A review by nerfie
Upgrade by Blake Crouch

adventurous informative 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? It's complicated

3.75

It truly hurts me to give a Blake Crouch anything less than a four, but realistically, this is somewhere around a 3.75 or 3.5.

Having read Recursion and Dark Matter and devoured both, I had high hopes for this book. Still regardless of how I didn't love it, I did end up devouring it similarly to the previous two (in two days). 

The book is highly scientific, and because of a smaller scope, it's able to go into a lot of detail about how that science works. While it was fascinating, I found a lot of the book explanatory as to how the DNA things all worked. I was looking for more emotional hits than just action-based hits, but this book just isn't that.

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with Upgrade, and I would still recommend it, regardless of the reasons I didn't jump for joy over it. Crouch's writing is backed by science and the occasional line that will knock you off your feet. The only issue is that I was looking for more of those moments, but only had a few.

For new readers, if you're looking for a book that will keep your heart rate high, you've come to the right place. Old readers of Crouch may be missing some emotional impact, but will still enjoy the crazy ride that he always delivers. 

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