Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Upgrade by Blake Crouch

46 reviews

corix's review

adventurous emotional mysterious relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Death, and Blood

jdamae11's review

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The sci-fi was HEAVY on the science for sure (namely biology & genetics) which I haven't read in a minute! I enjoyed the fast-paced action of this and the thriller-esque moments, as well as the questions that are posed about what makes us human. This book for me was a "they had us in the first half I'm not gunna lie", the middle to end could drag at points, ultimately culminating in a conclusion that I think really undermined the real power of the book's main antagonist. Great critique on our climate crisis and what different POVs think should be done to address it as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Torture

mertlikesbooks's review

adventurous fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful informative reflective tense fast-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

3.0

Ah, I loved the premise. Really, really liked the first half of the book. The ideas, the discussions about humanity and different approaches to prevent its extinction, about actions and consequences and about the possibilities and risks of genetic engineering were super intriguing and fresh. 
Sadly, there was more focus on action scenes in the second half of the book, and although I didn't mind all the science dumping in the beginning, it got very annoying the farther the story progressed. 
It was still a fun and fast-paced reading experience (especially with the help of the audiobook), I just kind of stopped caring along the way and yes, I see the irony in this. XD 
So I liked it for what it was, but there was so much more potential to make this an outstanding story. It lacked emotion and the surprises factor other Blake Crouch books have. It was all very predictable. The epilogue finally delivered what I wished for, just too little too late. I would have loved to see a more nuanced discussion about the topics of the epilogue in the second half of the book alongside the action. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Confinement, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Torture, Violence, Car accident, and Kidnapping

missrhinnan's review

adventurous challenging dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Medical content, Murder, and Medical trauma

cady_sass's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

So insanely interesting. Am I a sci fi bitch now? I might be. My only critique is that the ending felt rushed, not to mention super depressing but that’s the nature of dystopian fiction I suppose. I could not put this down and it will definitely be living rent free in my brain for a while 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Death of parent, Gun violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death, Murder, Violence, Abandonment, Car accident, Chronic illness, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Medical trauma

sarahbliss's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death, Violence, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Murder, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

pphector's review against another edition

adventurous informative lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Violence

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Addiction and Body horror

astridhawk's review

adventurous fast-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

3.5

The plot was fast-paced and action-packed, but a lot of the science in the sci fi was cringe or exaggerated to the point it wasn’t believable. A lot of the action felt contrived - characters quickly turned to extreme violence (literally within seconds) and moved from family/long-term friends to trying to kill each other in a blink of an eye. I usually like spec sci fi, but this one was a little too stuck on the first year of Covid as its inspiration.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, Gun violence, and Violence

julianrubisch's review

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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

Moderate: Gun violence and Violence