"Upgrade" presents a tough-to-put-down thriller that will most definitely keep you going to the end. Mr. Crouch clearly feels concern for the modern realities of self-destructive human behavior and provides a glimpse into some of the possibilities. For many of us, this novel probably won't seem like futuristic fiction or that far off from modern reality. With intriguing topics like climate change, bio-genetic engineering, human modifications, species survival, etc., this novel presents a creative and, dare I say, realistic version of what may emerge shortly. One of the sections begins with a quote from Harari's "Homo Deus" and seemed an appropriate introduction for the fictional account while balancing Harari's non-fictional predictions also. So, for a quick, intriguing, and engaging look into some futuristic fiction, I say yes to Mr. Crouch's "Upgrade".

Logan Ramsey always felt inferior to his brilliant mother. Then one day the unexpected happens he gets "Upgraded" after an accident. Now he can recall all details of memories on any given date, he can recall every article he has ever read, he is stronger, faster, and smarter than ever before. His mother had a plan but will he be able to finish the plan?

This is one of those books that long after finishing it you will be wondering what would you do if you were in Logan's shoes? At how many deaths is it worth the risk?

Blake Crouch has done it again with another intriguing story. This sci-fi thriller will make you wonder how close we as a human race are to coming to the way the characters in the book live. It's scary and enlightening of what could become our future. At times I was a little confused by all of the science but in the same token it was fascinating! I've really enjoyed his writing because it really makes you pause and think about what's to come in our life.

Blake Crouch has another winner on his hands. Upgrade will be another best seller and probably a major motion picture. Upgrade is a nightmarish glimpse into a possible future. This book is a warning of what might happen. Beware.

Another great story from Blake Crouch! Once again a lot of the science went over my head, but what a page turner! All of this seems entirely plausible which made this a bit of a scary read. Highly recommend!

I had really high hopes for this, but I think that the science outweighed the story here. There was too much detail of the genetics which took away from the overall flow. Still entertaining but not what I experienced from Crouch’s other books.

Upgrade by Blake Crouch tells the story of Logan in short version tries to save the world. .The story line is very creative. Taking place in the future with earth in a decline. I noticed the water level in Lower Manhattan and no snow in Denver. Promoting global warming?? Maybe. The family dynamics, brother against sister and living in mom’s shadow were intriguing. Along with The Starvation Event The science/ genetic research was amazing. A lot of work went into it. I liked that it was explained and then given a very simple explanation. The authors view of technology was incredible. Im not sure how close to the truth he is? I have not read this author before but would definitely read another one. I will recommend this book. Thank you for allowing me to review.

This book was fun! In fact, I want to write some technical review and sound somewhat high- brow, but I keep coming back to how enjoyable it was. I worried (reading the publicists info) that is would be a genetic version of "Limitless." Happily, I was wrong.

The story is told from the perspective of Logan Ramsey. A former geneticist son of a world renowned geneticist (Miriam Ramsey) who had to leave the field and now is essentially a genetics cops... investigating illegal use of gene editing technologies. And pretty much all gene editing is illegal. Something happens that again puts Logan on the wrong side of the law, and begins changing him. This is where the story instantly improves on other improvement stories.

Upgrade is not about how cool it is to be better than everyone else. It brings in the other side... if no one else is close to your abilities or intelligence, would you even care about them? Why? Do they even matter? Crouch not only looks at the side "yes," but also at the other side. Is it a given that everyone is as important as people who are "better" in some way?

The fast pace in this book makes it a very quick read... it would be a great book to read on a trip (or beach read). I have read each of Blake Crouch's works and I 100% believe this is the best yet.

Thank you to the publisher (Random House) and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

#upgrade #blakecouch #randomhouse

Another fast-paced page-turner from Crouch. A recommended purchase for collections where SF and his previous titles are popular.

Thanks Netgalley for the e-arc. Blake Crouch is one of my favorite authors. I was highly anticipating this one.

Overall it was thrilling and interesting. Crouch’s writing is amazing and he gives a lot of detail to form understanding for those who don’t understand a while lot about science aka me.

However, at times I honestly had no idea what was going on, and the ending felt very rushed? With so much info packed in the middle. I’d still recommend to Crouch fans- especially with the news that this will be a movie/tv series…. I think it’ll play very well on film as it seems written to be.

Overall, I’d still recommend! But if you’re only choosing one Blake Crouch book to read make it Dark Matter it’s still my fav

I love when sci-fi authors really get into the weeds explaining how the science works. It leaves me wanting to pause and start googling things to see how realistic the plot really is. Compared to the worlds built in the author's last two books, this reality seems much closer. I can't decide if that makes it scarier or if I should just look forward to my impending upgrade (I'll be happy to test out the tweak that allows me to eat whatever I want and metabolize it instantly).

I was soo excited to see that I was pre-approved for Blake Crouch’s newest novel. I was obsessed with both Dark Matter and Recursion, so I couldn’t wait to jump into Upgrade. Where Dark Matter and Recursion were similar with the ideas of alternate universes and versions of ourselves, Upgrade is completely it’s own.

In this new novel, Crouch explores the idea of “upgrading” ones self in regards to their abilities in memory, patterns, and recognizing emotions and thought processes in others. I really enjoyed how smart this storyline was and how Blake once again takes a complex topic and puts it in layman's terms for us regular folk. I really enjoyed the story and the character of Logan.

The book is separated into 3 parts and was an easy and quick read overall. I didn’t love upgrade as much as dark matter or recursion (just loved the other concepts a bit more) but I’m definitely happy I had the opportunity to read Upgrade and will certainly be reading anything else Blake Crouch publishes!

Upgrade will have you thinking long after you put the book back on your shelf. Logan Ramsay is the son of an infamous scientist who destroyed more than 2 million people. The effects of her science experiment to save the world are still being felt throughout the globe nearly twenty years later. Logan Ramsay is on a raid and gets infected with "something" and when the GPA finds out that he is changing, he has to run for his life.

I can't say much more as it will give away key points to the story. This sci-fi thriller is unputdownable. The science behind the story makes sense, and while I do not know if anything that Crouch writes is actually backed by science, it reads like it is. I enjoyed all of the genome sequencing paragraphs and the minute details of Logan's changes to his body and mind.

What I Liked:
- the premise behind the story
- the science related information about DNA, genetics, etc
- Logan's character

What I Didn't Like:
- I felt like the relationship between Logan and his sister Kara was rushed and didn't really make a lot of sense. We didn't get a lot of background info on the relationship Kara had with her mother and I think that would have helped the reader see the relationship between Kara and Logan more fully.
- The ending (in NYC). It felt like something was missing. The action was well-written, but I felt like the scene just lacked something.

This book is creepy because it feels like something that could happen in the near future (within our children's lifetimes). I LOVE books like this, so it's a highly rated read for me.

This book was so freaking amazing! This is his best one yet! It was fast read that I couldn’t put down. I can picture this book made into a movie.


Thank you NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine publishing for a Digital copy of this book for my honest opinion

SF meets Philosophy in Blake Crouch's newest summer release UPGRADE. Science fiction isn't so fictional in recent years and in Crouch's near future he makes it sound all too plausible. Like Heinlein and other grandmasters before him, he takes his chosen subject, in this case the human genome, and waxes philosophical on why humans act as they do. He makes quite an argument and has many interesting points. But the story is intermixed with chase scenes and enough "blowy-uppy" things to keep you on the edge of your seat.

The time we're living in is humanity's last gasp. Has Blake Crouch figured a way out? Or is it death to humankind? Great book! And one you should be on the watch for.

Blake Crouch delivers an exciting and fast-paced thriller with a dose of science in Upgrade. Logan Ramsay, after recovering from a virus with excruciating symptoms, starts noticing some improvements: better clarity of thought, increased memory recall, stronger bones. He has, as the title says, gotten an upgrade.

The story and premise is engaging, before I knew it I was halfway through. It startled me: can this story really conclude in the time left? Yes it did but at a cost. I’m left wanting to know more about the motivations and relationships between Logan and the people around him. That felt like such a shame, because the story ends up feeling a bit shallow, like something is missing. Regardless of being light on character development, I enjoyed Upgrade. For me, I think it would be a perfect vacation novel as it reads like a summer action film.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for providing an ARC!

If you got all tingly at the mere sight of this book, what you really want to know is if it’s an upgrade or downgrade from Dark Matter and Recursion, right? Here’s my quick take:

Dark Matter ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

Upgrade ⭑⭑⭑⭑

Recursion ⭑⭑⭑

I’ll get back to you tingly people in a moment, but for anyone completely lost right now (Hi Mom!) I’ll take a moment to explain that Blake Crouch is an extremely popular author of modern sci-fi novels that are accessible to mainstream readers that only dabble occasionally in the genre (Hi Self!). He really does lean hard on the “science” part of sci-fi though, so your brain can get quite a workout reading them.

2016’s Dark Matter was such a page-turning thrill ride, and it made me feel super smart! Then 2019’s Recursion came along, which to me felt repetitive in parts and over my head in others. 2022’s Upgrade started like a thrill, lagged a little, but then won me over in the end.

The science of focus in Upgrade is genetic engineering. In the near future, the government has had to establish an ATF-like agency to regulate and crack down on civilian manipulation of DNA. I mean, you can’t have people just willy-nilly making weird unnatural shit in labs! Our book’s hero, Logan, is a member if that agency, and during a raid he gets blasted with DNA-modifying particles that make his intelligence - you guessed it - upgraded.

There’s no denying that there’s a bit of a “save the earth” agenda to the story, so if you don’t agree at least on some level that human kind is on an unfavorable trajectory then this book is most definitely not for you. It’s also not for you if you don’t like a little adrenaline in your thrillers, because this is some action-packed drama. No surprise, adaptation rights have already been snapped up by Amblin Entertainment.

What is surprising is the epilogue. Nine times out of ten epilogues are completely unnecessary turds, but this one was so thoughtful, heartfelt, and unexpected that it nudged my rating up a full star. Now that’s a worthwhile upgrade.

My thanks to the author and Ballantine Books for the gifted advance copy to review via NetGalley. The expected US publication date is July 19, 2022.

This really scared me, it could happen. Well written and the science is explained in an easy to understand way. Great book!

a very meh scifi
the pacing overall was so iffy - it felt way too quick at some parts and way too slow at others, especially in the middle of the story
the emotional stakes and stakes in general just didn't hit for me??? like he just kept saying cgat over and over and i have no idea still what that means
like ok go off king adenine guanine whateverthehecknine
super quick read but nothing super impactful imo

(Posted on Goodreads on February 12th 2022)

Much appreciation to Netgalley and Random House/Ballantine for giving me a chance to read this early.

Blake Crouch is, by far, a masterful writer. I’ve always saw him as the author equivalent to Christopher Nolan. He is able to create a technical story with a formidable design, but able to preserve the chemistry in his characters.

Dark Matter and Recursion both showcased a beautiful singularity that encompassed a solid theme. Each book differentiates the other, but both orbit a science fiction idea of society’s biggest questions. Upgrade is another link to this motif that is, if anything, another wonder.

Everything I loved about Blake’s writing is in his latest work. Pacing, characters and story is all excellent. Yes, there’s emotion. Yes, there’s intrigue. Yes, duplicity. Yes, this and that.

Yes, if you like Blake Crouch, trust in his work.