Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Recursion

This highly cinematic novel definitely has highs and lows. It’s a fascinating exploration of the connection between time and memory. For a long time I was completely riveted by this but I hit a wall at the 75% mark. One of the main issues the book has is that set up takes so much time and the repetition (yes, that’s in the title but still) get old fast. I found myself almost forcing the reading through some bits. But the overall story is pretty amazing! It was definitely worth the read and I had a much better opinion by the end of the book. If you like movies and/or thrillers you will love this book.

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katiefurms's review against another edition

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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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jkar7's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

It took a long time for me to understand what was going on, and even longer to start enjoying it. All said, I'm glad I finished it. It was certainly interesting.

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adaora_ble's review against another edition

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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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