Despite a lot of scientific gobbledygook about DNA, this was enjoyable science fiction. The idea of DNA manipulation to save our species was explored. Some people are given souped up powers, while others die. The story built at a good pace and then the end read like an action movie. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an advance copy of this book.

Best Blake Crouch book I have read! Absolutely brilliant!! Sci-Fi is not my normal genre of books I read! I really enjoy his novels and learn so much from his work, only brilliant minds can create stories like Blake Crouch,

Y’ALL. THIS BOOK!!!! I can tell this is a book I will always been thinking about. What a world. What a fascinating concept. What a ride this was.

On the one hand, I want this level of intelligence. I want to sleep less and be able to read and retain all the books. But this also sounds TERRIFYING. And to set this all in a different kind of pandemic was a stroke of genius.

Because this all felt just so ~familiar. But also not. Because this is what our world could become, if we let it. This is what we’re inching toward.

So I loved this. I’m already a huge fan of Blake Crouch but Upgrade is on a whole other level. And I loved it. Especially the ending! I am so glad I had a chance to pick this one up and I’ll definitely continue to read anything Crouch writes. I miss the horror days but I am loving this sci-fi era and I can’t wait to see what Crouch comes up with next. Highly recommend both Upgrade and anything else by Crouch!!!

And thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review!

An incredible book by Blake Crouch! I have found his books to ask the big questions about humanity and human nature in a way that few science fiction books manage to achieve. His books do it gracefully, articulately and powerfully. This book brought tears to my eyes and it made my heart race. If you are searching for an amazing sci-fi book that looks at what it means to be human- this is the book for you.

Upgrade by Blake Crouch is a story about the fate of humanity and the role human nature will play in its determination.
Bearing the Stain of his family's involvement in pushing the world into a state of starvation and triggering gene protection laws Logan is a man working with a government area to prevent further tragedy by raiding and shutting down illegal labs when his life is turned upside down once again.Now his own genome is changing and no one however close can be trusted. He must learn the intentions of those who delivered the gene upgrade to him and prevent the damage that may be done if they release the upgrade on a wider scale all while wrestling with the line between saving humanity and dooming it to extinction.
Upgrade is a perfect fit for existing fans of Blake Crouch's earlier works but also a wonderful introduction to his writing for fans of science fiction's longest asked question. Is mankind really its own worst enemy?

Upgrade
By Blake Crouch

I really love Blake Crouch’s style of anxiety-inducing science fiction and his latest, UPGRADE is a fascinating sci-fi thriller that I think many readers will enjoy.

In Upgrade, we’re following Logan who, on a mission with the GPA (Gene Protection Act) task force, becomes exposed to something.

Upon healing, he finds himself not only recovering but surpassing his prior capabilities and being “upgraded”.

I loved the entire concept of the gene task force and I felt the science fiction aspects were believable. The writing was crisp and exciting and all of the characters seemed to come to life.

The story was held at a good pace and kept my attention throughout. I could see this book being adapted into a movie or tv show.

Thanks to Penguin Random House Audio, Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for the advanced copies!

Upgrade…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

i loved this book! i think the theme of the book was spot on and i really enjoyed all the science talk. it did feel a little drawn out at times though and i might have liked dark matter more. i will def be reading recursion to see where that stacks up!

I was a bit apprehensive going into this one after loving Dark Matter and being a bit disappointed in Recursion.

Luckily, Blake Crouch did not disappoint!! This was amazing and I may have loved it more than Dark Matter? Yet to be determined

This read like a thriller for most of the book and the plot was just the perfect amount of easy to understand science fiction.

Somehow Crouch is able to get to the bottom of humanity and the struggles we face between species survival, research ethics, evolution, and the environment.

I can’t share a small teaser for the plot here in fear of spoilers so just consider this: Is it ethical to use experimental research to ensure the survival of Homo sapiens?

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

I put off reading this one for awhile, because I knew it was going to be a little bit heavier reading than I can handle right now. I wasn't wrong. Crouch delves <em>DEEP</em> into the science of genetic editing, which was both fascinating and boring at the same time (fascinating as to how to this can be done; boring because I wasn't familiar with a lot of the science terms and science isn't my forté). I really enjoyed the action scenes and the characters. I liked that as Logan became more "upgraded," the writing changed and seemed more advanced (meaning, bigger words, etc.). I enjoyed it, but I don't think this was as strong as <em>Dark Matter</em> or <em>Recursion</em>. I'd probably give it 3.5 stars, and I'm still going to suggest it for people to read.

A creative and brilliant read! Logan lives in the near-future and works for the government in the Gene Protection Agency (GPA). his job is to monitor and arrest those who violate the laws and hunt down scientists that are gene editing.

One day, Logan's world changed. He has been infected with an unknown virus. A virus that is upgrading his mind, body and giving him superhuman intelligence. Who is responsible for this virus?

Logan realizes that it is up to him to fix this and save humanity. He needs to stop this virus from being spread,

Blake Crouch knows how to write a thrilling, fun, sci-fi read! Loved this one and cant wait to see how they make into a movie! Look forward to more by this author.

I usually don't read sci fi books because most of them go right over my head but I did enjoy this book. It had some interesting concepts and gave a terrifying glimpse of what our future could look like.

Thanks to Netgalley for this review copy :) This book is available now!~

So after having been <a href=https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2021217616?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1>blown away by Dark Matter</a> 3 years ago, I was so excited to see anoter Blake Crouch novel. I haven't read Recursion yet, but after yet another mind-melting sciency romp it's definitely on my shortlist the next time I'm ready to have every second of free time consumed by a book.
Seriously, I could not put this down. Once I hit the 30% mark, I had my Kindle app open every spare second, trying to squeeze in a few pages whenever I could.
The premise of this book is that sometime in the not so distant future, gene editing is wildly advanced, and after a well meaning scientist tried to play god and inadvertently caused a famine that killed 200 million people, it's now hella illegal. If you've read the blurb, you know that the main character winds up with his genes "upgraded" against his will and now possesses superhuman intelligence, memory, strength, etc. He is then sucked into crazy plot to inflict this "upgrade on a global scale with end goal of saving humanity from itself, which will of course have massive global consequences, mass death, "only you can stop it" yada yada yada.
If I'm going to be honest, it's a little ridiculous. Some of the characters are over here with 200+ level IQs making decisions that would have had me like ??? If I hadn't been trying to rip through pages as fast as my measley "slightly above average" IQ could handle because i.just.could.not.stop.turningpages
Disclaimer: There is a lot of science thrown into this book, so take that into consideration if you're looking to pick this up. I can't say I understood most of it, but it's presented in a way that makes it approachable and not overwhelming.

Upgrade is fun twisty read tackling the subject of gene editing and the complicated ethics surrounding it amongst the backdrop of an intense cat and mouse game. I enjoyed this book immensely. Heavy on science but completely understandable from a layman’s point of view and super interesting. Definitely makes one think of the upsides and downsides of tinkering with evolution. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Wow! This was my first Blake Crouch book and I immediately have to go back to the archives for more. Upgrade is an inventive sci-fi thriller that had me engaged the entire time. Logan Ramsay is the son of Miriam Ramsay, the infamous geneticist who triggered the worlds biggest mass extinction event. He is working for the GPA (Gene Protection Agency) when a raid goes wrong - he wakes up in a hospital bed and seems to be infected with a virus. When he recovers he starts to realize that he is suddenly more...everything. Stronger, quicker, smarter, faster....
As Logan learns more about his "Upgrade" he starts to realize that it is up to him to stop what has been set in motion.

This was an incredible read - I especially loved the subtle references to the future world that this is set in. It was action packed with nuanced characters, relationships, and stories. It left me feeling hopeful!

Upgrade by Blake Crouch is out now. Even if you, like me, aren't generally reading sci-fi don't miss out on this one!
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the ARC.

Upgrade is another sci-fi winner by Blake Crouch. Main protagonist Logan was hard for me to emotionally connect to, but I was hooked by the heart-pounding action, the fascinating imagined power and scope of gene engineering, the world on the verge of collapse--and the most intense, high-stakes sibling rivalry imaginable.

<blockquote>If there’s a solution, it has to lie in reaching us from our ambivalence. Our apathy.</blockquote>

Upgrade presents a future version of our world in which humans are teetering closer than ever to extinction because of a crumbling environment. SoHo and southern Manhattan are underwater, eating synthetic meat is the norm, and geneticists who have tried tinkering with the human state in a desperate attempt to shift the future of homo sapiens have largely been punished and jailed.

Logan Ramsey is in charge of investigating suspected gene scientists who are up to illegal activity, and while investigating a suspicious situation, he is injured by an odd explosion. In the hospital he has headaches, a fever, and body aches, then his symptoms subside.

In one of several key situations in which Things Aren't What They Seem, Logan realizes that he's been infected by a virus--one designed to make him seem uninfected, then to modify his very genetic structure. He’s becoming stronger and smarter every day--but he’s also being hunted down for potential destruction. And all of this seems potentially linked to his deceased, brilliant mother's life's work--from before she was banned from gene experimentation after things went terribly wrong.

<blockquote>Maybe compassion and empathy are just squishy emotions. Illusions created by our mirror neurons. But does it really matter where they come from? They make us human. They might be what make us worth saving.</blockquote>
Because Logan evolves to a state void of emotions and is focused on physical and mental efficiency, he feels more like a fascinating machine to be admired than a complex character to care about. He's driven by dispassionate science, reason, and knowledge. He expresses complex, messy feelings early in the book, and he recognizes an echo of this toward the end, but because he behaves largely like a robot with a human appearance, I didn't feel emotionally invested in his character.

The stakes couldn't be higher for Crouch's protagonists--pending global destruction and the elimination of the human race. So everything that occurs is a Big Deal, and Upgrade offers detailed, heart-stopping chases; the most intense sibling rivalry imaginable, interesting scenes of superhumans' outsmarting each other; and noble desires to "save the world" that conflict with others’ similar desires in crucial ways--and with potential global consequences. Crouch's crash course in a dramatic potential world of genetic advancements and transformation is captivating.

<blockquote>Never before had I seen Homo sapiens so clearly—a species, at its most fundamental level, of storytellers. Creatures who overlay story on everything, but especially their own lives, and in so doing, can imbue a cold, random, sometime brutal existence with fabricated meaning.</blockquote>

I received a digital advance reader copy of this book courtesy of Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley.

You can find my rave review of Blake Crouch's Recursion (mentioned in the Greedy Reading List Six Riveting Time-Travel Stories to Explore) here and my review of the wonderful Dark Matter here.

Upgrade by Blake Crouch is a Sci-Fi thriller that asks the question: what if humanity’s only hope for a future lies in genetically engineering a way to make people think smarter?

Logan Ramsay is happily married with one daughter. He lives in Washington D.C. at a time set in the near future. He works as a special agent for The Gene Protection Agency. The GPA was formed after a failed gene editing experiment created by Logan’s late mother caused a great famine. During a raid, Logan is blasted by a device of unknown origin. Over the next few weeks, his DNA dramatically changes. He becomes smarter and healthier. The GPA puts him under house arrest and tells his family that he has died. Eventually, he is rescued by the only other person who has received the same upgrade.

Logan and the other person come to an impasse on whether they should use their knowledge to upgrade mankind. The other person thinks it will be the only way to keep humans from extinction. Logan thinks that it will take the humanity out of humans and does not want to do it. The other person decides to kill Logan to keep him from preventing a worldwide upgrade. Thus a game of cat-and-mouse ensues.

I mostly enjoyed this story but felt it got bogged down with too much scientific information on DNA and gene editing. 3.5-stars rounded up to 4-stars. Many thanks to #NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books for my advanced reader copy. This book was published on July 12, 2022.

What a twisty adventure this was and I thoughly enjoyed every page. I especially loved that ending
I highly recommend this fast paced sci-fi. it was so good it will keep you on the edge of your sit.

P.S. I would have read this so much faster had life not got in the way.

My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Speculation about the brain’s capacity has long been a topic of science fictions writers. We daily live with differences in intelligence, education, diminishing capacity and disease as we age, and wonder about environmental factors on what our brains are capable of doing. Mayim Bialik is hawking brain supplements. The idea that we only use 10% of our brain’s capacity, however, is a well-studied and debunked myth, but it’s fun to play “what if?” In the 1956 classic Forbidden Planet, Morbius artificially doubles his intellect by the use of an alien relic. Recently both Luc Besson’s Lucy and Limitless based on the 2001 novel The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn toyed with the fictional concept of using the brain to its fullest capacity through the use of a drug. Bestselling author Blake Crouch takes a new approach to this theme in his latest book Upgrade by changing the actual structure of our DNA to increase not only intelligence, but improve other physical traits as well through the vehicle of a virus.

My father tested at a genius level intelligence quotient (above 160) –I did not– and it was as frustrating as it was interesting to watch the way his brain worked while I was growing up. I totally agree that people’s brains work differently and that IQ is a very narrow method for trying to quantify that process, but it was clear to me and anyone who knew my father that he was working on a whole different plane. One of my favorite games as a child was to rattle off long lists of numbers for him to add or multiply. It was faster to tell him the problem than I could manually input it into a calculator. Perhaps this is why Upgrade was appealing to me. I share my father’s DNA. Could mine be altered to be like his with a few tweaks? Could anyone else’s?

Main character Logan Ramsay has a just slightly higher-than-average IQ at 118, this doesn’t even meet the threshold for gifted, but is nowhere near his mother’s incredible intellect. Her fictional brain ranks her as probably the smartest person in the world. Working in her chosen field as a geneticist, she tries to genetically modify Chinese rice to stop a specific kind of rice blight. Her motives were good. Noble. Her delivery system could have amazing impact on world hunger. Instead, her creation mutates unpredictably and creates a plague which nearly wipes out the world’s food supply, even changing weather patterns. As a result, the world outlaws genetic modification to people and food. Also trained as a geneticist, having worked with his mother, Logan is forever attached to her crime.

Logan has worked to disassociated himself from his mother’s crimes and now works for the government, uncovering and arresting people who violate the anti-genetics laws. As a scientist, this work is painful, but he also feels it as a form of atonement. Logan loves his wife and child and strives to be for them what his mother never was for him. To protect them…until he begins to notice changes in himself. Now the government agency he works for wants to study him.

In most of stories where the author increases a character’s intellect, they generally decrease emotions, like being smarter means you have to be more logical and therefore don’t have capacity for emotions anymore. Even Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory seems to suffer from a lack of empathy. I’m happy to say that was not the case with my father. He was as loving and compassionate as he was brilliant. Crouch’s character seems to struggle, but does hang on to emotions, especially the love of his family, through a majority of the story. While he does report some diminishing, love is his highest motivator. I applaud that Crouch wrote his main character this way. Still, he writes himself into an inevitable ending rather than taking a twist like Limitless. The writing is good, it’s both bold and imaginative. Reads like a thriller, full of action and not bogged down in the science which, to me, is interesting. Excellent read, liked it a lot.

My Rating: B+ Liked It A Lot

Review of Upgrade by Blake Crouch

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I went into this with a bit of hesitation. I loved Dark Matter but didn’t love Recursion. I am so glad I did read this one because I really enjoyed it. It was so fast paced and action packed I flew though the audio thanks to @prhaudio and @ballantinebooks and also read it on @netgalley in the evenings. What made it so good other than the main character was that it seems like this scenario could actually happen which is terrifying.

Logan works in DC for the Gene Protection Agency after a dark past with a mother who altered genes and incidentally killed many. But when he suddenly develops fevers and symptoms he realizes his DNA has been altered or in this case “upgraded”. He is sharper with better senses, significantly smarter, doesn’t need sleep etc. Then to his horror he realizes an evil plan doesn’t end with him, but rather starts with him and he may be the only one who can stop it.