Upgrade (Blake Crouch) is set sometime in the future. I enjoyed this book, and even though it has a lot of information about DNA I didn't have any problems following the story. Mr Couch puts the details in a format that is easy to understand. I want to thank NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an early copy to review.

Do yourself a solid. Drink a glass of water every time Logan hangs out in water or drinks a glass of water while you're reading this book. You'll be fully hydrated. Maybe over hydrated.

Blake Crouch's imagined near-future is scarily possible if humans keep going the way they are going, this book isn't scary in the traditional fictional sense. There's a lot of navel-gazing that I could have done without. I read for escape, not to be preached to and come away feeling pretty awful about myself and the future of mankind.

With that said, YMMV. Heck, Alex Michaelides and Diana Gabaldon loved it. You might, too.

Here's my fave quotes. Go look up those O'Keeffe paintings. They are the bomb.com.

“That’s Cerro Pedernal. O’Keeffe painted it twenty-eight times. She once said, ‘It’s my private mountain. It belongs to me. God told me if I painted it enough, I could have it.’

“The dinosaurs never saw their end coming. They died off because one morning, out of the clear blue sky, an asteroid 6.2 miles across smashed into the Yucatán peninsula at 67,000 miles per hour. The end of Homo sapiens lies just over the horizon. We can see it in a thousand metrics. Which means we have a chance. But only if we collectively decide to act. If nothing changes, we will die off for the stupidest reason imaginable— because we refused, for so many childish reasons, to do the obvious things that would save us.”

"One child dies in a well, the world watches and weeps. But as the number of victims increases, our compassion tends to diminish. At the highest number of casualties— wars, tsunamis, acts of terror— the dead become faceless statistics. They call this compassion fade, but in reality, it’s our genetic inheritance— old adaptations from our ancestors persisting in our DNA."

When I first started reading this, I was wondering if it was going to end up like the Eugenics Wars in Star Trek, with Logan being similar to Khan (just with less gold fishnet). It didn't end up like that, though I couldn't get rid of the feeling that I'd read something like this before.

The premise is pretty interesting. A member of an agency that tries to stop genetic manipulation is genetically manipulated in a raid gone wrong. The first part of the book is fast-paced and keeps you wondering what's going to happen. However, once the book gets to part two, it starts to lag. There isn't nearly as much going on, and the little bit of action that does occur is over and done with pretty quickly. The last part of the book with the showdown between Logan and his enemies was exciting; however, I felt that things were wrapped up a little too neatly. I expected more dealing with the upgrade they were trying to release. The fact that over all this time nothing had really been done with it seemed a little odd, and Logan stopping everything and there being no consequences at all was just slightly unbelievable. Overall all I did really enjoy this and reading about the upgrades was really interesting, even if it did go over my head at times. This makes a good read for anyone who enjoys smart sci-fi.

This sci-fi thriller moves at breakneck speed and it’s a highly enjoyable ride. Crouch knows how to hook his audience and keep them interested. Ramsey is an affable character and you really find yourself rooting for him. I’m not overly familiar with genetics but I could follow along with a basic understanding. Does the book sometimes get a little over the top? Yes. But did I love it anyway? Yes! Can’t wait to see what Amblin Entertainment does with this one! … Ryan Reynolds as Logan Ramsey perhaps??

Thank you Netgalley and Ballentine Books for my e-ARC of Upgrade by Blake Crouch.

If you want action-packed, drama filled with adrenaline sci-fi, this book is for you! Wow! This is not my typical type of book to read. At all. But I gave it a shot and it totally drew me in! What a wild ride that was. Consider me a fan, Mr. Crouch!

"Intimate in scale yet epic in scope, Upgrade is an intricately plotted, lightning-fast tale that charts one man’s thrilling transformation, even as it asks us to ponder the limits of our humanity—and our boundless potential."

Go pre-order this book!

Blake Crouch hits it out of the park again with another technology thriller, Upgrade. While much of the story takes place in the thoughts of the main character Logan, the book is cinematic with several escape sequences. At the same time, the story is philosophical: what would you do if you could change the genes of people to make them immediately more intelligent, stronger and athletic? Could people save our environment if they were more intelligent? This is an easy book to recommend to both science fiction readers and thriller enthusiasts.

What a smart, scary, thrilling book! I really enjoyed Upgrade even though the future it portrays felt all too real.

The future, and humanity is in a tail spin. Climate change and the Gene War have wreaked havoc on the world. Logan works to bring down illegal labs that are rewriting genetic code - a form of atonement for the mass destruction his mother's work leashed upon the world's food supply. But it turns out his mother's work isn't done yet, and this time in involves Logan and his sister directly.

Upgrade asks the tough questions about humans - why are we bent on self-destruction while also containing the knowledge that could save us? And will it be intelligence that saves us? Or compassion? Who gets to decide what is best? The research that went into the book is mind blowing, and the level of detail is absorbing (reminds me of Andy Weir novels). The plot was exciting, just a tad repetitive in terms of what Logan is trying to accomplish over and over. But I read this quickly and remain a huge Blake Crouch fan!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Blake Crouch has done it again. I’ve yet to read one of his books that didn’t pull me in right away. There’s a lot of science that sometimes goes over my head but his books always intrigue me and keep me engaged and wanting more. I will read anything he writes and he’s quickly become one of my favorite authors. Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC.

“But she forgot the most important thing: In the absence of compassion, selfishness is the most rational response of all. Our species’ superpower is not caring. We merely exercised that ability. We don’t have an intelligence problem. We have a compassion problem. That, more than any other single factor, is what’s driving us toward extinction.”

This book is…heavy. With the state of the world the way it already, really is- this book is a lot to digest. Crouch’s books are like Black Mirror- set in a world that is futuristic, yet not. Fictional yet oddly familiar.

I did not love this one the way I loved his last few books. That’s not a a damning sentence, though -I really appreciated it and found it equal parts fascinating and terrifying.

Genetic terrorism is a petrifying notion. I really enjoy the way that Crouch juxtaposed family and science and the way he always makes me truly *think*. Parts of it came off pretty preachy but honestly…he’s not wrong.

4 stars.

Thank you to Penguin Random House for gifting me with a free advance copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

Upgrade
by Blake Crouch
Pub Date: July 12, 2022
Ballentine
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
* Science Fiction
This is the best Sci-Fi I've read this year!
An ordinary man gets an unwelcome upgrade to superhuman status in Crouch's latest techno-thriller.
No spoilers here! You will want to get this as soon as it is published.
Great book!
For fans of Crouch's Recursion & Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary.
5 stars

This book hasn't come out yet, and there are already hundreds of reviews, so I don't feel it necessary to offer yet another summary.

Instead I'll observe that it's tough for authors to depict human beings becoming superhuman intelligences in a realistic way. I really got into the first third to half of the story, but once it got past a certain point, the pacing slowed way down, favoring a ton of scienctiskiffy pyrotechnics that sometimes confused me more than enlightened me, making me want to skim. And this is when the stakes were getting higher and things were shifting into overdrive. I did put the book down a few times, letting days go by before returning to it.

But that is a small quibble in an otherwise solid skiffy offering. I might have liked DARK MATTER more, but that's a matter of taste--Crouch's fans will surely love this book, and be looking forward to his next--as will I.

Logan Ramsay has been upgraded. His sister Kara as well. They rae now humans with "extra". They are smarter, stronger and faster than they were before. At a time when our world is crumbling, will they choose to help or hurt? This is a fascinating storyline. There is quite a bit of science in this book, but the author tells it well and makes it understandable. The emotion in the telling really keeps you involved and rooting for everyone. The writing is so descriptive that you feel like you are there with Logan through it all. What a completely scary and wonderful book.

Upgrade by Blake Crouch is another FANTASTIC Science Fiction read.

What are the consequences of genetic engineering are really explored in this compelling and thought-provoking book.

There is so much to say about this book, but I don't want to give anything away.

AN excellent read.

This was a very interesting book, a futuristic book about a world being destroyed even more so than now by climate change, hunger and poverty. this is both a science fiction book, a philosophy book about what makes us human and an action story as a genetic scientist raises to spare the world from more genetic mutations and disease. A lot of the book was interesting, though a little too much action for me 4.5

In the world of UPGRADE, by Blake Crouch, the science of gene editing has exploded and changed the world forever. Logan Ramsay works for an agency that monitors and regulates gene editing. When Logan begins to feel like he has an uninvited gene edit causing massive upgrades to every facet of his mind and body, he looks to why he was chosen and then what he going to do about it. His newly enhanced intellect guides him to the truth and then it becomes a race to thwart a global plan that has massive repercussions before it's too late.
Crouch's creates a realistic, unique and eerily fascinating world that the reader in immediately drawn into. What starts as a study of what the world would be like if the population was allowed to modify themselves physically and all the pleasures and pitfalls that comes with that quickly turns into a techno-thriller of one man trying to save humanity from collapsing in on itself. A nefarious plan has been created and Logan seems to be the only one that sees why it won't work. A wonderful build to the finale keeps the reader hanging on to every move Logan makes.
UPGRADE not only exciting from beginning to end and keeps the reader guessing, but also considers the importance of family, loyalty and compassion that we all have as humans. The also looks at the moral quandary that if given the chance, is artificial enhancement a good thing or an immoral act that can lead to blind faith that the only way to fix an incorrect enhancement is with another enhancement.

Blake Crouch is an instant-buy author in my book! This is a smart, fast-paced, exhilarating read. I will be recommending this to all my bookish friends upon its release! Crouch has a way of weaving science and plot to keep the reader engaged. I will read anything he writes.

Special thanks to Ballantine Books for the digital ARC via NetGalley.

“You are the next step in human evolution.”

Mind-bending, thrilling story, Sci-FI. My first time reading from this author, I usually don't read Sci-Fi, but this one was good.

Thank you, ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.

My expectations were not particularly high before starting this book based on the description, but I was pleasantly surprised. The story exceeded all expectations and became a very quick read. The science was easy to understand and follow (which I think is very important when reading a science fiction book), and the story itself was entertaining and moved quickly. The twists and turns were somewhat predictable, but that didn't take away from how much I enjoyed it. I would absolutely read more by this author. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Sci-fi is always a hard area of fiction for me to get into, but Blake Crouch always gets it right. This book was just as good as I was hoping it would be.

I so wanted to like this, but it just wasn't it for me. I LOVED Dark Matter and Recursion, but this one just felt like it wasn't enough.