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turtlebread's Reviews (47)
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Got maybe 10 pages in. Couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to accept the premise. The idea of the virus described is so out there. And the idea that people would turn to cannibalism to get their protein if they couldn't eat meat is soooo wild. Like, beans exist. I just couldn't with that premise.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A pretty decent fun read. The prose was not my favorite but it got the job done. Very much a light horror brain candy book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Just a very weird, touching, fascinating book.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
slow-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
Fine at times, boring at others. Totally bogged down. The whole trilogy could have been one book. This entry continues the piss poor writing of women as well. There's some neat vampire story scattered across three books of languorously overly detailed drama. This book is the worst offender of the three.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Similar to The Strain, there's a lot to like but also some to dislike. The concept is interesting, some of the characters are very compelling. However, the book feels way wordier than it needs to and the writing of the now single female character is terrible.
informative
slow-paced
Not a bad book, just not for me. I wasn't taken with the writing style and the subject matter is both too expansive and too shallow for my liking. These are just my personal hangups though. It just wasn't for me.
I read and absolutely loved Blake Crouch's other novels, Dark Matter and Recursion. Upgrade, however, was a challenge. Despite the fact that his other books involve jumping through space and time , the events of Upgrade felt so over-the-top fantastical to me. The idea that a change in genome would very quickly cause magical muscle growth, reflexes, and cognitive abilities with no practice to improve these aspects really pushed my suspension of disbelief. However, the thing that pushed this into a DNF for me is the fact that the writing is simultaneously frustrating and boring. Logan is presented as this flawless dude and it's annoying to read about characters like that. And the detail included is strangely uninteresting to me. Logan's inner monologue is full of lists, pretentious language, and nearly constant unnecessary judgment. Just...ugh. Also this book commits the sin of creating an antagonist who wants to change the world for the better but also has comically evil sensibilities. It's very season 8 GoT or like, half of all MCU movies. Lastly, because of the antagonist and the overarching plot of the book, it comes off as almost anti-science. I'm certain this wasn't there intention but still. All in all, very disappointing for me considering how much I love Dark Matter and Recursion.