After reading Dark Matter I went down the Blake Crouch rabbit hole and have read everything he's published since. Here's what I have learned: you can count that his books will have mind-blowing twists and turns that will keep you riveted throughout.

I have been trying to figure out how to review this book since reading it, but I cannot do it without spoiling some gems that are best discovered on your own. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

What an absolute mind binder! This book took me on a journey from point A to point B in a way I never saw coming. I have never been so invested in a story before. Filled with characters that absolutely jumped from the pages as their dreams, desires, fears and failures consumed me.

”Life is nothing how he expected it would be when he was young and living under the delusion that things could be controlled. Nothing ca be controlled. Only endured.”

I thought I knew what I was getting into when I began this book. Now that I’ve finished it, I wonder how the heck this author did this to me. I definitely feel as if I’ve been tossed out into the universe, reeled back in, only to be tossed out again, repeatedly. While my brain feels like mush and I’m sure I’ll have a book hangover, I already want to jump into this world again and again.

This is a story that will captivate you from the first page to the last. I do not consider this a romance, although there is a wonderful romance that runs through a portion of this story, one that actually made my heart beat faster because of what these characters had to endure. It’s actually one of the most beautiful tales of love I’ve ever read when you break the story down.

I urge you to go in blind with nothing but the blurb to guide you. If sci-fi, super science stories are your thing, you definitely need to look into this one. If sci-fi, super science, and a love that lasts through the ages is your thing, you need to one click immediately.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided by NetGalley and Crown Publishing. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

After a long time writing pulpy thrillers and sci-fi novels in the more independent sides of the publishing world, Blake Crouch jumped into the mainstream a couple of years ago with the knockout novel Dark Matter, which married all of Crouch's gifts at great, twisty plotting with some rich characterization, delivering something that was both thrilling and surprisingly moving, with a plot that constantly surprised but with characters you came to genuinely care about. It was a huge leap forward for Crouch's career and profile, yes, but also for his craft and talent. Dark Matter was a phenomenal read, and one that more than justified the acclaim and popularity it got.

Now comes Recursion, Crouch's follow-up, and if there's any justice in the world, Recursion will keep that streak going. Every bit as good as Dark Matter, if not a bit better, Recursion once again takes a familiar science-fiction trope and runs with it to an incredible degree, taking the book to so many unexpected places that even the most jaded reader will be surprised along the way, but still grounding all of it in characters and emotions that make it more than just a twisty thriller. In other words, it's exactly what he did with Dark Matter...but for my money, he did it even better here.

Crouch knows how to hook you into a story, and he does so ably here, giving us two characters separated by more than a decade and connected in no obvious way. There's Helena, a scientist working on experimental ideas to help treat Alzheimer's patients, and there's Barry, a cop who we meet trying to talk down a woman who's threatening to jump off of a ledge. That woman, we learn, is suffering from a disease called FMS - False Memory Syndrome - which has convinced her of an entire existence that no one else recognizes, and left her unable to function in a world where no one else remembers it.

That's the opening two thrusts of Recursion, and while it doesn't take much to connect Alzheimer's research with something affecting people's memories, Crouch's idea is far stranger and more original than I'd guessed at all. And, even if you start to figure out where he's going, just as he did in Dark Matter, Crouch has a knack for taking his ideas to far wilder, more ambitious places than you'd ever dream, taking his basic idea and showing you every possible implication, every surreal possibility - and then going further still.

What that gives you is every bit of the wild ride you've come to expect from Crouch, as Recursion morphs again and again and again into an entirely different book, even a different genre at times, joyously defying your expectations and giving the plot new directions in which to unfold. By the final section of the book, in which Crouch's seemingly simple story has global ramifications and then some, I was in awe of just how far the book had gone - and just how clearly Crouch had gotten me there, because in the wrong hands, this book could be a mess. There's a lot to this plot, with some big conceits and concepts being tossed around, but Crouch makes it all flow well, conveying us through all of it by keeping the focus on the characters and what they're experiencing, and letting the science and technology only do as much as it has to.

And honestly, it's that character focus that makes Recursion so effective by the end. Just as Dark Matter took a great hook but made it a story of a man looking back at the choices of his life, Recursion starts as a mystery but becomes something far more intimate by the end, using its big ideas to look at questions of regret, of pain in our lives, of the chances we've all wanted to do things over again. It's a classic technique - using the big science-fiction conceit to explore the personal issue - but it's done so well here that by the time the book hits the conclusion, you're almost less interested in the epic story and more in a far more intimate one that doesn't even develop until more than halfway through the book. And how Crouch nails that payoff, linking the two until they're one and the same, absolutely works like gangbusters, culminating in a perfect final line of the book.

I truly loved Recursion a lot; it's imaginative, exciting (I absolutely ripped through it in less than a day), twisty, and in the end, moving, using all of the plot both as a way to tell a great yarn but also to underline the lives of his characters, which, trust me, go in ways you will not expect. It's a remarkable read, and it shows that Dark Matter wasn't a fluke for Crouch - that is, it shows that he's more than capable of taking the great pulpy hooks that made a name for himself and marrying them to character-driven stories that satisfy both as thrillers and as drama. What a wild treat this book is - I can't recommend it enough.

Would you relive certain events in order to optimize life and avoid personal pain? What if it caused others agony? I was confused as shit for most of this book, but it’s intriguing, touching, and kind of terrifying. What began as a scientist’s dream to retrieve memories for her Alzheimer’s-addled mother could potentially destroy the world. Crouch makes you rethink the concept of past, present, and future.

I don’t read much Sci-Fi, but Blake Crouch is the exception (I loved his last book, Dark Matter). He writes incredibly human takes on Sci-Fi that always make you consider a big life question. In Recursion‘s case, the question is “what is memory?” There’s a LOT going on in this novel (I had no idea what was going on at first)…it’s mind-bending and made my brain hurt at times, but in a good way. I wanted to figure out what was going on and I was flying through the pages trying to find out. It actually reads like part Sci-Fi, part save-the-world action thriller. Goodreads reviewers mentioned having trouble keeping track of all the timelines, and though it did take a bit of effort, I thought that part was manageable. It also made me consider what big thing in my life I’d change if I had the opportunity. And, buried in the Acknowledgements, is a little note that in 2012, two MIT neuroscientists “implanted a false memory in the brain of a mouse.” Consider that for a minute, especially after you read this book! If you liked Dark Matter, I think you’ll also like Recursion. And, this one is on my 2019 Summer Reading Guide and would make a great book club pick!

Blake Crouch's latest book Recursion was released on 06/11/19 by Crown Publishing. I was lucky enough to get an early copy from NetGalley in exchange for my review.

New York City cop Barry Sutton is investigating a universal problem the media is calling False Memory Syndrome—it's giving people memories of lifetimes they've never lived.

Scientist Helena Smith has dedicated her life to trying to find a scientific way to preserve memories. Instead of losing them all to something like Alzheimer's, people can store and relive their memories over and over. Barry and Helena eventually collide, discovering that their partnership is the only way to save the world and life as they know it...but can they really do it when it feels like the fabric of life is constantly changing and crumbling around them?

This book was AWESOME. It was mind bending, full of twists and interesting plot turns. It was impossible to stop reading it. Overall I finished this book in about 5-6 hours over the course of a day and a half. I felt glued to my seat the entire time, waiting for the book to "let up." It never did and I am so glad! It felt like a cross between The Matrix and Mission Impossible. This book was heart pounding, stressful, full of activity, and impossible to put down.

This is an easy rating for me. I requested this book as soon as I saw it on NetGalley and waited to read it until closer to the release date. That waiting almost killed me, but I was not disappointed with this book. I'll be adding it to my Book of the Month box next month, simply so I can have the hard copy to sit next to Dark Matter.

Thank you, Mr. Crouch. You have created a truly amazing book with Recursion and I was so happy to be a part of it.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 Stars

Many thanks to NetGalley, Crown Publishing, and Blake Crouch for the opportunity to read and review his latest novel - 5 mind-blowing stars! When our boys were growing up, we watched a lot of Star Trek. But every time there was an episode with time travel, my brain would hurt. Well, this book made my brain hurt but in that so good way that only a Blake Crouch book can do!

Time is a fleeting thing - and memories? How many of our memories are real? This book takes those concepts to a whole new direction. NYPD Detective Barry Sutton is investigating suicides that are resulting from a phenomena called False Memory Syndrome - where victims suddenly remember past experiences from a life that wasn't really theirs. Neuroscientist Helena Smith's mother is suffering from Alzheimer's and she is desperate to create a way for her to keep her memories. But at what cost? Can we go back and change history then?

This is a sci-fi thriller that will make you think and question - what more could you want? Highly recommended!

Recursion was a really wild book. I wasn’t expecting it to live up to the standard that Dark Matter set, but it really was equally as enjoyable!! I was attached to the characters and the writing is incredible. This is not my usual genre of book to read, but the premise was just too good!! I love it when a book is so strong that it just takes you along and then you truly feel empty when you are done reading it.

Recursion is a Si-Fi plus Family book. Family and relationship is well blended into high tech science whereas can be easily very dry and complicated. Like authors previous book, Dark Matter, this one is also a good mixture of femininity and masculinity.

A half way through it felt like the story had come to an end. Then story went on without feeling or dragging, making perfect sense. As all science fictions do there were parts gave question marks on some science facts, but overall it was well researched and has tight end. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. Also I’d like to find a way to translate it in korean.

Recursion is an enjoyable surprise - a story with a remarkable hook that defies expectations or predictions. Crouch seamlessly investigates how our memories make us who we are - while taking the reader on a thrill ride of a detective story. I had a great time reading this book!

I wavered quite awhile on rating Recursion. Blake Crouch is definitely an imaginative writer, and the premise of this book is splendid. I really appreciated Mr. Crouch's creativity when it comes to alternate universes and the vagaries of time. I was all in on this thrill ride for the first 3/4ths of the book, but then what I like best about a Blake Crouch book, the complexity of the plot line, began to overwhelm me. I think that reading this book on kindle was not convenient for me. I wanted to flip back and forth to see if my own memory was failing me, did I actually read what I thought I read? I could have performed that exercise much more easily with a physical book. Is Recursion a worthwhile read? You bet it is, just make sure you have the time to devote, and the ability to solve a complex puzzle!
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

Blake Crouch knows how to write a super-unique, mind-bending thriller that will leave you guessing right to the end. I love the setting, the world-building, the characters.

› November 2018, a NYPD detective named Barry finds himself trying to talk a woman named Ann from killing herself. She has FMS - False Memory Syndrome. One morning she woke up in an apartment, remember this life and her other life as a mom. She's tried to accept her new life for four weeks but can't stop thinking about her son who doesn't exist in this life.

› October 2007, Helena is a neuroscientist trying to get funding to build a special chair that would help people experiencing memory loss, like her mother.

› The story flips back and forth between Barry and Helena, and it is a little slow for the first half, however - when things pick up they REALLY pick up. I was extremely worried for Barry and Helena and had absolutely no idea how the enormous problem was going to be fixed. There are some delightfully disturbing moments that made my heart pound.

› Themes
• Inspired by the Mandela Effect, Crouch has created an extremely creative solution as to why so many of us remember certain events differently. I am one of the people who remember Mandela dying in prison, which of course isn't true in our reality. I've always thought I must have been losing my mind, but now I've come to see there are thousands of people who have the same false memory as I do. Check out the website: https://mandelaeffect.com/

› Likes 😻
• I love that Helena is brilliant and strong, and funny.
• Barry is also strong and funny and smart, yet also emotional and not afraid to show it.
• This story made me think about my own memories, and what would happen if some of my memories changed. It's fascinating to think about how much one moment can change our entire life.
• There is a moving love story, which isn't corny or mushy.
• I feared for the future, doubted that this enormous problem could ever be fixed.

› Final Thoughts
• I loved Dark Matter, but I really really really loved Recursion. WHAT A RIDE. Highly recommend you pick up this mind-bending sci-fi dark thriller ASAP!


Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for the complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

REVIEW: Recursion by Blake Crouch
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 stars
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Heralded by many as the book of the summer, Recursion is all over bookstagram! Blake Crouch is at it again. I loved his huge hit Dark Matter a few years ago, so I was highly anticipating this book. I expected something twisty, mind-bending, confusing, and fast-paced, and in many ways this book delivered.
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I'll say this, though--it took me a while to get through. I think that I didn't care enough about the characters, or maybe I just got fatigued by the narrative, but the end was kind of slow-going for me. It also felt so much like Dark Matter that I felt less surprised by the storyline. Did anyone else feel this way? Just me?
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If you love sci-fi, Inception, Black Mirror, or just plain being confused, you will probably enjoy this book!

WOW! Is all I can say about this book! After reading Dark Matter which is also by Blake Crouch I was looking forward to Recursion . I was blown away!

This novel follows the story of a neuroscientist, Helena Smith, as she searches for a way to create technology to preserve memories. She is driven even more so by watching her mother's battle with memory loss. Helena believes that memory makes reality and preserving memories will give us the chance to help millions of people.

This novel also follows a NYC detective named Barry Sutton. He is looking in to a new phenomenon the media is calling False Memory Syndrome. People with the condition wake up with a lifetime of detailed memories that never occurred. If memory does make reality, then what does this new condition mean to reality?

If you are looking for a science fiction novel that will blow your mind then this is for you. Be prepared to lose hours of sleep, however, as you read via flashlight to find out what happens next. I didn't think Blake Crouch could top Dark Matter but boy was I wrong. Check out Recursion. You will not be disappointed.

Blake Crouch has an incomparably magnetic voice that draws you in. He takes the most mind-bending of sci-fi ideas -- false memories; parallel universes; dreams modern man daren't even imagine, let alone explore -- and he spins a story that reaches the deepest crevasses of the human psyche. He can take the most esoteric pseudoscience and make it so compellingly real and thrilling that anyone can speed through his work.

It's better than any mystery/suspense thriller you'll read in a while. <i>Recursion</i> is no exception.

<i>Recursion</i> follows Detective Barry Sutton, who encounters a woman plagued with FMS, or False Memory Syndrome. And down the rabbit hole everything falls. Because as he delves further into the sinister premonitions this incident shadows, the more the terrifying infinity of the thought of our memories being stolen or falsified or manipulated becomes. Somehow, Blake Crouch can take something as boundless and out-of-reach as the elusive nature of our memories (the very substance that makes us each ourselves) or the limitless possibilities of parallel universes and separate lives and extract the purest strains of emotion.

Only he has the ability to write sci-fi so humanly.

After seeing some great reviews, I had to finally dive in to Recursion, and I’m so glad I did!

I’m a little swamped with ARCs right now, because work was so busy for so long, but things are quieting down and I can write some reviews at last.

I flew through this book, despite that if I’d taken it a bit slower I might have absorbed more details and learned more science. But this book was just unputdownable.

I had to suspend disbelief some, because I don’t think that time travel could actually work in the depicted way, but I mean, it’s time travel, so I’d need to suspend some either way.

What really drew me in was the character work. I had no idea going in that this was a love story, but that story is what really binds the whole thing together. I wouldn’t throw this on the romance shelf, but make no mistake, the love woven through the narrative is what makes it so compelling.

I’d say that as long as you’re not anti-time travel/sci-fi/speculative fiction, you should definitely read this book. I think it’s one of those rare books that will resonate with all genders/ages/geek levels.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley from the publisher, but all opinions are honest and mine.

This book was extremely captivating, from beginning to end. The character development and detail will have you thinking about them long after the book is over. The story was consistent and I thoroughly enjoyed the real science used in this novel.

"That's what it means to be human--the beauty and the pain, each meaningless without the other."

Several years ago, Crown Publishing reached out to me with an advanced copy of Blake Crouch's Dark Matter. I was hesitant to jump into science fiction, a genre I don't normally read, but decided to give it a shot. That novel became one of my favorite reads of the year, and Crouch became a must-read author. When Crown offered me a copy of Crouch's latest novel Recursion, I eagerly accepted. As was true with Dark Matter, the less you know about the plot, the better. I won't give away all of the secrets, but here's a brief rundown of this sci-fi thriller.

Barry Sutton is a jaded NYC police officer who is on his way to meet his ex-wife on the day that would have been his daughter's birthday. All of these years after the hit and run that claimed her life, Barry still can't forgive himself for not being able to stop it from happening. As he walks the sidewalks of the city, he is drawn to the scene taking place 41 stories above him. He races up to the heights of the building where a woman is precariously perched, threatening to jump to her death. She tells Barry of a husband and child who vividly remembers having, but who have been removed from the world. They simply do not exist. Before Barry can make sense of what is real and what is imagined, she thrusts herself from the building and hits the ground below.

Dr. Helena Smith is a young neuroscientist who is about to lose funding for her passion project. For several years now, she has studied the science behind memories. What are they? How and why do we experience them? If she can map the process that the brain goes through when experiencing a memory, she may be able to help her mother, who is rapidly losing a battle with Alzheimer's disease, to relive the moments of her life that have been lost to her. Just when it seems like her life's work is drawing to an unceremonious close, Helena is approached by a wealthy philanthropist. He has taken an interest in her work and wants her to work in his ocean-based lab to complete her work. In exchange for a stake in whatever Helena creates, she will receive whatever funds the project requires. What could possibly go wrong?

In Recursion Blake Crouch effortlessly executes a high-concept science fiction work that is as thrilling as it is thought-provoking. He forces us to question what is real and imagined in a way that no other author has dared to. The fact that Crouch packages this quiet reflection of memory into a multi-faceted thriller only further cements his skill as a masterful storyteller. For all of the mind-bending action that Recursion possesses, it stays grounded through strongly developed characters. Each character brings a new layer of emotional depth to the story, raising the stakes of the situation and sucking the reader further into the wormhole. I was completely blown away by Recursion and can't recommend it enough. No matter what genre you normally read, there is something for everyone to love in this book.

Crouch takes on the consequences of time travel... wrapping it up in a clay ball and redesigning the timeline in an emotional page-turning thriller.

In the midst of a hollow life filled with grief from his daughter's death and sell-medication, NYPD officer Barry Sutton responds to a suicide call in a midtown high-rise. A woman is experiencing a psychotic episode fueled by an illness whose victims perceive  ghosting memories of a lives lived and lost. She sees two existences stretch out behind her and the consequences of each cause her severe depression. Barry is unable to stop her from jumping and feels compelled to investigate the underlying cause...

On the other coast, Helena Smith is working in her lab to capture the conscience lost from Alzheimer's disease. Her mother suffers from the slow debilitation of her memories, and Helena's goal is to get funding to further her project. With only weeks left of her current monies, she is approached by a mysterious Silicon Valley donor. She is whisked off to a remodeled oil rig 150 miles out in the ocean with all full crew of scientists and unlimited money at her disposal. But her benefactor's plans with the completed tech might be a little removed from Helena's.

As Barry's investigation takes him deeper into the causes of the memory illness, he finds a greater conspiracy to undermine the entire fabric of humankind's timeline... Helena seeks out Barry as an ally in her effort to stop the chaos.

Crouch has the roller-coaster pacing down. He knows exactly how to end a chapter to keep you up past your bedtime... and with the dueling narratives of Barry and Helena, you have to read two to get your questions answered! I also appreciate that his tech-speak isn't dumbed down, but is still accessible to a non-science guy like myself. 

I felt the emotional toll that hits the characters over and over in the course of 300+ pages. The author's details in recounting the memories of Barry's lost child, Helena's crippled mother, and the chances that slip away... The only criticism I found in the book was the explanation of the villain's motivation. I felt he could have been more tied with some of the tech companies that we see in the headlines currently and he came across a bit flat at times. 

Recursion is another quality stirring technothiller by one of the best in the genre. Pick this one up for speculative escapism as its best.  

4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Crown Publishing, and the author for an advanced copy for review.

If there was ever any doubt, Blake Crouch has absolutely solidified himself in our lives as a must read author. We will be buying multiple copies of his books to thrust into the hands of everyone we know. Crouch outdoes himself in this genre-bending thrill ride. The reader will be horrified, enlightened, and have their hearts wrenched by this novel. Crouch challenges his readers to think about heavy scientific concepts but explains them in ways anyone of us can understand. Even in the midst of these theories most of us could never dream of, he doesn’t talk-down to his audience. He sets these these stories in scenarios with relatable characters you come to care for. An absolute home-run of a book.