This was such a cool concept and I loved the characters and all the action. This was my first read by #BlakeCrouch and I’m already eager to read his other books!

***THE SCI-FI THRILLER OF 2022***

This one was un-putdownable for me! Blake Crouch does it again with a sci-fi thriller masterpiece! I was a huge fan of "Dark Matter" but I think I may have enjoyed this one even more!

This sci-fi novel takes playing God to a whole new level. If you could alter the very genetic makeup of humans, would you? If doing so could change our entire existence and give us all a fighting chance, would it be worth it? What about the risks and everything that would be put at jeopardy with such a discovery? The stakes are high, and the plot is thick~ I really like how Blake Crouch takes parts of reality and science and mashes everything together to create such mind-blowing and terrifying plots - his works of fiction really come to life.

Thanks a ton to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for providing this amazing ARC for review!

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 4/5⭐️⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝: This book is quintessential Blake Crouch: a fast-paced thriller with sci-fi elements that aren’t overwhelming to a layperson. I loved the premise of this one, set in the (not-so-distant??) future with a world that is crumbling due to inaction over climate change. The imagery that Crouch provided felt very impending and the crisis itself felt much more grounded in reality than his other two books, which was very sobering to read about.

I absolutely loved about 98% of this book. Crouch has a way of making you question the feasibility of the technology he imagines, and reading this one definitely led me to feeling pretty grim about humanity in general. I found the book to be very fast-pace, especially in the beginning; and I was eager to pick it up every day. If like smart, cinematic sci-fi thrillers, I would definitely recommend this one, and wouldn’t be surprised to see it adapted on the big screen.
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𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞: This is probably the most science-y of the three Blake Crouch books I’ve read, but still very manageable for your average dummy (AKA me). My only other issue with the book was the ending, which I cannot articulate without spoilers so you’ll have to head to goodreads to read more!

“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.”

Blake Crouch does it again! You are seeing this book all over and it really does live up to the hype, although Dark Matter still remains my favorite. I think it’s best to go in blind, but it’s basically about gene editing/manipulation and the consequences that has on humanity.

The book is gripping from the get go and doesn’t slow down. Crouch writes about some very complicated subjects with ease in a very digestible way and while I am a science nerd, I don’t feel anything was too difficult to understand. Some readers just may not be interested in all the technical details. I found it fascinating and incredibly thought-provoking.

“If there’s a solution, it has to lie in rescuing us from our ambivalence. Our apathy.”

Blake Crouch writes some interesting thought-provoking and twisting stories with questions about morality, humanity and what lines a man might cross to be with his family. Upgrade, another really solid stand-alone novel from the author hits on some great questions about humanity and the road some take. Just because man has the ability to control a certain aspect of nature ‘for the greater good‘ should they?

Logan Ramsey grew up with a brilliant mother who tried to stop a famine by using genetic alteration. But like so many of man’s best attempts to help something unexpected happens and the mutations keep going. This caused the “Great Starvation” and 3% of the population was wiped out. But the ramifications are more than they expected, it totally changed how society thought of food and what is considered food. Logan has lived with that cloud over his head for most of his adult life, even though his part in it was minimal. Now he works for an agency that monitors and arrests those who are practicing illegal gene modification. His life is forever changed yet again when he enters a building on a tip only to be hit with an explosion with a gene editing program that Upgrades him into a new king of human. Stronger bones, resistant to all known viruses, clearer memory of all the events of his life and much much more. But now he is illegal and on the governments most wanted list.

Logan and his semi-estranged sister have been tasked by his presumed dead mother to Upgrade everyone in the world in an attempt to save it. But Logan remembers how poorly his mother’s first attempts to save the world went and asks the question, “will making people smarter really help with saving the world?” Logan isn’t so sure no matter how much Kara his sister is. Logan wants to save the world for his family sure, but will upgrading everyone really do that and is he willing to pay the price?

This story was a little different to me than some of Blake Crouch’s others. While there is a lot going on, I was really happy there were some parts I could visually skip through because it was a lot of DNA sequencing stuff and numbers that you got the gist a ton of stuff was changed in Logan but I didn’t need a gene specific rundown for myself to make it believable. It did add to the authenticity of the story though. The beginning we pretty exciting and the last half of the book definitely had a good flow to it but there are parts during Logan’s transformation and subsequent isolation that took a bit more to get into. There is more fighting in this book I think than I’ve seen in some of the others written. It was interesting to see what had become of our world in an alternate not so far from now future in Blake’s mind.

While not my favorite out of all of his works, it is still a really solid story of a man doing his best to save his family, even if it is from himself and save the world. I did like the epilogue as bitter sweet as it was. Upgrade took some extreme steps genetically to play with ideas but I like the questions it asked. Just because you are the smartest doesn’t mean you are the the best equipped to solve the worlds problems and you just might create more with your hubris. I really liked my time with Logan though, he was a good man trying to help the world in spite of the damage he was a part of causing to it. If you are a fan of Crouch’s works, I think you will find so many of the elements that make him a popular writer in this novel.

Crouch is the successor to someone like Michael Crichton, who wrote great sci-fi thrillers that also contained enough science to make the reader think. I didn’t like this book quite as much as Dark Matter, but it was still very good.

If you could upgrade your DNA would you do it? This book will leave you thinking about that and so many other things regarding genetics, science, and the future. The story was fast paced, and I loved it. Open your mind, open the book, and enjoy! I can't wait to see what Blake Crouch brings us next!

This book should not be missed. Blake Crouch has wowed me in the past with Dark Matter and Recursion which are amazing books in their own right. Blake has completely outdone himself with Upgrade. As long as you can get through reading quite a bit of medical terminology, thriller fans will absolutely love this stunning novel. I recommend you do not start reading this book if you have prior plans because you will not want to do anything else until you finish this absolutely breath taking novel. This has definitely been one of my favorite novels of 2022 and Blake Crouch has vaulted himself into the thriller novelist that should be read immediately when he releases his next books. Enjoy and savor this novel. This is a sci-fi thriller that will stick with you long after you have turned the final page. I would rate this book 6 stars if I could. Run to your local bookstore to purchase this book!

Blake Crouch has done it again. He is the master of all things futuristic and science fiction. Like all of his books, this was a 5 Star book for me! I don't know how he could top this work! Brilliant!

Very thought provoking!
Many thanks to Random House Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I LOVED this novel. It was fast, brutal, and heartbreaking. The science was written in an explainable way. The main character was flushed out well. I can't wait to read more by Blake!

Blake Crouch is a master of the accessible scifi-thriller, and this book was no exception!

In the future, genetic manipulation is possible and highly illegal. Logan has his genes upgraded without his permission, and ends up being the one person who can possible save humanity.

Blake Crouch has always done a fantastic job of making you think about humanity, the future of humanity, and how it is possible to both save the world and end humanity.

Read this book. And after that, read his other titles.

“The future was here, and it was a fucking mess.”

Blake Crouch continues to firmly secure his spot as one of my all time favorite authors. While I equally love Dark Matter and Recursion, the scientific threats in those feel much more abstract and not as immediate, whereas Upgrade feels as though it is here and now. And it’s terrifying.

I admire and applaud the level at which these books are researched. It makes them fully immersive, provided you give them the attention to understand and learn as you go along. If you just jump over all the scientific complexities because they’re challenging, you won’t enjoy these books as much as you could.

This was a brilliant portrait of the convergence and divergence of cognition and emotion, and the role they play in humanity. I couldn’t put it down. Action packed as per usual, but equally bringing me to tears with the poignance.

Love love love love love and can’t wait for the next.

Based on the premise of this book I thought I was really going to enjoy it. It started off strong but got a little boring for me very a quickly. The chapters were too long so it made the book seem much slower paced than it was. I didn’t really love the characters of the writing style, and in the end the plot wasn’t all that engaging for me either. I did enjoy the overall message but I think this book just wasn’t for me.

This was very smartly written and hugely entertaining. I cannot believe this is the first book from this author that I’ve read. It will not be my last. ARC from Random House - Ballantine and Netgalley.

As always with Blake Crouch, I find myself engrossed in his stories, despite my general aversion to anything science related. Somehow he is able to make me be interested in DNA, genetic sequencing, and evolutionary changes in Homo sapiens in a way that has me desperate to learn the ending.

"Upgrade" is pretty good! Not my favorite of Blake's novels, but still a good story of genetic manipulation, science fiction, and trying to do what's best for humanity.

I’ve noticed this year I’ve been reading a lot more dystopian fiction on the future of mankind. I know it’s probably because it’s being written about more often now. 𝘜𝘱𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 by Blake Crouch (@blakecrouch1) is dystopian science fiction story and the dystopian parts are so subtle (like shortage of meat) that you can almost think it’s present day. The only thing that’s not subtle about it is that the threat of the end of the 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘰 𝘚𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘯 species is closer than ever. ⁣
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⁣After a sting operation gone bad, government agent Logan Ramsay finds that his genes have been altered. And he’s not the only one. On the run from the very government he’s dedicated his life to, Logan is trying to not only right the wrongs of his mother but to also make sure another gene-altering virus isn’t unleashed on the world, one that may end up killing more people than it helps. ⁣
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⁣As always, I enjoyed Crouch’s story and found it riveting. I’d love to see his works as movies bc I feel like they would translate so well on screen! At the same time, some parts do get a little too “science-y” for me and I find it hard to keep up bc it’s too smart for me 😅. ⁣
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⁣I really enjoyed the epilogue and so much of what the character said resounded with me. I’ve included some of the quotes (swipe to see the slides if interested). I do agree that human beings are only able to care about a finite number of people - BUT I don’t find that a plausible excuse to not want the survival of all races. We are a selfish species and our extinction will eventually come. The question, for me, will always be if we deserve it by that point. ⁣
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Have you guys read this, or is it on your TBR? Do you like science fiction?

⁣Definitely would recommend this book if you like dystopian science fiction!

Thank you @netgalley for the e-Arc!

Save a dying world by surreptitiously installing DNA "upgrades?" Let me think on that for a bit. When it means a billion human beings will be collateral damage? Um...

There's plenty more food for thought in this fascinating tale of a radical plan to keep the human race going for more than the century some experts insist it's got left. Problem is, it's illegal. Following a colossal disaster brought on by Logan Ramsay's brilliant geneticist mother Miriam, the Gene Protection Agency was formed and the practice of so-called gene-editing became a federal crime. Now, Miriam is long gone, Logan is all grown up, married with a young daughter and working for the GPA. When they learn about an illicit gene lab, a team that includes Logan heads out to shut it down. And that's when everything goes haywire and the nonstop action begins in a setting in which half of New York City and Miami are under water, Lake Mead has dried up and the outlook for the rest of the planet looks bleak at best.

When the lab explodes, you see, Logan is injured by sharp objects; soon, it becomes apparent that he's changing. Suddenly, he's physically stronger, has a noticeably sharper mind and somehow has acquired the ability to "read" other people and their thoughts. In other words, his genome has been altered - but by whom? And perhaps more importantly, why?

The answer, at least to Logan, is absolutely mind-blowing and changes his life forever - even more so when he learns of a plan to "save" civilization by way of the aforementioned genetic upgrading. What should he do? Clearly, the world won't survive much longer if nothing is done - but is this the only solution? Should there be a solution at all? Heavy questions with no easy answers for Logan (or for readers, except maybe for climate deniers). Whatever he decides to do, it won't be easy; of course, I'll save the details for those who want to tackle this intriguing and thought-provoking story that I'm glad I had the chance to read. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the pre-release copy to read and review.

Whew!

I was a little hesitant about reading this one because I'm not the biggest sci-fan fan and am pretty intimated by the genre typically. If you find yourself in the same boat as me, please let this be an encouragement to you to give this one a try anyways. While a lot of the super smart science talk was all Greek to me, I think it's all Greek to most people and the book was still very much enjoyable for me.

I absolutely loved the main character and how he had to grapple with really hard decisions that could ultimately save or destroy humanity!

This definitely reminded me of the movie Limitless, which I loved. If you enjoyed that, then I think you'd like this as well.

Thank you so much to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the E-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. It's out now!

4.5 stars rounded up!