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kabrahams's review against another edition
Graphic: Grief and Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Child death
aerlevsedi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Car accident and Terminal illness
nipsnpiss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Minor: War, Mental illness, Dementia, and Death of parent
markandcover's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Suicide, Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Mental illness, and Mass/school shootings
littlelort's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Child death, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Murder, Mental illness, and Mass/school shootings
keen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is not a story I would ordinarily read. What hooked me in was the inclusion of memories and reality twisting in on itself, which was all I knew of. It took me a while to realize I was reading about tropes I generally disliked. Afterward, I found I didn't care. The story was that good. Saying what those tropes are will spoil the book, however.
When I finished Recursion, I couldn't believe it was only 327-pages long. There are arcs in the book, going from Book One to Book Five, with breaks in between each arc. The method of splitting up chapters was annoying when I needed to refer to previous chapters, but only because Kindle didn't list the sub-chapters. Aside that, it made total sense to me as I read. I could swear I read a series of books, not just one. 327 pages didn't seem nearly enough time to get me this attached to the characters while throwing so much information to me. I'm surprised I even managed to understand such complicated information. Blake Crouch was very good at showing the complexity of the science in fiction, while making it sound believable and understandable to a layman. I truly felt how much research and care he put into the story.
Another compliment to his writing: he is amazing at describing senses and emotions, something necessary to make the reader believe the story. His descriptions of the five senses surprised me by noting experiences I don't even notice in my own life. I wouldn't even think to include it in my writings. When he described grief, it made me want to cry. When he described happiness, my heart ached. I'm a fan of philosophy, and there's tons of it here. The end had me reflecting on what I value in life, how I treat my relationships, and my view of the world overall. Plenty of conversational topics for my therapist, haha.
Part of me did find myself frustrated by the end, believing the main characters had made strange and annoying decisions... until I realized that, if put in their position, my grasp on logic would have long since been shattered. If anything, they stayed extremely intelligent and resilient considering the situation they've been through and were in.
By the way, the audiobook is amazing. Great narrators who breathed extra life into already lively characters.
Spoiler warning for small details I've noticed:
"Recursive" was used about two times in the book, iirc. I'm very surprised that the snake eating its tail, or the ouroboros, was not mentioned at all. If it was, I missed it. I actually thought the front of the book was an ouroboros until I realized it was an infinite figure 8 with a maze within.
Also, I'm not sure if this was intentional, but I liked that Helena's middle name is Gray. Just like dead memories.
Graphic: Body horror, Car accident, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, and Mental illness
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault