Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary review copy of Recursion. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It’s hard for me to know how to review this book because it’s pretty unusual for me to dive into a sci-fi mystery. However, Crouch’s previous novel, Dark Matter, received so much positive hype that I decided to go for it. Recursion was a total page-turner; I read it in a few short days. This story challenged me...it was mind-bending and made me think hard in the best possible way. I’m excited to go back and read Dark Matter now that I know what I’m in for!

Prepare to push past the bounds of reality in this binge-worthy ride.

Recursion: The process a procedure goes through when one of the steps of the procedure involves invoking the procedure itself. An endless loop.

Barry Sutton is a New York Detective called upon the scene to help a woman on the edge. She suffers from False Memory Syndrome (FMS) or alternative memory timelines. Ann remembers life with her husband and child but these memories are a life she has never lived. A life she longs for. As she drops off the edge, she becomes part of a growing FMS suicidal statistic.

Helena has been working on memory mapping and preservation for her Alzheimer's research. Her motives are personal as she is a witness to her mother's memory deterioration. Determine to create a "memory" device, she is given a chance to change the way we hold on to our thoughts. But also a way to change them and to exploit them.

When Barry is given a chance to change his past, he finds himself in a battle with his family's ever-changing reality. And there is collateral damage. Helena's work has been used in an unorthodox way and is changing world history. As memories crumble around them, Helena enrolls Barry in a fight to preserve the present day.

Recursion is a page-turner that is hard to wrap your mind around. The alternating timelines and perspectives are at first hard to track but the story falls into place like pieces of a puzzle. The characters have buy-in and you rally alongside them on their quest in the past and present. The narrative is well written and moves at a pace that holds the reader captive. Crouch pushes the boundaries of how we see reality and it's worth.

Recursion brings into the loop philosophical and scientific thought. If you could go back into time, what would you change to create a new timeline of memories? If memories are experiences of the past, are we living in the present? How can we have memories of experiences we have not lived?

Following on the heels of Dark Matter, Recussion is a fantastic follow-up novel. The next novel cannot come soon enough.

"Is deja vu the specter of false timelines that never happened but did, casting their shadow on reality?"

Thank you Netgalley, Crown Publishing, and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! This was such a unique concept that was executed in a completely entertaining manner. I knew that I wanted to read this book as soon as I saw that it was being published. I was very impressed with Blake Crouch's Dark Matter and I wanted to see if this new book would be as entertaining. Once I really started reading this book, I didn't want to stop. I really had a great time with this one.

Helena is a scientist. She has made a chair that she hopes will preserve memories for individuals with Alzheimer's or other ailments that produce problems with memory. Her chair ends up doing something a bit more. This chair has the ability to propel individuals back into their memories. Unfortunately, everyone connected to the events that are changed is left with memories of both timelines. Barry is a New York City police officer. He has been dealing with a lot of cases of False Memory Syndrome while on the job and he decides to look into the phenomena a bit further. He has no idea what is really going on but what he learns shocks him.

I found the entire premise of this book to be very well done. It was somewhat complicated and I found myself really trying to figure out how things would work out. I think that the characters' desperation to change events and correct mistakes was perfectly illustrated and I couldn't help but cheer them on. I think that this story really proved how big of an impact even a small change in our lives can make and how important our memories are.

I would highly recommend this book to others. This was a very thought-provoking journey filled with fantastic characters and a lot of emotion. I cannot wait to read more from this wonderful author!

I received a digital review copy of this book from Crown Publishing via NetGalley.

My mind is blown by this sci-fi, fantasy, time-travel philosophical novel about what would happen if the constructs of time and memory as we know them were turned on their head.

The premise of this is that Helena, a super intelligent neuroscientist trying to cure her mother’s Alzheimer’s inadvertently comes up with a time-travelling machine that works based off memories. Don’t worry, this is proper sci-fi and the explanation for how everything works makes sense in the novel and will have you googling theoretical physics principles to figure out how plausible the mind-bending premise is.

This isn’t typically my type of novel being that I’m not a huge fan of sci-fi, fantasy, thrillers, time travel or philosophical novels, but I couldn’t help being captivated by this amazing novel. Why? Because even though this focuses a lot on sci-fi elements, it also is in large part about human emotion. And it’s a love story to our memories of family, loss, and even romance.

I think this is an eminently readable sci-fi, fantasy thriller both for fans of that style of book and for those who don’t typically read these genres but are looking to dip their toes in something new. Read this one!

Blake Crouch has done it again!!! Recursion was fascinating, confusing and brilliant!

Dark Matter is one of my favorite sci-fi books of all time so I was almost scared to delve into Recursion - nervous it wouldn't live up to my expectations for Crouch. This book was ambitious. Thankfully, I had nothing to fear. Mr. Crouch's brilliant mind hasn't failed us yet.

Recursion deals with memory - preserving memory, and using it to shift our reality. What a roller coaster ride this was. Can you imagine going back into a specific memory with all the knowledge you have now? What would you change or do differently if given the opportunity for a "do over"?


Barry Sutton is a NYPD Detective who answers a "jumper" call. As he attempts to talk her down from the ledge he learns she is suffering from False Memory Syndrome - vivid memories of an alternate life. These memories feel real and those suffering from FMS have difficulty reconciling the dual memories/lives.

Meanwhile, neuroscientist Helena Smith has devoted her life to memory research. She wants to map memories to preserve them. Her greatest hope is to help people with Alzheimers, Dementia and brain injuries. Ultimately she uncovers more than just a way to map memories. Her research leads to the discovery that causes FMS. Helena and her researchers travel back into past memories. This leads to changes which cause dual timeline memories for everyone involved.

Barry and Helena's stories intersect as they find themselves face to face with the darker implications of the research. Each change comes with a cost. As more and more people suffer from FMS, mass hysteria builds. Are our minds strong enough to handle dual realities? Can multiple timeline memories coexist in the same person? Can the world handle this type of technology?

Recursion certainly made me think and question everything I know about reality. I couldn't help but wonder about those moments of deja vu we all experience. What if there was more to them? Ultimately our memories make up who we are. They are definitely powerful and I love how Crouch explored this topic. It was thought provoking, emotional and made for fascinating reading.

Recursion is Blake Crouch’s newest wonder. This sci-fi novel is one-of-kind and he clearly has a knack for penning highly scientific, yet easily readable and creatively unique stories. It’s not often that you find a book about something entirely different than the norm, and Blake Crouch has done it...again .
This story centers around the concept of our memories and what they mean to us as humans. If one was to discover the ability to manipulate memories, what affect would that have on our reality and life as we know it, and what would the far-reaching consequences be? It’s a slippery slope, as the characters in this book will discover. Despite the daunting topic, this story is immediately immersive and a definite page-turner,until about two-thirds of the way through. At that point the story begins to get caught in a loop, repeating certain events, for effect, but the result is that it begins to get bogged down in some scientific jargon, and feels somewhat repetitive and long. Once past this, however, the story picks up and concludes quite nicely, making some really poignant points to ponder. Overall, it’s well-written, thought-provoking, emotional and incredibly intriguing.

I enjoyed this book! It was an interesting time travel/science fiction story. I loved the concept. I do wish Helena was a more fully fleshed out character. She felt a little wooden at times. But I found this book to be very entertaining.

When you purchase a Blake Crouch novel you know two things for certain: 1. YOU ARE IN FOR ONE HELL OF A RIDE 2. YOU WILL FEEL AN IMMENSE SENSE OF EMPTINESS UNTIL HIS NEXT NOVEL COMES OUT
Blake Crouch is through and through one of my all time favorite writers. Recursion marks the seventh novel of his that I have absorbed into my brain like a sponge. Famously know for the Wayward Pines trilogy and Dark Matter, Recursion enters as a fast-paced, breath-taking summer read of apocalyptic proportions. People around the globe are suffering from a condition know as False Memory Syndrome. This condition drives people insane with memories of a life that they have never lived before, even so far as to the brink of suicide. Enter Barry Sutton, a cop who is investigated this rapidly growing threat until he becomes hopelessly intertwined with a truth that is simply incomprehensible.
Helena Smith is a brilliant neuroscience who is on the verge of inventing a machine that will cure Alzheimer's and ends up inventing something far more ground-breaking than anything previously known to man. But, with this invention comes intense repercussions and powerful people that desperately want the machine for their own selfish motivations.
Crouch has created a truly original work that makes it difficult to compare to others. If I had to compare it to other works I would say it is one part Groundhog's Day and two parts Inception. This is an immense story with layers upon layers of plot that continue to spiral out of control into apocalyptic proportions. It addresses questions of morality, love and the heavy burden of great power and responsibility.
I wish to thank NetGalley for a chance to absorb this amazing work before it was even released so I could let everyone know just how engrossing Crouch's newest work truly is!

This was posted on my Goodreads account:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2698513832

Thank You to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

WOW!!
This is one book that will have you still thinking about it weeks after you finishing reading it.
Imagine being able to go back to a time in your life where you made a bad decision or lived through a devastating event and have a chance to live it again with a different outcome.
Would you do it?
Would you still do it knowing that changing the past could result in also changing the past of people around you and not necessarily for the better.


I loved everything about this book. I loved Helen and Barry and the sacrifices they made for each other to try and rewrite a new ending for the world. I loved the concept of this book. The one thing I did not love was the ending and that was only because it meant the story was at an end.
Great book for anyone into science and technology and it's effects on society

Blake Crouch is quickly becoming one of my very favorite authors. I read Dark Matter when it was released, and I was blown away. I finished the first book in the Way Pines trilogy, Pines, last week, and I was once again blown away. Then came this sci-fi thriller, and ho-y crap! I was absolutely overwhelmed with delight. This is a book I will reccomend to anyone and everyone that asks me what their next read should be.

Recursion alternates between the perspective of neuroscientist, Helena Smith, in the year 2007, and NYPD detective, Barry Sutton, in the year 2018. The reader follows Helena's attempt to cure Alzheimers as she develops a device to retrieve memories, and Barry's investigation of a mysterious disease known as False Memory Syndrome, FMS.

This is an addictive thriller that you will not be able to put down once you start. Thank you so much to Netgalley for sending me an advanced copy!!

Here’s my favorite part about Blake’s books: he has a way of making me feeling like I’m a freakin’ genius. Sure, I always spend the first 50-100 pages confused as hell, re-reading and trying to figure out what’s going on, teetering on the edge of feeling like a complete moron. Happened with Dark Matter. Happened here. And both times, there’s that moment when it all clicks. The science makes sense, I finally understand what‘s happening, and I have this euphoric feeling that I’m the smartest person to ever read a book (sidenote: i am not). Here’s what you should know: if you liked #DarkMatter, you will like #Recursion. The formula is similar to Dark Matter: the story starts at a micro level (a man and his family), a crazy scientific concept is introduced, said scientific concept gets into the wrong hands and is used for nefarious purposes, things escalate very quickly (and by very quickly i mean the last 100 pages completely go off the rails). It is for sure one of the COOLEST books I’ve read this year: un-putdownable, cinematic in scope, and by far one of my favorite sci-fi reads in some time.

A little slow-going for me at first, this book quickly took off in mind-bending and mind-blowing concepts about time and memory and alternate reality via alternate timelines that may or may not have once happened. The book ended a bit disappointingly, but, was overall so amazing, creative, and inventive, that I'm not mad about it. Like Blake Crouch's last book, I was most intrigued by the multiple alternatives we're shown. Such as, if one thing changes, what does that mean for a 70+ year life? If another thing is tweaked just slightly, a whole new timeline is created and changed. I can't imagine how delicate an operation it must be to compose such a story, and weave everything just so. I'm sure a smarter person may have the ability to find more holes, but I was enjoying the concept too much to nit pick. Great read!

“Do you want to change the word with me?”

Mind-bending, smart and very thought-provoking! What would you do if you invented a object that could literally bend time and memory and change the course of history? What would you do with this technology? Those are just some of the questions posed by Blake Crouch in this incredibly action-packed and suspenseful thriller. There is so much discussion of time and space and memory that I feel like I just had a physics lesson. In the very best way!

Barry is a New York City cop mourning the loss of his daughter. His grief has driven him apart from his beloved wife Julia and they both are shells of their former selves. Barry’s grief as a father simply overwhelm him. Then one day he is called to scene of a potentially suicidal woman. That sets off a rapid chain of events that are so mind-bending and creative that I simply cannot imagine where the author gets his ideas from! From New York City to Arizona to Antartica, Barry and a team of scientists rocket down a path that might ultimately lead to the end of civilization as we know it. Can Barry and the brilliant researcher Helena solve the puzzle of the devastating mass “false memory syndrome” that is plaguing the world?

“If we can’t rely on memory, our species will unravel. And it’s already beginning.”

This thrilling story took many twists and turns and I applaud the author for sustaining this very thought-provoking tale to its fantastic conclusion. There is even a beautiful romance at the heart of this story because really, what is life without love?

“Is this real? Is this happening? It can’t be, and yet it feels exactly like living.”

If you have ever experienced deja vu or have been been interested in the concept of non-linear time, you will love this book. It is addictive and suspenseful and I could not put it down. ‘Recursion’ is one of those books that would make a fantastic movie. Calling Keanu Reeves!

“Because memory . . . is everything.”

I read Dark Matter by Blake Crouch back in April (late to the party, I know) and can't stop thinking about it. When I saw that Crouch has a new book out soon, I had to read it. I was not disappointed!

When a mysterious disease starts affecting people's memory around the world, NYPD detective Barry Sutton investigates the growing phenomenon of False Memory Syndrome. Nobody knows how it starts, how it spreads, or how to stop it. He's joined by Helena Smith, a neuroscientist whos background may hold the truth.

If you're a fan of Dark Matter (and honestly, how could you not be?), you'll enjoy this book. Crouch explores memory, time, and what it means, and costs, to get a second chance. You'll want to read this one, again and again, not only to fully grasp the science but because it's honestly that good.

This is the first Blake Crouch book that I’ve read and the first adult science fiction novel that I’ve been able to get through. When I picked the book up, I couldn’t put it down. My mind was blown away, with how good it was. I think he might go to my favorite author list!! I’m telling everyone to read this book. I can only say good things about it. I never read the synopsis of a book, so I had no idea what this book was about. I’m not going to give anything away. Thanks so much NetGalley and Crown Publishing, for allowing me to early review the book. I’m about to start his older book, Dark Matter.

How did it take me this long to discover Blake Crouch. This is an incredible rumination on memory time and what it means to be a person. Incredible!

I might be a little biased but I love all Blake Crouch books. It started with Wayward Pines and continues with Recursion. This book is like Groundhog's Day but a lot more serious. What would you do if you designed something that would eventually lead to the destruction of the world? That's what Helena and Barry have to figure out. Over and over until they get it right. A must read!

I’m only a few pages in but already I can tell Blake Crouch is a skilled author. Maybe I’m the last person on earth to read a book by Blake Crouch? I don’t know why I haven’t read anything by this author sooner but Recursion is a great story to start with.

Here’s the plot:

Memory makes reality. That’s what New York City cop Barry Sutton is learning as he investigates the devastating 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 Smith already understands the power of memory. It’s why she’s dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious moments of our pasts. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent.

As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face-to-face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease—a force that attacks not just our minds but the very fabric of the past. And as its effects begin to unmake the world as we know it, only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it.

But how can they make a stand when reality itself is shifting and crumbling all around them?

I typically do not like anything remotely science-fictionish, so I’m not sure if I’m going to love the technology aspect but since one of my friends raved about it, I’m going to give it a whirl. All of my book blogging friends gave it four and five stars so I look forward to continuing the story later!

Due out this week, order here.

I enjoyed how dark the story got, it really made you stop and think. I couldn't put this book down and just flew through it. It really makes you reflect on your past and choices you've made in your past as well.

If you enjoyed Dark Matter you are going to LOVE Recursion! I'm pretty sure I am now a Blake Crouch fangirl for life and cannot wait to back read his other works and anticipate his future.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Crown Publishing for an advanced copy of this novel.

re·cur·sion /rəˈkərZHən/
noun
MATHEMATICS•LINGUISTICS
1. the repeated application of a recursive procedure or definition.

I think it's fair to say, even if a reader perused every single review of this book, they would not have a clear picture of what's to come. Recursion is so utterly complex and mind-bending, it can't be described except by saying in frustration, "Just read it!"

This book is exactly what I have been waiting all year for -- wholly unique, in-depth, and properly executed. My attention was captured from the first chapter and my mind did not wander. I was fully immersed as a reader should be, anxious to find out what was to come, only to be angry when I would meet an interruption or could not read fast enough. I think Blake Crouch did an incredible job of slowly feeding this story to his readers. The complexity of the plot could have easily been lost in translation, but Blake's intellect and prowess as a writer shines through in the pacing. With touches of romance, suspense, sci-fi, and dystopian stirred together to create one spectacular story, this book will be one to satisfy readers of all genres. As someone who finds conspiracy theories interesting, the subtle expansion on the Mandala Effect as the clear inspiration for this story made me excited. It was fun to get into Blake Crouch's mind for this ride through time and memory. This was time-travel on crack!

Recursion held every facet I seek in every book I pick up. It was literally unputdownable and fully consumed my mind, as I'm sure it will continue to do in the days to come. I rarely hope for books to become movies, because I think it ruins the experience for readers. However, I could clearly see this book becoming a fascinating movie or tv series I would run to see at a moment's notice.

As I rave about this novel, I have to say, there were a few minor issues for me as a reader. To say there is a repetitive nature to this novel would be an understatement. Toward the latter half of the book, I was wishing things could have been sped up a bit or edited down to get to the conclusion. By that point, I understood the intent of the story and was ready to see the characters do something different. These repetitive moments we not boring by any means, but I'm impatient. I also wished I had a chair to go back and make Blake Crouch rewrite the last sentence of this book. Nonetheless, this was a top-notch read and I'm shook (I've never used this word before, but this review requires it).