Logan Ramsey's genome is altered, he is "upgraded", his senses are heightened, he is stronger and faster than ever before. At first there are plenty of questions: Why Logan? Who did this to him? Why do this at all? Once those answers are given and a more nefarious plot is revealed, Logan races against the clock to save the human race as we know it.

This was my second Blake Crouch book and it did not disappoint. The pacing was well perfect for a sci-fi thriller. The action doesn't let up and the plot is continuously moving. I was never bored and devoured this one quickly despite sci-fi not being my go-to genre. Happy to report the science-y bits weren't too heady. I'll definitely pick up whatever Blake Crouch writes next.

Rating: 4 stars

Special thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the ARC of Upgrade for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

To see an author continuously one up themselves from book to book is something a reader lives for. I've been with Crouch since Dark Matter and it is a marvel how he can balance such complex topics while still keeping his stories rooted in reality and overflowing with emotion. Even sci-fi should be about people, and relationships, and Upgrade has this in spades. A feat.

I am a Blake Crouch fan, but this novel missed the mark for me. I could not sympathize or connect to the main character at all. Challenges never felt truly challenging to this character. I will recommend this author, but this book won't top my list of his titles.

I really enjoyed this novel, personally I would highly recommend it. It was interesting and entertaining. It kept me wanting more throughout the entire book- would recommended to anyone

I've always loved her style of writing. Such a great story and kept me engaged throughout. Thank you Netgalley for this copy.

I really enjoyed both Dark Matter and Recursion, but this book didn’t connect in nearly the same way as those books. While I appreciate the amount of work and research that must have gone into writing this book, it just ended up being so boring. It started off pretty well, but around half way through I just found myself wanting to skim. This book just can’t compare, quality-wise with his previous books, which was very disappointing.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

Years ago, in the aftermath of widespread disaster caused by genetic manipulation, the practice of gene editing was outlawed. Logan Ramsay’s mother was the accidental architect of a catastrophe that killed millions. After being pardoned for his part in the disaster and released from prison, Logan took a job at the Gene Protection Agency, bringing in gene-splicing criminals. When a nighttime raid turns out to be a trap, Logan is infected with a gene-editing virus, which seems to have had no effect on his genome. But then he starts noticing little differences, both physical and mental. He’s smarter, stronger. And there appears to be a dangerous plan afoot which his transformation is only the first step in – a plan that only he has the power to stop.

This was my first Blake Crouch sci-fi novel and I loved it. I’ve seen several reviews saying this one isn’t as good as the others, but that just makes me REALLY excited to read the others. It’s a fascinating exploration of the concept of gene editing, as well as a look at what it means to be human, and the cost of becoming something more than human. The way that Logan’s narrative voice and the writing style shift as his mental processes evolve is also really interesting. The year this novel is set in is never stated, but it’s a near-ish-future setting, and many parts of the world are still recognizable – and both the improvements to society and the dystopic aspects of the novel feel very plausible.

Overall, a gripping and thoroughly enjoyable read. I can’t wait to dive into his other sci-fi books.

Representation: lesbian characters

What makes us human? What part, if changed or enhanced, would turn is into an all-new species?

Blake Crouch asks this question in his latest novel, Upgrade, and it really got me thinking. The difference between us and certain other species is only a 2% difference in our genome, so what would it mean for the human species if our genome were to be 'enhanced' and it ends up creating a 2% or more difference in our genome?

Another question he poses, this one is a morality one: would you be okay with potentially killing 1 billion people if that meant saving the other 9 billion and the human species as a whole?

That gave me a lot to think about. What some scientists were okay with doing was horrifying.

It also made me think, this is almost the opposite of what Dan Brown's villain in Inferno is worried about. There, he's worried about "overpopulation" of the world, where here in Crouch's world, the world is already at 10 billion people but possibly will end because of people's actions.

Anyway, I love books that make me think or open my eyes to something new or teach me something, and this book did all that while being an entertaining, fast-paced read, so I can't recommend it highly enough!

And as always, I already can't wait to see what Blake Crouch does next.

After an initial attempt, I was unable to connect with this book on a level that would allow me to finish it and leave a fair review. Others will surely enjoy this more than I did.

This was my third Crouch novel (after Dark Matter and Recursion), and I went in with sky high expectations. While I enjoyed the book, I was left feeling that Mr. Crouch may have bitten off a bit more than he could chew with this one. Still great, it just felt like there were a few rough edges that could've used a bit more sanding down. That said, I can't wait to see what he does next!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

What would it look like if humans could reach their full potential as a species? The action-packed 2011 film Limitless asked the question, and Bradley Cooper showed us a man using almost 100% of his brain to full effect. Now, sci-fi author Blake Crouch offers a tweaked version of that concept with Upgrade.

After Logan Ramsay is injured on a raid-gone-wrong, he’s sure the rogue geneticist that triggered the bomb altered him somehow. He’s processing things faster, beating his daughter in chess (previously a rare occurrence), and reading books at a breakneck pace. He begins to suspect his late mother, whose genetic experiments led to a famine that killed more than 200 million people, might have been involved in the creation of this genetic upgrade. But gene editing is outlawed following the famine, and shady organizations want to keep Logan in custody to study his transformation. They succeed for a month until a mysterious figure breaks him out and kickstarts a genetic treasure hunt with world-shaking consequences.

Upgrade feels coated in Blake Crouch’s signature style. I mention it first because his prose could be make-or-break for many readers. For me, it’s a win. Crouch’s writing has a velocity you’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere. His sentences move by in flashes, fragments bridging the gaps between ideas. Reading his work feels like you’re wearing rollerblades, have a rope tied around your chest, and the other end is attached to a truck peeling out. With Crouch at the wheel, you never know when you’ll be whipped around a turn or launched into completely foreign terrain. Still, you feel comfortable in his steady hands. His eyes are on the road; you may not see where it leads, but you’re happy to let the wind whisk by your face as the plot speeds by.

None of this is to say that it’s easy to forget or miss things. Instead, Crouch plows through his stories with a speed that makes Upgrade feel like an action movie. Every page offered new entertainment, and when it was over, I felt a surge of adrenaline followed by a come-down laced with relief.

My favorite element of Upgrade was Crouch’s descriptions of Logan’s upgraded abilities. As Logan comes to terms with how he’s changing, Crouch describes his train of thought and strings of actions in a way that feels utterly real. I mentioned Limitless in the intro because the stories are cut from the same cloth. While I enjoy both, Upgrade takes the cake with specific regard to its portrayal of heightened human cognition. Logan’s thoughts are laid bare, and the reader can easily grasp his understanding of the changes occurring in his mind and body.

The characters are one of only two minor complaints I have about Upgrade. Crouch is known for scientific thrillers, and he delivers that here. The characters are exactly as fleshed-out as they need to be. You might get one or two defining details about a supporting cast member while you get three or four about a more important player. And that’s completely fine! If you want a character-driven romp, Upgrade won’t be your cup of tea. But it has plot for days, and it’s riveting from page one straight to the end.

The second minor quibble is the scientific descriptions. Genetics is a complex field even among the vast kingdom of science. Crouch has done his research. He reins it in pretty well, but there were sections I had to gloss over due to their hefty scientific content. I appreciate when an author does the legwork and implants real scientific concepts into their work as Crouch has here. For the most part, it clicked in Upgrade, but about 205 of the scientific explanations were lost on me.

Before I conclude the review, I want to give a shout-out to the setting. Upgrade takes place in a near-future ravaged by the famine Logan’s mother wrought on the world. Climate change, disease, starvation, and any number of other issues have only contributed to the ongoing downfall of humanity. Towns scrape by on minimal resources while images of the old world crumble to dust. All the while, self-driving cars and drones deliver people and goods to their destinations. Meat is a commodity reserved for those with money. The normal folk have to make do with cheap synthetic meat. Crouch crafts a world that’s easy to imagine in our very near future. Juxtapose this with the fact that genetic research is now illegal, and it paints a dark picture. The one field of science that stands to solve many of humanity’s problems has been barred because of a freak accident and a tragic loss of millions of lives. Blake Crouch uses his setting as a way to ask important questions about morality and ponder solutions to problems that could very well bring humans to extinction.

For the reasons above and many others that I won’t dare spoil here, I loved Upgrade. Blake Crouch has cemented himself in a permanent slot on my annual TBR. his stories move quickly, engage with big ideas, and never overstay their welcome. Upgrade fits the bill just as Dark Matter did before it, and I’m excited to dive into his other work.

Blake Crouch has done it again!! Upgrade is yet another science fiction thriller masterpiece, in a collection of masterpieces. This novel is a fast-paced story about a g.man that was recruited to work for a fictional government agency that tracks and controls gene alteration science after a failed experiment alters the world population. In a novel revolving around a subject matter that most "normal" people know little about, Crouch manages to explain the science while moving the plot at breakneck speed. The only caveat to this statement would be the ending where, as all science fiction stories, the protagonist goes introspective and becomes a tad preachy regarding the implications of scientific tampering in efforts of the "greater good" and the last complications of failure. All in all, Upgrade is an imaginative and well-researched adventure from start to finish.

This one was a big DNF for me. I wanted to love it and I wanted to keep going and try to get past my issues with it but when I had no urge or desire to continue reading and I kept getting a headache while trying to digest the science behind it. I decided to DNF.

I absolutely loved Dark Matter and Recursion by Blake Crouch so I was super excited to get a copy of this book from Net Galley to read before it was released. My favorite thing about Crouch's books is that they definitely fall in the Sci-Fi category but they are not SO heavy laden with scientific terminology that they are difficult or confusing to read for me (someone who's worst subject in school was probably science!) The science in them is extremely believable as well: this book focuses on the fact humans have developed a way to tweak genes and DNA to change species for better or for worse which I thought was very interesting. The book itself read very much like a thriller and had a lot of action in it, but also still had a lot of focus on family and relationships - Logan's troubled past with his mother, his new battle with his estranged sister, and his struggle to watch his relationship with his beloved wife and daughter slip away from him due to his upgrade. There is an overarching theme in the book about the world being doomed because us humans are killing ourselves and the earth (ho-hum, blah blah, lol) and the major action scene at the end of the book got a little excessive to me, but this was still an enjoyable read for me. I liked his first two books a bit more than this one, but at this point I would say Crouch is an auto-read author for me because I really enjoy the change up to a sci-fi genre with the interesting stories he comes up with!

"The only thing real is survival."

This is a twisty one that will leave you wondering what the right answer was. The world as we know it is breaking down. Through genetic splicing and playing God a little, a scientist has broken down a whole section of our foodline. Millions have starved and we've never gotten our output back in line with that's needed to keep billions alive. With food shortage, there is also extreme weather and other events. But this story is beyond all that. We're already on the other side where basic parts of society are starting to break down.

Logan's mother was the scientist that engineered the change that lead to the first mage food shortage. But his mother went missing, presumed dead and Logan took the fall. After doing is time in prison, he's out now and is a part of the government keeping an eye on scientists making sure they don't do anything rogue again.

But a lead goes wrong and Logan is explosed to something that is changing him. But is he the future? It was a challenging question. What do we do as the planet breaks down? As we move to not change enough to save the coral reefs, the polar bears, the fish - what will happen? When is it all too late? And if we find a magic pill, something that alters us but moves us to action, do we use it or ignore it?

I liked the tough questions, the near non-stop action. I liked Logan's POV and I appreciated both his humor and realist personality. The family dynamics were interesting and I enjoyed exploring the world. This one made me think just as much as it made me a bit sad. But it's an adventure of a read and one I greatly enjoyed. I felt hooked to the page and always wanted to read another chapter because I wanted to know how it would all conclude. I loved this one!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Blake Crouch proves why he is one of my favorite authors. I've been waiting impatiently for a new release from him and Upgrade didn't disappoint!

I enjoyed the story itself but, for me, there was way too much scientific talk and explanations about DNA that I got bored, found myself skimming, or just moving onto another book then going back. But the story was excellent. It was a page turner about the halfway mark. Without giving too much away, it's a family affair, changing the human DNA to try to save the world. But what one person thinks is necessary to save the species, another disagrees. Who decides who can play God and who is right?

But THIS right here got me: "Humans have had 300,000 years on this planet. We lived from the Stone Age to the space age. We split the atom and sequenced our own DNA and built machines that could think. But for all our progress, ten million people die of hunger every year."

AND THIS sums it all up: "...but, what we need to survive as a species is the ability to care about strangers."

I received this book free from NetGalley to review and provide my honest opinion.

Blake Crouch seems to be the bridge between readers who love sci-fi and readers like me who like to branch out but have no real interest in science. While Upgrade was jam-packed with science, it's easy to skip or tune out those bits without missing any of the actual story, which is exactly what I'm looking for in this genre.

This book was a bit slow to start from me, but I was always interested enough to see where it was going. And let me tell you, it was a fun ride. Crouch is an excellent writer, and as I listened to the audiobook I could actually see his words playing out as a movie in my head. (By the way, I would LOVE for this to be adapted into a movie!) The action scenes were especially incredible, and I couldn't help but think how well written they were as I listened.

I like that Crouch puts us in a near-future that is believable yet frightening, and really makes us think about the repercussions of science's advancements at the hands of fallible humans. Upgrade would make an excellent book club pick as there is a lot to unpack, and there are certainly arguments to be made for both sides.

This was by far my favorite of Crouch's novels, and I'll look forward to his next.

Crouch’s newest sci-fi novel dives into what would happen if you had your genome “upgraded” on various different levels such as intelligence, concentration, and the need for rest, to name a few. Even more so, what would happen to humanity if the entire population was targeted for this upgrade.⁣
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This was definitely a thrilling concept and one that I was interested in, but I did find certain points in the book to be a little repetitive and slow. I would still recommend to those who are fans of his books, though. If you’re new to Blake Crouch, start with DARK MATTER. That one is a favorite of mine!

Thank you so much for the copy of Upgrade! I am not sure if either my expectations were just unreasonably high (I have been the biggest Blake Crouch fan) or if I saw too much PR on it, and so the 'hype' also contributed to my high expectations but I didn't love this book as much as I have in the past. I think my main issue with the novel was that I always felt at arms length, I was never 'sucked in' and fully immersed in the tale.


Thank you again for this opportunity,

Chanel