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rachbake's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
readravereview's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
megamind169's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Gun violence and Murder
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
lynnmarier99's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
crystalmethany's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Grief and Murder
blackcoffee_andgoodbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
littlelort's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, and Murder
derek_hudgin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
The start was a little rough and cliched, but the book really picked up in the middle!
I was surprised how quickly the big question of “how” the false memory epidemic was explained, but loved the shift the book had from the mystery to the bigger implications of Helena’s creation.
However, I felt like Crouch wrote himself to the corner and HATED the ending. Part 5 was really repetitive in its telling of Barry/Helena’s attempts to fix everything, and the ultimate fix contradicted Crouch’s pre-established rules without explaining why or how. That was disappointing. The middle 200/230 pages were great though.
I was surprised how quickly the big question of “how” the false memory epidemic was explained, but loved the shift the book had from the mystery to the bigger implications of Helena’s creation.
However, I felt like Crouch wrote himself to the corner and HATED the ending. Part 5 was really repetitive in its telling of Barry/Helena’s attempts to fix everything, and the ultimate fix contradicted Crouch’s pre-established rules without explaining why or how. That was disappointing. The middle 200/230 pages were great though.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicide, Violence, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
keen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Crouch reached in my chest, grabbed my heart, played with it, and tore it out of me. I thank him for the experience.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
mspecht's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicide, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Murder