Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

Recursion by Blake Crouch

10 reviews

lizcallahan's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I loved this book, but I did have some issues with pacing and the introduction of the relationship between Barry and Helena. I think the DARPA but provided some interesting philosophy bits, but otherwise could have been cut. Overall, a very fun read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Child death

ursiform's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Dementia, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Suicide attempt, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Death of parent, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Car accident

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

kathywoo10's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Dementia, Death, Gun violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Suicide, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Confinement

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

libby_herz's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Car accident, Child death, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Addiction, Alcohol, and Death

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

icieri's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Child death, Chronic illness, Dementia, War, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Murder, Suicide, Car accident, and Mental illness

katiefurms's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

such an incredible and thought provoking read. i really loved it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, War, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcoholism, Body horror, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Car accident, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Gore, Murder, and Suicide attempt

adaora_ble's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

It's been a while since I read some sci-fi so this was a nice way to jump back into it!

I really liked how they built up the mystery and the internal logic of the universe of what exactly was going on, despite the blurb I wasn't really certain what I was getting myself into so it was nice to learn alongside the characters and get the same life plot twists that they do when they're thrown into crazy situations.

I really liked the characters, I was a bit worried I wouldn't like Detective Barry Sutton because he's a divorced dad with a dead daughter and he just felt like every action guy ever + he also reminded me of another detective from a book that ended up sucking but he really grew on me, he became my favourite character from the book although it terms of likeable characters there wasn't a huge number to chose from. The other main character Helena is heartbreaking because she only ever tried to do good and everyone else kept getting in the way of that.
The side characters felt very real and the thriller elements felt just sinister enough to leave you guessing what was going on. I definitely recommend this book if you like detective stories, sci-fi or just a two people going through life and learning from their mistakes.

There's a definitive shift in the trajectory of the plot that was slightly jarring because it felt very much like Part 1 and Part 2 but they tie together in the end by being a story of Barry's character development and him understanding his own role in his interpersonal relationships. It was very much his second chance at the life that he wanted. The last 3rd of the book was way more hardcore than the rest of it, more grisly but it was necessary for the story and to drive home how hard everyone was trying to work to a good ending.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Child death, Death, Dementia, Gaslighting, Mass/school shootings, Abandonment, Grief, Medical trauma, Addiction, Genocide, Kidnapping, Self harm, Violence, Alcohol, Body horror, Death of parent, Drug use, War, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship

hgunsch's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Child death, Confinement, Death, Dementia, Suicide attempt, and Stalking

Minor: Stalking, Rape, Domestic abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Mass/school shootings, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, and Medical trauma