Darryl: You know I just got Limitless on my iPad, I bet I could get it on the tv.
Phyllis: Ooh isn't that the one where the guy becomes limitless?

I generally love Blake Crouch and his books, however this one fell a little short for me. I think he's done better and frankly, maybe needs a little break or an "Upgrade" (you see what I did there?) himself.

I enjoyed it, okay, but it will never have the pull to me like Dark Matter.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Blake Crouch is one of the few sci-fi authors I can 100% trust. He meshes sci-fi with thriller better than anyone and this one may be my favorite one so far. The story follows Logan who ends up getting his genetic material modified from a dirty bomb. What happened to him was the first step to either saving the world from it's self destruction or sinister plan. Crouch does a fantastic job of creating plausible fantastic stories of science/technology and getting us to consider how far is too far. Another exciting, thought provoking thriller.

By far my favorite of the 3 Crouch books I’ve read (and I really loved them all). This one was easier for me to comprehend science wise so I flew through it and can’t stop talking about it!

Thank you, Random House Publishing - Ballantine and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I hate to say but… this one was such a let down for me. I read Blake Crouch’s two other books earlier this year and really enjoyed them! I’m not sure if it’s because I have more of a biology background than a physics background, but the story and the science didn’t captivate me as much as I thought it would.

In Upgrade, we follow Logan Ramsay, a former microbiologist turned genetics cop in this nearly post-apocalyptic 21st century future. After his famous geneticist mother accidentally caused The Great Starvation and nearly wiped out the entire human species, Logan was disgraced and has spent the last 15 years atoning for his complicity in his mom’s crimes… until a raid gone wrong leads to his mother’s last project—upgrading his DNA and leaving the fate of humans in his hands.

There was so much potential for this book to work, but it felt too fast-paced to the point where by the time I finished it, I was left thinking, “wait, that’s it?” So much of the plot happens off-page and the reader is left assuming a lot of things. It’s very science-heavy (obviously, it’s sci-fi), but it felt repetitive. I didn’t connect with Logan or Kara, and I was just glad that during the final conflict something was actually happening. I did appreciate the emphasis on climate change and humanity’s responsibility to the planet, and it did have an important overall message, but reading the rest of the book to come to the final conclusion didn’t leave me satisfied.

Blake Crouch does it again! Another unique plot, fast-paced, keep-you-on-your-toes read. A sci-fi book that leans on science, but is still readable and relatively easy to understand.

"We were a monstrous, thoughtful, selfish, sensitive, fearful, ambitious, loving, hating, hopeful species. We contained within us the potential for great evil, but also for great good."

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the advanced copy!

OKAY WOW! per usual, blake crouch got me back on the sci fi kick 🧬

what I love most about his novels is the easy blend between science, thriller, and emotional capacity. and I legit almost failed chemistry and biology, so you know ya girl here will understand probably next to nothing 😅

UPGRADE was a perfect blend of all of these elements … except for the emotional end. the MCs were not fleshed out at all, and when the reader was supposed to care about the characters, I found the backstories and personalities severely lacking.

however, the plot line of gene editing was so realistic that I could see this happening in our not so distant future - and I think that’s the scariest element of them all 🤪🥴

logan has a battle with humanity ahead of him, and y’all, I was battling alongside him. one second, I was like YES SAVE THE LOWLY HUMANS and two seconds later, I remember all of the BS happening in america and I’m like why would you want to save us 😅

ANYWAY I love blake crouch’s books and I would die to read another one 🫶🏼 his writing is gorgeous!!!

thank you to ballantine books, netgalley and the author for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest t review!

rating: 4 stars
wine pairing: california merlot

I want to say that I’m so impressed with how Blake Crouch writes books. You can tell there is a lot research and thought put into the science behind the story. DARK MATTER was one of my absolute favorite thrillers read this year and completely made me like 🤯🤯🤯🤯

With that said, this one was a little bit of a let down for me. I LOVED the beginning. This novel focuses around the ethics and viability of using gene editing to enhance the human population. As a PhD student in the life sciences, I use gene editing (not on humans though lol) in my thesis research so I found the discussion around this to be so interesting. But as the story went on, it just lost steam.

Part of my problem was I felt like Crouch would use scientific jargon in a way that broke up the flow of the novel too much and wasn’t necessary to the storyline. I didn’t feel connected to the main character at all (and I get why that is the case) but it really took away from my enjoyment of the novel.

Honestly, I also may have just read this at the wrong time. It is definitely a dystopian novel. The story takes place in the aftermath of “the great starvation” and the world is falling apart. It was all just too depressing and too possible a reality.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. I’ve read several of this author’s books in the past and enjoyed this one every bit as much. It was a quick read and kept me interested throughout. The premise was unique and I’ll read more by this author in the future!

I will admit that I haven't been a fan of Crouch's other books. I have really wanted to try them and enjoy them, but I haven't been able to. However, I think this one was different! I really enjoyed this book. I liked the characters, the plot, the pace and the overall storyline. Everything about this book was special and unique. I think that this is his best book yet.

Stop me if you've heard this before. A dystopian future wrecked by climate change and other semi-apocalyptic events. An overreaching police force enforcing questionable laws. And an officer who quickly finds himself turning into the very thing he's been hunting. If you immediately thought of a dozen different sci-fi books and movies, that's completely understandable. Despite how fun a read Blake Crouch’s new novel, "Upgrade," is, I wouldn't call it very original. However, what it lacks in originality, it more than makes up for with intricately plotted twists and turns and plenty of thrilling action sequences. "Upgrade" reads like the literary equivalent of a summer blockbuster movie in the best way possible. It's a compulsive read from start to finish and a perfect book for a summer vacation.

Sometime in the future, all forms of gene therapy, experimentation, and research have been banned after a devastating famine caused by a genetic experiment gone wrong. In charge of enforcing the ban is the GPA, an FBI-esque government agency tasked with tracking down any and all rogue geneticists. After a botched raid, GPA agent Logan Ramsay discovers he's been infected by an unknown virus. A virus that slowly changes his DNA, upgrading his mental and physical prowess and turning him into the kind of anomaly the GPA hunts down. To make matters worse, Logan believes his upgrade wasn't an accident at all. That it's the beginning of something worse, something with a dark connection to his past, and something only he can stop.

Boiled down to its simplest elements, "Upgrade" sounds like any number of similar sci-fi stories. A little bit of "Blade Runner" here, a little bit of "Matrix" there. You get the idea. However, that's not necessarily a bad thing. While "Upgrade" doesn't add much to those well-worn tropes, it never fails to be absolutely captivating. Between the quick pacing, the restrained exposition dumps, the thrilling action sequences, and the moments of tense political intrigue, "Upgrade" hits the ground running and never takes its foot off of the gas.

Sure, the middle of the novel simultaneously feels too short and too dragged out, resulting in a climax that doesn't land quite as effectively as it could have. But there's honestly little to be mad about. It feels like "Upgrade" is trying to be the literary equivalent of a fun blockbuster movie. And in that sense, "Upgrade" succeeds with flying colors.

For as similar as Logan feels to dozens of other characters, Crouch ensures you always feel connected with him. There's never a moment you don't sympathize with him, even when he questions his humanity or does questionable things. To talk too much about Logan’s backstory would venture too far into spoilery territory, and "Upgrade" is a book best read unspoiled. So, keeping it as vague as possible, there's a genuinely captivating family drama at the heart of this book. And it's that drama that helps the book stand out against the crowd of similar stories.

Unfortunately, "Upgrade" doesn't focus anywhere near enough on that family drama. In large part, this is the reason that the middle of the book sags. It's the part of the story where you'd think the author would delve deeper into its themes, exploring all sides of the central conflict. But "Upgrade" only flirts with doing this, as though it's constantly in a hurry to get to its climax as quickly as possible.

On the one hand, this approach keeps things fairly lively. But on the other hand, it keeps the story from reaching its full potential. Despite all of this, though, Crouch does do an excellent job of focusing on the humanity at the center of "Upgrade." Both on a macro level and on a micro level. And those parts of the book prove surprisingly emotional. I wish some of the other characters had gotten the same attention paid to them as Logan did. But sometimes you take what you can get.

Overall, "Upgrade" is an absolutely delightful read. Yes, it's easy to see how it could've been even better, had it focused a little bit more on its themes and dived a bit deeper into some of its interpersonal conflicts. But for what it's trying to be, it's never anything less than fun. It's the very definition of a fast-paced, compulsive read. The kind of book you could easily read during a relaxing summer weekend. It's a tense, action-packed thrill ride that's as exciting as the best summer blockbuster. If you're a fan of similar dystopian sci-fi stories, "Upgrade" is well worth a read.

Finished one of my most anticipated 2022 releases a few weeks ago & it did not disappoint! Blake Crouch is the 🐐 of creating a plot that is wild yet also believable.

Logan Ramsey is the son of a famous geneticist who unleashed new technology on the world: complex gene altering. When Logan’s physical and mental abilities start to get sharper and stronger, he realizes his genome may have been infected and “upgraded” without his knowledge. But he is only one part of a larger scheme that is on track to change the world as we know it … unless Logan can stop it.

This one is fast-paced while at the same time explains the scientific rationale behind the plot - it’s part cat-and-mouse thriller, part “what if the world were like this” science fiction.

Crouch built a complex, futuristic setting: he talks about the high-speed transit system taking people from city to city in mere minutes, billionaires circling earth in low-orbit rockets, and the “Meta Frame” building that rotated social media wall feeds. He also included more frightening elements such as the “GPA,” a militaristic gov body regulating civilian gene editing, and climate change impact across the country, such as Lower Manhattan being completely underwater.

My only (very small!) complaint is I wanted a little more! Not from the epilogue — I LOVED how that was wrapped up in the final pages 🥹 — but I wanted a bit more from the final raid scene. I feel like the book was “go, go, run, go, swerve, chase” and I wanted to extend the final showdown. Although, I was flipping the pages super fast to figure out what happened, so maybe it was a me problem reading too quickly 🤣

Definitely recommend this book for all readers — I will say, my favorite of his still is “Dark Matter” (I think about alternate me running around in a parallel universe almost daily due to that book, LOL) although this one comes in at a close second. Grab this when it comes out in t-2 wks!

WOW. I absolutely love this new novel by Blake Crouch. I’m not usually a sci-if reader, but this was easily accessible to me as Dark Matter and Recursion were. This might be my new favorite.

Upgrade is incredibly fast paced and a puzzle that you’ll be more than happy to dive into as a reader. This reads like a thriller, an unputdownable thriller at that. This book will have you racing through the pages to see what happens next.

This story takes place in a world in a not to distant seemingly future. The world is falling g apart in ways that you can currently see. Deserts are expanding; rain (not snow) is falling in the Rockie mountains, in January; Manahattan is under water and only a fit place to live for the massive homeless community.
Geneticists have learned how to re-write DNA code and are using it to try and improve the world, until it back fires badly. I genetically altered insects were developed to end a crop blight. Instead they kicked off a global famine. Gene editing became a crime and scientists in that field, criminals.
Logan is the son of the scientist who started the famine. He works for the GPA, the police force that captures and monitors gene labs and scientists. Until an "accident" during a raid turns him into one of the hunted outlaws. As he changes he becomes aware of a misguided egalitarian plot, but only he has the ability to stop it before the unintended consequences would cause more harm than the good intended.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine / Random House for the opportunity to enjoy this action packed, sci-fi e-ARC.

Blake Crouch is back with another thrilling science fiction adventure. Logan Ramsey is a complicated and interesting character who works to find and convict people accused of genetic engineering, while also being the son of the most infamous genetic scientists to ever live. When he begins to notice changes to his physical and mental abilities, Logan finds himself on a dangerous and epic adventure to discover who is behind his transformation and what this could mean for the rest of the world.
Upgrade is a compulsive, action packed thriller that explores the meaning of humanity and how we are often our own worst enemy.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

You are saying CRISPR, you are saying genetic engineering, you are saying super humans. And I’m saying YAASSS! Speak to the nerd in me! Tell me that one well intentioned but arrogant mother who likes to play God left a note in her children’s DNA sequence by either exposing them to explosions or “bees”. Tell me how the intelligence comes with baggage of arrogance and some people use it interchangeably. Tell me how scary it is to not know what’s going on in your body when these changes are actually turning into something way better than you are.

Also I could not feel more seen as a fellow engineer: “I scored a 118. Above average. In the top fourteen percent of the world's population. My mother hid it well, but she must have been severely disappointed. Her IQ was rumored to be in the low 180s. I got straight As in high school. Into Berkeley, the college of my choice. I was disciplined. I tried. And then I met O chem. Organic chemistry. I didn't fail or anything. It just didn't come easily. Plenty of students washed out. The top few in my class breezed through, and I should've been one of them considering my ambitions, but my B- was hard fought.” ORGO CHEM COST ME VALEDICTORIAN STATUS WITH SAME B-

I loved this line where God complex was explained perfectly: “"You're making the same mistake she did. Being smart doesn't make people infallible. It just makes them more dangerous.” Problem with today’s world is all those who are remotely smart either stay silent or do idiotic things. Just read this book; it is scary yet mind opening.

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own. Thank you NetGalley!*

This is the third novel I've read by Crouch. The others I absorbed via audiobook - this one, I read as an ebook. I don't know if it was reading it vs. listening, but this one, though good, I found uniquely irritating.

It's the story of a man who is genetically "upgraded" against his will, by someone who believes such an upgrade would save humanity from certain eventual extinction. It's an epic tale, and a great idea, but the delivery fell flat for me. So much time is spent describing Logan's new abilities, it was obnoxious. His character comes off as perfectly righteous, not quite believable even considering his upgrade.

Overall a good book, but I preferred Crouch's previous works.

Technology has progressed to a point where gene modifications are incredibly simple, however they are heavily regulated, mostly due to a devastating incident Logan Ramsay's family was involved in creating. To repent Logan is working as essentially a gene editing police. Following an operation that turns out to be a setup, Logan realizes he's starting to get better at a lot of things, focus, strength and memory. Soon he realizes there is a lot more to why this is happening and it might have really big ramifications for the world if he can't interfere.

This one was incredibly fast paced and made for a great action read! It was a lot simpler in logic than his previous two books so if you're intimidated at all by his books this one is a great start! I felt less attached to the characters than i did in dark matter and recursion, which is the only reason why I've rated a little low!

Thank you so much Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for this ARC.

I’m the first to admit that I am not a sci-fi reader. But after seeing so many great reviews this one, I wanted to try it and see if I would still enjoy it. I did not. There’s a lot of science. And it hurt my brain. But also was super repetitive and predictable.

But I know tons of people who loved it. I tried something new and it wasn’t for me, but I’m sure if you like Science Fiction and Blake Crouch, it’ll be a hit.

Anything by Blake Crouch has been frequently revered by friends of mine, yet I haven’t read anything by him until now. Let me just say…Wow! This story packs a punch. It brings up the realms of possibilities when man plays with human DNA in effort to perfect the species to survive the possibility of eventual extinction. Logan works for the GPA, Gene Protective Agency where they monitor those who try to create and implement viruses and such that would affect human genes. In essence, they are trying to control or regulate human science. Logan became an agent in an effort to overcome the guilt from a catastrophic event in which his mother, a renowned geneticist, caused a mass calamity worldwide attributed to millions of deaths. Twenty years later, during a raid, Logan is exposed to a virus which infuses within him that quickly changes his genetic makeup. He’s been given an upgrade where he is smarter, stronger, almost indestructible. This had been a dream that his mother had talked about in theory. Now Logan is seen as a potential threat to the government and needs to be stopped but there is a bigger threat out there – someone else has also been given the upgrade and desires to implement this worldwide. But Logan realizes there is more to being a super human than high intelligence and he is the only one who can save humanity before it’s too late.
Fast paced, this story grabbed me from the beginning as it wove its way through all the intricacies of science. This sci-fi thriller about the human genome experience had me reading this story in one sitting, staying up quite late. Can your DNA be altered? This book makes you think of all the possibilities and ramifications and that as humans we are not always in control, no matter what which makes some of this scary. I loved it. The characters are well developed and the plot is well detailed. I’m thinking that I will have to check out Crouch’s other books as well now. This is a book that will make you think long after the last page and is certain to garner a lot of excitement for discussion.

Many thanks to #netgalley #blakecrouch #upgrade #randomhouse for the possibility to read and review this book.

WOW!!!! He's done it again, and I think this might be my favorite Crouch novel yet.

Logan Ramsey is changing at his most basic level, his DNA. His reactions are faster, his thoughts are deeper, and his IQ is rising. But if the laws of physics teach us anything, it's that nothing happens in a vacuum and actions will have reactions. As he races to find out what's happening to him, he risks losing his job, his family, and his life. But as answers begin to form, it's not only personal risk on the horizon. Humanity itself might be in danger, with the upgrade sequencing itself in his DNA, he might be the only person that can stop it.

Brimming with excitement and in-depth exploration of human genome manipulation, this sci fi thriller had me up late and whizzing through pages. Perfection in brain bending storytelling, fans of Crouch's other novels won't be disappointed in his latest suspenseful feat.