple rereads to take in the full effect. Overall a super interesting book that challenges the reader. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Violence, War, Grief, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Car accident, Child death, Suicide, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, and Gun violence

jj_tj's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Violence, Death, Death of parent, and Child death

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, War, and Car accident