This is one of the most confusing books I’ve read in a long time. This is also one of the best books I have read for quite a while that kept me interested throughout without understanding it completely. It’s a hard book to read because it requires you to think and not mindlessly read for entertainment.
I never read sci/fi and probably wouldn’t have read this book if I had known what it was beforehand but as I stated I totally loved the book.
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.

disclaimer: i received a copy of this book via crown publishing in return for an honest review.

how do you know that your memory is YOUR memory? let's take it one step further - how do you know your memory of an event is really the event? not as a question of subjective vs. objective memory but as the occurrence of the actual event itself? welcome to blake crouch's 'recursion'.

crouch builds the world of recursion through the eyes and voices of two main characters who don't know each other. each chapter opens with the character's name and the date the events took place. this switching could be clunky and exhausting given the years over which the novel progresses. in crouch's hands, however, each transition to the other narrator feels natural and urgent as the characters try to understand not only what's happening but what it means in the real world.

blake crouch writes incredibly intricate worlds and intriguing characters. when you find yourself in his hands, it's better to go in acknowledging that everything you "know" about the subject is going to come crashing down in favor of his version.

four out of five stars

“Life with a cheat code isn't life. Our existence isn't something to be engineered or optimized for the avoidance of pain. That's what it is to be human - the beauty and the pain, each meaningless without the other.”

Because of her mother and her heartbreaking struggle with dementia, Neuroscientist Helena Smith is devoted to research which will help people with Alzheimers, Dementia and brain injuries.
A look into some of the early experiments:
"The doctor continues to read off the levels of various vital signs, now mainly associated with cerebral oxygen levels and activity. Sergei also gives an update every ten seconds or so, but for Helena, the din of their voices fades away. She can't take her eyes off the man in the tank, wondering what he's seeing and feeling. Wondering if she would be willing to die to experience the full power of her invention."

New York City cop Barry Sutton is investigating a phenomenon called (FMS) False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that causes its victims to go mad with memories of a life they never lived, often ending their lives because of the pain and anguish experienced. He meets a woman who is perched to jump off a building. "Maybe some people get FMS and prefer their current memories to their false ones, but there's nothing about this life I want. I've tried, for four long weeks. I can't fake it anymore" Tears carve trails through her eyeliner. "My son never existed. Do you get that? He's just a beautiful misfire in my brain."

This book blew me away! I have never read anything like it. It is told in multiple timelines. The characters are complex and fascinating. At times I could not believe what I was reading and I did have to backtrack more than once to make sense of it. It is sci-fi at it's best and I highly recommend it! Some of my favorite parts are when worlds collide (Helena and Barry become connected)...but I will leave the details of that for you to find out for yourself.

Many thanks to Blake Crouch, Crown Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC to read for review. I greatly enjoyed it! 5 STARS!

This was my first book by this author and it didn't disappoint. This is one Sci-fi fantasy novel you don't want to miss. I was instantly hooked and read it in one sitting. As the plot unfolds you'll be on an emotional rollercoaster along with Barry and Helena. As you get to know these characters throught their many memory lines, you'll fall in love with them over and over. It's so hard to write this review without giving to much away so I'll just leave you with a question. Would you go back and change something in your past you regret? Would you be willing to live with the butterfly effect of those changes?

The only reason I didn't give this book 5⭐ is because it reminded me of my college Physics class at times. That was a class I never wanted to think about again. 😂 I think this book is a must read and I'll be recommending it to everyone I know.

After reading Dark Matter by Blake Crouch I was looking forward to this book, but I ended up not enjoying this one as much. I think part of the problem is the repetition. And yes, I'm aware that a book titled Recursion is going to have a lot of repetition, and I was prepared for that, but it still got a little old two thirds of the way into the book. I think maybe part of the reason it got old was because it took the main characters until the end of the book to figure out the solution, a solution that seemed rather obvious to me. I also predicted who was going to have to do it.

That being said, this was a good, thought provoking book. Blake Crouch has a way of writing characters that I don't necessarily like a lot, or feel very attached to, but I'm still able to root for them anyway. His stories are mind bending to say the least, and I recommend giving them a try if you enjoy books with time travel elements, or alternate realities.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of this book.

I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Blake Crouch does it again! I’m still reeling from this mind trip of a novel. This was an action packed, mind bending novel in true Crouch form. It was also insanely good.
Imagine a reality where memories can be made and unmade, but you have to be careful because your choice could affect the world and everyone in it. Add to this, an element of time travel where you can go back and create new or adjust memories to alter your reality. I don’t want to give too much away because you must read it to understand it.

Great book. Looking forward to reading whatever comes next from this author.

The nitty-gritty: Time and memory overlap in Blake Crouch’s latest sci-fi thriller, a story that is sure to keep readers up well past their bedtimes.

Blake Crouch has done it again! I’ve been reading a bunch of five-star reviews for Recursion and I couldn’t wait to see what all the fuss was about. Well, I’m happy to say they all got it right. Recursion was one of the best thrillers I’ve ever read, a twisty, time hopping story that got better and better as it progressed. Crouch wowed us several years ago with Dark Matter, another scientific thriller that blew my mind, and it seems lightning has struck twice. This time he takes on the subject of memories and their power to change reality, and once again he’s written a book that will undoubtedly end up as one of my favorite books of the year.

The story alternates between two main characters. In 2018, Barry Sutton is a detective, divorced from his wife Julia for the past eleven years after the traumatic death of their sixteen-year-old daughter Meghan. When the story starts, Barry is called to the forty-first floor of a highrise to stop a woman from jumping off the edge. She claims to have False Memory Syndrome, an illness that makes you think you’ve lived more than one life. The clash of both lives in her mind is too much to bear, and she ends up jumping, even though Barry attempts to stop her.

In another timeline, in 2007, a neuroscientist named Helena Smith is working on a way to map and preserve a person’s memories, influenced by her own mother who is suffering from Alzheimer's. One day, Helena is approached by a man who seems to know everything about her and her research. He offers Helena a job working for a man named Marcus Slade, a billionaire who will be able to fund Helena’s project and help her realize her ultimate dream of curing her mother’s disease. Helena is suspicious of the deal, but she knows she can’t turn down this once in a lifetime opportunity, so she agrees to leave everything and everyone behind to move to a secret research facility and work with a select team of scientists.

Barry makes a discovery after reading an old police report that leads him to think that there’s more to False Memory Syndrome than meets the eye. This sends him down a rabbit hole that leads to one dangerous event after another, as he chases not only the truth but his own grief-filled memories. Meanwhile, Helena’s team has stumbled upon something amazing during their research, something that in the wrong hands could spell disaster.

Eventually Barry’s and Helena’s timelines converge, leading to some truly mind-bending storytelling. I really can’t say more, because I wouldn’t want to spoil your enjoyment of this book (and you will read it, or I’m coming after you!). Let’s just say Crouch’s story never went where I thought it was going to go, which made this a thrilling read from start to finish.

Crouch has done a ton of research for this book, and he even mentions in his Acknowledgments that the core idea was based on the scientific research of two MIT neuroscientists who were able to implant a false memory in the brain of a mouse. He takes this idea about manipulating memories and runs with it, using relatable characters who all have a stake in the success of Helena’s visionary dream. At times the scientific jargon went over my head, but honestly, I just went with it. As futuristic as it may seem, all of the science makes sense, which is pretty scary! Crouch also takes the old idea of déjà vu and builds a fascinating idea around it. I mean, haven’t we all experienced déjà vu at one time or another? What if there was a more sinister explanation behind those feelings? Crouch takes his idea and blows it up into something terrifyingly plausible, an idea that shook me to the core.

In addition to the mechanical precision of the plot, we also get plenty of great characterization and emotion, which for me always elevates a thriller from simply being a fun read to something I can relate to on an emotional level. Barry and Helena both have (and had) beloved people in their lives who motivate them to keep trying—Barry’s daughter and Helena’s mother—and I wanted them to succeed. There’s even a very cool connection between the two of them, despite the fact that they exist years apart when we first meet them, and that added another wonderful layer to the story. Then there’s the villain, Marcus Slade, a man who wants to play God and meddle in things he probably shouldn’t be meddling in. But with the power of a vast fortune behind him, Slade not only thinks he can do whatever he wants, but he blackmails others into going along with his warped ideas.

The last chapters of the book were actually stressful to read—so much is happening and the potential for things to go wrong is overwhelming—but I loved the way Crouch ended his story. Perfectly paced with shocking surprises, emotional resonance, and scientific ideas that will make your head spin, Recursion should be on everyone’s “must read” list.

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.

IF you are looking for a light, breezy, beachy, summery kind of read, keep moving because this isn’t it. IF you are looking for a book that will compel you to call in sick to work, lock the doors, turn off the electronics, close the blinds, and read it in one sitting, you found it! Have you ever wondered if your memories are real, false, on your current timeline, or maybe a different one? You will after you read Recursion. This story will bend your mind, break your heart, and then mess with your head. The book starts with some character development and sad history of the lead characters. The story quickly becomes larger than the characters without losing the emotional impact of the backstory. IF you don’t like Science Fiction, read it anyway. IF you like stories with time travel, read it. IF you like Thrillers, read it. I wouldn’t spend too much time reading “about” the book, I would just read the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

#bookstagram #recursion #blakecrouch #netgalley #crownpublishing #idratherbereading #summerstooshort #mmdsummerreading

I am new to the sci-fi genre. To be honest, I generally avoid them. #Bookstagram made me do it, and I am glad that it did! The imagination and creativity behind this book is astounding. My brain hurts a little after reading this book to be honest, but I loved the out of the box thinking it had me doing! I was only 40% through and I bought the book as a gift for my dad because I knew I had to share this crazy book with someone else!

Recursion is a mind fuck. There is no other way to describe it. Time shifting, extremely questionable moral decisions, questioning lifetimes of memories, and which life is real - it's an intense (and at times, very confusing IMO) ride.

New York Cop Barry investigates a phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome - a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived. Neuroscientist Helena has dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious memories; driven by her mothers suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

The two characters paths connect and together they try to derail the catastrophic events of Helene's invention landing in the wrong hands.

I loved Dark Matter and was highly anticipating this book ever since I heard about it. I'm so glad to report that it lived up to expectations! Blake Crouch has a way of making high-concept science-y stuff accessible and interesting. The storyline is believable enough to suck you in and fast-moving so you won't want to put it down.

This is a mind-twisting, heart-stopping thriller the begins when we meet Barry, a New York City detective investigating a mysterious illness called False Memory Syndrome, where sufferers are suddenly haunted by vivid memories of a completely different life. Meanwhile, we meet Helena, a neuroscientist who is studying memory in the hopes of restoring function in her Alzheimer’s-stricken mother. Her talent is soon recognized by a reclusive billionaire who decides to fund her work—with a few requests of his own. Helena then makes a huge discovery, and an incredible invention—both with the power to change and destroy the world as we know it. Annnddd…that’s about all I can say without giving anything away! What I can tell you: I LOVED this book. I was warned that I would be completely confused for the first half—and I was!—but I actually didn’t mind that. The story is so captivating that you won’t care that you don’t know what the heck is going on with it for a bit. But once it starts to come together? You won’t be able to turn those pages fast enough. I devoured Recursion in a day, and it’s honestly a book that I feel like I want to read again—soon. So thrilling, so creative, so intense—it’s a must-read.

Y’all. This book is fabtabulously mind blowing crazy. It is sci-fi, with a little bit of Groundhog Day sprinkled in. What if you could go back in time and change some stuff? Would you do it? #recursion #blakecrouch

Recursion was difficult for me to read at first as Blake Crouch alternates POVs and periods of time. I felt disoriented. We are programed to think linearly - yesterday, today, tomorrow. Recursion turns that on its head and inside out. What if you could change your memories and have a do over? Prevent an accident from killing a loved one? Go back in time and prevent an atrocity? Would it be the ethical thing to do? How would altering your memories affect the reality of those around you? Crouch asks these questions and more.

Neuroscientist Helena Smith is driven to find a way to help preserve memories because her mother is losing hers to Alzheimer's. She is given unfettered access to everything she needs to create a machine that will do just that by Marcus Slade. He is incredibly wealthy and known for philanthropy and being the founder of many cutting edge technology companies. With Slade's resources Helena's work speeds ahead and she is hopeful she will be able to help her mother and others like her.

Barry Sutton is a NYPD detective whose life has fallen apart since his daughter was killed by a hit-and-run driver when she was a teen. He begins to investigate False Memory Syndrome (FMS) after trying to prevent the suicide of a woman suffering from it. FMS is occurs when someone has memories of 2 different lives one more vivid than the other. Trying to reconcile these differing lives is causing people to kill themselves. Barry's investigation into the woman's suicide and FMS puts him on a very dangerous path.

Recursion is a stellar thriller which explores memory, identity, and reality. Crouch takes a bit of hard science and pushes it well beyond its limits to create an intense speculative novel. Recursion is deeply emotional, dark, frightening, and at the same time hopeful. With great pacing, engaging characters, and non-stop twists this is Crouch at his mind-bending best.

Wow! A mind-bending sci-fi thriller that SO needs to be a movie! People start suffering from FMS--False Memory Syndrome. They suddenly realize that their whole life is just a false memory and they have this other real life (that they also remember). The woman whose actions inadvertently led to the problem has to do what she can to try to stop it--or even reverse it.

The book was very exciting and suspenseful although a bit confusing with the various branches of various timelines and who would remember what and when, but well worth the read!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free e-ARC for review purposes.

Blake Crouch has done it again, my mind has been blown and now I question all fabric of what is supposed to be real life. Dark Matter was one of my first forays into the sci-fi genre and although some of the scientific things are a bit hard to grasp, I was completely engrossed in it. Recursion basically scrambled my brain in the same exact way.

I really liked this, and it was exactly what I expected from Blake Crouch after enjoying Dark Matter. However, I found parts of it suuuuper confusing and had to re-read sections. This was probably more me than the book and I shouldn't have chosen to read it during such a busy season in my personal life. I loved Barry and Helena. The last half was really intense in particular.
Highly recommend this book - I can't say I will read everything he ever writes because I still feel like too much of a wimp to try Pines but I do love this writing.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of this book which published June 11.

What are memories, and what kind of power do they hold? Are they simply mental scrapbooks of moments in the past, or could they be something more?

Helena Smith is a neuroscientist dedicated to finding ways to preserve memories, especially for those who are afflicted by Alzheimer's, dementia, or similar diseases. Her passion leads her to invent groundbreaking technology that has the potential to help a lot of people. Barry Sutton is an NYPD detective who stumbles upon a case related to False Memory Syndrome (FMS), a disease where people wake up one day with vivid memories of a life they didn't live. His curiosity leads him to discover that FMS is not at all what he thought it was, and his discovery leads to life-changing events for both him and Helena.

This was a solidly enjoyable read for me! Thrillers are not my go-to book, but as a psychology student, I was intrigued by a thriller revolving around memory and perceptions of reality. The story is driven by the characters, and I really enjoyed both Helena and Barry. I loved Helena's intelligence, compassion, and drive to do the right thing. Barry is likable as well. I appreciated his steadfastness and sacrifice throughout the book. Slade also made for an interesting antagonist. We get his back story in brief moments, but it's still compelling enough to make him into a complex villain.

The plot is complex, and while it did mess with my mind at points, I admire Crouch for coming up with all of it. It had a good amount of technical information which was just enough to make the story believable, but it was never overwhelming for someone who does not have a background in medical technology. In terms of pacing, I was never bored, but the first half of the book is definitely slower than the last half. I didn't really mind how the plot took off in the last part of the book, but it felt like being on a slow, winding river and then suddenly being dumped into a long series of rapids.

Overall, this was a fun read. I always enjoy books that have brilliant, complex plots, and this definitely fits the bill. If you enjoy thrillers that are unique, this would be a great option! If you're like me and aren't drawn to thrillers as a genre, it might worth it to know that it's not as dark as other thrillers can be, and there's a lot of creative storytelling to appreciate as a reader.

Thanks to Blake Crouch, Crown Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and honestly review this book!

Is time the illusion? Are we a sole product of our memories? So many intriguing premises and a great storyteller combine to make this a book difficult to put down.

What if you could live your life, or parts of it, all over again is not a new idea, but Recursion does it with a new twist that keeps you reading right to the end. It starts with good intentions, to help those with Alzheimer type disabilities keep their memories. Of course all good intentions end up in a way never imagined, but can you go back to fix it for good only?

I admit I was lost a couple of times, which was probably intentional by the author, but that did help to make me understand what the characters experienced when they found themselves in different lifetimes. I caught up right away, but did experience some disorientation such as what the hell is going on? I read faster and faster in the last third of the book trying to know what would come of Helena's chair and the rest of the world.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion. I'd give this a high 4 stars.

4 stars Thank you to NetGalley and Crown for allowing me to read and review this ARC. Published on June 11, 2019.

Another great novel by Blake Crouch. Having read Dark Matter a couple years ago I was taken by this author. I am not a great fantasy or science fiction fan. However, this author can twist that science fiction into something that sounds and feels real. Maybe futuristic, but a good possibility of being right on track. He hit the nail right on the head again with Recursion.

"False Memory Syndrome " is the current project of Neuroscientist Helena Smith. It was so named by the media because it causes people to remember an untrue life. There comes a point in their life that they remember all these memories of a life that never happened. A parallel life to their own, that finally drives them crazy.

Smith buddies up with a rich philanthropist to further her work, until she realizes that she has been taken advantage of and he only wants to use her invention in a personal selfish way and not for good.

Once she escapes from this bad situation she rebuilds her chair and numerable times under goes the process to stop and return time in the hope of saving the world before her opponent destroys it. Done in a very good way this equates to "Groundhog Day" with the repeating of this time frame again and again - with each time being spent in a different location.

There was some techie talk in this story, that might be hard to follow if you are not aware of technical terms. However, it by no means ruins the story or interferes with the flow of the narrative. For me it just advanced the futuristic feel of what Crouch made seem...all to possible.