Recursion

User Reviews

Nilufer Ozmekik

Rating: really liked it
Congratulations for winning of best sci-fi category from goodreads choice awards 2020! This is one of my favorite books of the year!

Five OMG I’m suffering from brain cells bleeding and explosion of my last standing grey cells, what the hell I just read and who am I ? stars!

I know the drill but let me rephrase one more time! This is not an easy, soft, sunshine and rainbows reading!

In my opinion people who are brave enough to dive into this journey should put themselves an IQ test and discover their cognitive skills. ( luckily I read the quantum physics for dummies before the beginning but I feel like I can be great cast for future dumb and dumber movie if they will ever produce the third installment)

So this book is amazing combination of time traveling, alternated lifetimes, Minority Reports meet Groundhog Day versus Black Mirror and Back to the Future kinda fascinating science fiction crashes into thriller and romance starting with an effective and memorable suicide attempt scene.
A woman suffers from FMS ( false memory syndrome) who thinks her child was being erased, her husband denied her existence so there was nothing better than jump and end her life. But she had small hope in her heart, her husband could come to rescue her but when he didn’t show up, she didn’t want to fight anymore and.... Yes, this book starts with jaw dropping scene and you’re hooked!

It’s addictive, unputdownable, nerve damaging, exhausting ride! You wanna know what’s going to happen and think about yourself if I had a chance to save my loved ones by turning back and making my wrongs turn into rights, what would happen!

Saving her daughter from the traffic accident, curing your mother’s Alzheimer disease, prevention of school shooting , saving soldiers from the terrorist attacks are just the samples writer show as in alternative realities that have possible to be changed!

The difference of Recursion from Dark Matter might be romance parts because I really enjoyed Barry and Helena’s love story. Not only they fought to bring universe into the right pattern but also they fought to get back together to be each other’s final word, everlasting love, end game!

This was thrilling, mind bending, provoking book!
Dark Matters is going to be Netflix series and I’m already sure that as a brain numbing project, this book finds its place at big screen on near future!

Highly recommended, smart, different, unique and exquisite book but not for everyone!

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Emily May

Rating: really liked it

But what do you cling to, moment to moment, if memories can simply change. What, then, is real?

Imagine you woke up one morning and discovered that your entire life - your job, your kids, your friends, all your experiences - wasn't real. It still feels real. You remember it vividly. But you also suddenly remember another life; your real life. And you are told that the life you remember is a result of FMS (False Memory Syndrome)-- an illusion created by your brain.

I don't know about you, but that thought is horrifying.

In this book, New York City cop Barry Sutton investigates the suicide of a woman with FMS. She killed herself after trying to make contact with the husband from her false memories and finding him married with a child. How strange it is that she remembers an entire life with a man who exists, but he doesn't seem to remember her at all. Barry finds himself needing answers.

Eleven years earlier, neuroscientist Helena Smith conceives of a technology that can preserve memories and could eventually be a cure for the Alzheimer's that is stealing away her mother's mind. Funded by a mysterious billionaire, Helena builds something that enables people to relive their precious memories. But she never foresees the darker side of the project-- the side that triggers an unraveling of, not only the past, but reality itself.

Needless to say, these two stories collide and it is some mind-bendingly awesome stuff. Crouch has written yet another weird, compelling and oddly romantic book. Like Dark Matter, you can expect this book to get bigger and wilder than you ever imagined before even a hint of a solution rears its head.

I do also really enjoy how the author brings a lot of heart to these sci-fi thrillers. Sometimes sci-fi books feel a little cold and emotionally-distant, but Recursion is ultimately a very emotional and human story. Stories about memories really get to me, because our memories and experiences make us who we are. I am my memories. And one of the saddest things I can think of is not being remembered by someone you love deeply.

A thrilling story with very moving moments.

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Emily (Books with Emily Fox)

Rating: really liked it
UPDATE: IT'S OUT!! Go read it so we can all gush about it!!

(4.5) As always, Crouch knows how to keep you on your toes and does a great job at mixing thriller and sci-fi genre.

A mysterious disease starts affecting people’s memory, giving them memories of a life they never lived. NYPD detective Barry Sutton is trying to investigated how the False Memory Syndrome is spreading and ultimately will come to face Helena Smith a neuroscientist who invented a device that’s changing the world.

Recursion will make you question time, memory and life.

While the characters and dialogues didn’t grab me from the start, I grew to care about them and their story more and more. By the end, I couldn’t put the book down.

The story also became a lot darker than I expected (which I loved!) and the concepts mentioned were fascinating.

If you’ve enjoyed Dark Matter by him, I recommend you pick up this one.

Can’t wait to see the Netflix adaptation!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

chai ♡

Rating: really liked it
me: *finishes reading any book by Blake Crouch*

me: hey what the fuck…..
me: [on the train] what the fuck…
me: [at dinner] what the fuck…
me: [trying to sleep] what the fuck….
me: [in the shower] what the fuck….
me: [breathing] whAt tHe FuCk

Matthew

Rating: really liked it
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way.
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way.

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain.
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today.
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you.
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.

Pink Floyd - Time

I am just going to say it – Blake Crouch is the King of Modern Speculative Science Fiction!

Here is your crown, Your Majesty! We are not worthy!

Imagine trying to follow up Dark Matter with something just as unique and mind blowing? I think I probably would have just stopped there if I had written it. The apex would have been reached. There is no way I could have topped it. Even trying would probably have fallen flat . . . feeling like I just could not have done any better.

To which Emperor Crouch says, “HOLD MY BEER!”

Recursion is just as mind blowingly unique as Dark Matter. And, much like Dark Matter I cannot say too much about why it is awesome and mind blowing without ruining it. So, I will give you an idea of in what way it blew my mind by comparing to a scene from an episode of Black Mirror. This comparison will not spoil Recursion, but it will spoil Black Mirror, so I will put it in a spoiler tag. If you have watched all Black Mirror episodes or don’t care about spoilers, you can click it without concern.

So, my mind was blown in the same way as (view spoiler) Trying to wrap my brain around that scenario is the exact same type of brain wrapping I had going on with this book!

If you loved Dark Matter, you must read this!

If you love speculative fiction/sci-fi, you must read this!

I have no complaints, to me it is just as perfect as I thought Dark Matter was. The only downside is now I will have to wait a long time to see what King Crouch will do next!

Chelsea Humphrey

Rating: really liked it
CONGRATULATIONS- Goodreads Choice Awards Science Fiction Winner!

**********************

"Everything will look better in the morning. There will be hope again when the light returns. The despair is only an illusion, a trick the darkness plays."

I'm convinced that Blake Crouch is THE science fiction/fantasy author of our time. You know, the one that readers pre-order their books without reading the description, the one that 50 years from now people are still talking about, dissecting his plot points and their dual meanings? Yeah, that's Crouch. If you don't agree, then that's ok, I'll respect your opinion. But also, FIGHT ME. While I've enjoyed all of the author's novels to date, Dark Matter is the one that sealed the deal in making me a life long fan. (But also Desert Places) Recursion is another worthy entry in Crouch's SFF productions, and one that felt reminiscent of Dark Matter, which made me a very happy Chelsea. Yes, the plot is unique in it's own way, but it still gave off those complex vibes that are a cross between "exciting, high concept thriller" and "deep, emotional family drama".

"How would I know if one had changed? What would it feel like?"

The premise of this novel is simple: What would happen if the memories contained inside your mind had never occurred? I'm not entirely sure how the author devised the plot for this book, but I imagine it stemmed from a simple question, not altogether different from the one presented above. Once you've read the book, it's easy to see how an entire novel could spring from such an innocent thought. It's clear that Crouch has a way with writing sagas that pull the heartstrings, because all of his ideas that evolve into stories are a delicate balance of intellectually stimulating action and moving, emotional love mingled with loss. The kicker is that the author knows how to write a science fiction that seems so dangerously close to reality, you find yourself turning the last page, shaking your head and chuckling because that could NEVER happen, but secretly wondering if it possibly could.

If you enjoyed Dark Matter and its extraordinary premise, you'll likely fall head over heels for Recursion as well. A few of the same concepts are used in both novels, but each of these books are truly a labor of love in their own, unique way. Once again, I have found myself floored at how a person's mind could concoct such a brilliant scheme, and I'm looking forward to finding out where Crouch chooses to take us next.

*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.

Petrik

Rating: really liked it
Recursion has become the first sci-fi standalone to be included in my favorite shelves.

As many readers probably did, my first experience with reading Crouch’s work was for Dark Matter. I was super impressed by it and after hearing that the author has a new sci-fi thriller that’s highly recommended for readers who loved Dark Matter gave me so much joy; it would be insane for me to not take a look at Recursion. Do note that taking a look at Crouch’s novel can be surmised as reading the novel non-stop until completion. This book was undoubtedly exceptional; it was so good that it made Dark Matter—which I loved and rated 4.5/5 stars—felt like a practice novel so that Crouch has the skill to unleash the full capacity of his brain towards the creation of this cleverly crafted insanity.

Two central characters drive the plot. The first main character is Barry Sutton, a cop that’s investigating the mysterious phenomenon dubbed as False Memory Syndrome (FMS)—a phenomenon that drives its victims insane with false memories of a life they never lived. The other main character, Helena Smith, is a neuroscientist that understands the importance of memory; she decides to dedicate her life to create a technology that could preserve any moment of the recipient’s memories. This is pretty much all I can say regarding the general premise. Reviewing Crouch’s book is not an easy task; there’s a huge limitation on how much of the plot I can talk about unless I risk spoiling something and I don’t want that. To avoid spoilers, I will say this: Recursion is a sci-fi thriller about memories and how precious they are in defining humanity and their sense of identity. Imbued inside this resonating theme was an addictive story about love, loss, ambition, redemption, and life.

“Life is nothing how he expected it would be when he was young and living under the delusion that things could be controlled. Nothing can be controlled. Only endured.”

When I started this book, I knew I would be thoroughly engaged by it and Crouch exceeded my high expectations brilliantly. Crouch outstandingly proved that he’s super capable of writing a fast-paced story that doesn’t neglect crucial characterizations. Dark Matter was thought-provoking and this book held similar philosophical discussions about life and choices but honestly speaking, Recursion resonated more with me because I believe that Crouch has improved as an author; his prose was extremely well-polished and the characters were more fleshed out. I truly didn’t expect this novel to be this evocative and large-scale. There were moments where I felt genuinely sad, terrified, and heart-warmed by what the characters went through. The poignant thought-provoking passages made me reflect on life; the gradual increase in stakes and scope that eventually became more destructive and global as the story progressed fully stole my attention cover to cover. I’ve been having difficulties in my life, it’s almost as if this book appeared at the right timing to brighten my mood by teaching me how to think better moving forward; I’m truly grateful for it.

“Life with a cheat code isn’t life. Our existence isn’t something to be engineered or optimized for the avoidance of pain. That’s what it is to be human—the beauty and the pain, each meaningless without the other.”

Recursion was relentlessly thrilling, unpredictable, and mind-blowing. Crouch’s narrative was utterly unputdownable, the harrowing events displayed were enormously impactful, and I absolutely loved every moment of reading this vivid magnificence. I can vouch with certainty that Recursion broke a new milestone for me by becoming the first sci-fi standalone to be included in my ‘favorites’ shelves with a full 5/5 stars rating. Read this breathtaking novel as soon as you can. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

Sidenote:
I heard Recursion is currently being planned for TV series adaptation by Netflix and I'm so excited for it!

You can order the book from: Book Depository (Free shipping)

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

Melissa

Rating: really liked it
Creative. Though-provoking. Emotionally-charged. Memorable.

Whether you’re a reader that frequents the sci-fi genre, or one that only occasionally takes a risk when it comes to the suspension of disbelief (hello, that’s me!), recognizing and appreciating the level of creativity behind Blake Crouch’s work takes little effort. Time and again, Crouch has proven just how rewarding it can be to take a chance on something different. Something totally outside of my typical. With Dark Matter (one of my all-time favorite books) and now Recursion, Crouch presents readers with a mind-bending reality. While each book provides its own unique and fully immersive journey, they share the provocation of deep thought and emotion on the part of the reader.

Fair or not, my feelings for Dark Matter sent me into Recursion with the highest of hopes. Hopes that I thought were going to be shattered early on when focusing felt undoable. A science guru I am not. Wrapping my head around what these characters were trying to achieve with memory recalibration, while simultaneously trying to foreshadow how Crouch would tie the two timelines together, felt taxing on my brain. So much so, I had to take a breath for a few days. Following that brief timeout, I did would I should have from the beginning. Instead of trying to make sense of it all—way too early on—I handed the reins back to Crouch and put my faith in his ability to tell an unforgettable story. And sure enough, along the same vein as Dark Matter, there was no walking away unscathed or unmoved by his words or these characters.

The first tease of the storylines converging was all it took for the pitter-patter of this idealistic heart of mine to speed up. And wouldn’t you know, the two characters in question not only managed to steal my heart, but to hold it captive for the entirety of the remaining pages. It was with hope, fear, and bated breath that this lover of love watched the couple’s pilgrimage play out. There’s something to be said for Crouch’s ability to relay a love story of this caliber within such an intricate and science-based thriller. There are romance authors out there who fail to pull off such an unwavering love; one that transcends several iterations, at that.

“My soul knows your soul. In any time.”

From the very beginning to beyond the final words, Crouch’s exploration of memory, and what it would mean to have the ability to go back and undo those moments that tether our pain, proves to be more than just imaginative fiction.

Life with a cheat code isn’t life. Our existence isn’t something to be engineered or optimized for the avoidance of pain.

That’s what it is to be human—the beauty and the pain, each meaningless without the other.

*Thanks to my #bookbestie Haley for sending me a gorgeous ARC and for ensuring that I didn’t miss out on this mighty piece of fiction. ♥

j e w e l s

Rating: really liked it
FIVE MIND-BENDING STARS

Book readers tend to throw around words like “addictive” and “unputdownable”. But, I'm dead serious about those words. And guys, I’m here to tell you, I read RECURSION straight through dinner last night until I finished at three am this morning. What an intelligent and freakin’ addictive thriller!

The first half sets up the rest of the book and it is crucial to read carefully and try to understand the very simple quantum physics necessary to travel around in time. LOL.😂

I finally thought I had the timelines straight in my mind (without the use of a giant white board)--I wanted to keep it straight, so I read. And read. And cried. And marveled. And cried again. And closed the Kindle. And kept thinking and marveling and sighing.

Who doesn’t want a do-over in life? Personally, I don’t trust anyone that says they live with no regrets. Even if you consider yourself a perfect specimen, I guarantee you have deeply hurt someone’s feelings or perhaps grieved the loss of a loved one. If those aren’t regrets, then you may be a sociopath.

What if you could go back through your memories and “fix” them? Change events in order to protect children, countries, civilizations.

This is the question RECURSION poses to the reader. As wonderful an idea as this is, there are, of course, consequences to changing history. Blake Crouch turns his incredible imagination loose in his latest thriller and your mind will be racing trying to keep up him.

RECURSION is set in 2007 and 2018, this isn’t futuristic. Helene, our genius scientist, works to discover a cure for Alzheimer’s and you will find yourself constantly wondering if this memory recapture business is actually a real thing now. (IT IS. READ THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IN THE BACK!).

I love sci-fi that reads like it could be factual. I love sci-fi with colorful, endearing characters. I love sci-fi with the entire world’s future at stake and these two characters must save us. I love sci-fi when those two characters carry on an epic love story to end all love stories. ❤️

I love RECURSION. I think I love it more than Dark Matter. And I never thought I would say that!

Hey, all you influential readers: this is still available on NetGalley! Grab it before it is too late! NETFLIX already bought the movie rights and it is gonna be HUGE!!. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for allowing me to read and review the advanced copy of RECURSION. All opinions are mine.

Yun

Rating: really liked it
Oh gosh, I'm slightly shocked that I didn't love Recursion. I've been looking forward to this ever since I read Dark Matter, so to say I'm a bit disappointed is an understatement.

(Note: As usual, this is a 100% spoiler-free review. However, I couldn't talk about the book without referencing some events in it, so I've very carefully spoiler-tagged everything. You are safe to proceed if you haven't read the book. Just don't click on the spoilers.)

The premise is certainly intriguing enough. Detective Sutton is investigating False Memory Syndrome, where the victims suddenly come into possession of vivid, intense memories of lives they've never lived. Ten years prior to that, we also follow scientist Helena Smith as she works on creating technology that will allow dementia patients to store memories and access them at a later date.

That all sounds good, but then we get to the crux of the science for this book: (view spoiler) This is explained by some odd interpretations of quantum mechanics, but the explanation doesn't actually work for me. Obviously, being that this science fiction, there's a lot of leeway on what could be real. But unfortunately, the way it's explained in the book can't ever be real. (view spoiler) Also, the science doesn't make sense, even within the book's universe. (view spoiler)

The story is very ambitious, maybe a little too much so. Along with the scientific impossibility, there's also a lot of scientific jargon and philosophical musings meant to sell the reader on this idea. But it just comes across as a lot of mumbo jumbo, at least to me.

However, I'm willing to stop being a wet blanket and suspend my scientific disbelief, if only the rest of the story was great. But the rest was over-the-top too. The thrills felt artificially amped up, with lots of random craziness thrown in just to keep it all going. It soon became exhausting. (view spoiler) This happened multiple times. My eyes rolled so hard, I might've bruised them.

No doubt following up Dark Matter is a tough task. And I wonder how much of my feelings of this book is tangled up in my love for Dark Matter and my high expectations going into this. Also, writing about (view spoiler) is extremely challenging, and this just didn't gel together into a cohesive story for me.

Still, even for all my complaints, I guess I did find it to be decently entertaining, if a bit silly, for the most part.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
See also, my thoughts on:
Dark Matter
~~~~~~~~~~~~

MarilynW

Rating: really liked it
I'm looking forward to reading more books by Blake Crouch because I enjoyed Recursion so much. We follow NYPD Barry Sutton and neuroscientist Helena Smith through decades and decades and decades of memories. They know the world is being destroyed due to Helena's invention and they try over and over to stop the destruction, with heartbreaking results, each time.

Helena invented a "memory" chair that was intended to allow a person to save memories for later when they might be suffering from dementia or Alzheimer disease. But Helena is running out of time and funding, to complete the project, until she is contacted by a secret benefactor, who is willing to give her everything she needs to finish her project. At the same time, Barry is encountering suicides due to False Memory Syndrome and his investigations set him on a path that collides with Helena's invention.

I didn't let the technical and scientific talk hold me back from enjoying this book. I trusted the scientists and the characters, who studied the phenomena that was taking place, to provide the details I needed to carry the plot forward. What I really liked about the book were the characters of Helena, a woman so focused on her work that she rarely looked up, and Barry, father of a dead girl, who was never going to get over the heartache of losing his daughter. As these two characters come together, more than once, their concern for the welfare of others and their relationship with each other, kept me reading to the very end.

Pub June 11, 2019

Thank you to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC.

Susanne

Rating: really liked it
3 Stars.

What can I say about Blake Crouch’s new book Recursion? Well, it’s got “a Whole Lotta Crazy Going On!”

Can you say, do-over? Are your memories to be trusted? What happens if your memories are replaced with new ones and you keep re-living your life over and over?

Just ask NYPD Detective Barry Sutton, whose life has been in tatters for the last several years, ever since the death of his daughter Meghan. When he is called to the scene of a potential suicide, he learns of something called “False Memory Syndrome.” Ann Peters Voss claims that the life she is living now is not her original, true life. She states that she was once married to someone else and that she had a son and now, in this life, he ceases to exist. At first, Barry finds Ms. Voss’ claims to be incredulous, until the same thing happens to him.

Helena is the Scientist who is responsible for False Memory Syndrome. She finds a way to travel back in time to change memories and in the end, the world. For her, it started innocently, but then doesn’t it always?

Timelines shift, reality becomes obsolete. Human nature takes over.

“Recursion” by Blake Crouch is a novel that was highly intriguing at first, with characters who I was wholly invested in and then became way too technical for me, thereby losing my interest. I personally love Sci-Fi. I read a decent amount of it and tend to watch a lot more Sci Fi on television than anything else, and yet, I felt like Recursion, missed the mark as the novel wore on. The characters are what drew me into the story, yet around the mid-point of the novel the focus on the characters was lost when the timelines kept shifting, which became difficult to keep track of.

What Blake Crouch excelled at in “Dark Matter,” was crafting a well-executed, highly entertaining story about what could have been a difficult subject to understand - and instead he made it extremely easy to comprehend, while including extremely captivating characters to boot. “Dark Matter” was unputdownable! Sadly, “Recursion” was much more difficult to follow and the characters simply didn’t pull me in.

I read “Recursion” with my book buddy Kaceey. I think it might be the first true Science Fiction book we have read together. I loved our discussions about it and look forward to seeing how we feel about other Sci Fi books we read in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley, Crown Publishing and Blake Crouch for an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Published on Goodreads and NetGalley on 6.5.19.

Debbie

Rating: really liked it
The past, the present, and the future walked into a bar. It was tense.

That’s an editor’s joke and it always cracks me up; I love how clever it is. Well, with this book, the past, present, and future walked into my head, and it was tense, all right, but not a good tense. It was tense because I was friggin’ confused. And nothing about it cracked me up or made me think it was clever.

Well, I lie. At the beginning I was all gung-ho. The opening scene is a killer—a likeable cop, Barry, is trying to talk a woman off a ledge. He’s a good cop with a painful past. And the other main character is also likeable: a scientist, Helena, who created a chair so that people who sat in it could restore their memories—she hoped to help her mom, who had Alzheimer’s. There also is an evil guy who has very bad chair plans. The chair is a big, big deal.

At the beginning, there are just two timelines: a present, action-filled timeline, and a tantalizing one created by some cool thing called false memory syndrome, which possibly is contagious. Juicy, right? And at first, oh how I loved that chair! It was spiffy, inventive, magical, smart.

I was patting myself on the back because I was reading sci-fi, damn it, and I was loving it. This Crouch guy can write. Interesting characters, fast-moving plot. I’m so in.

Before I say anything else, I have to explain how I came about reading sci-fi—I who love literary and contemporary fiction. It’s simple: I was stupid—stupid not to have read the blurb. I pride myself in going into a book blind. No spoilers for me, no sirree. I want to be totally surprised. This time, though, I should have broken my rule and saved myself the pain of reading this book. Bad idea to go into it blind, bad idea.

So why did I choose this book in the first place? I blame it on the damn TV. I watched a smart series called Good Behavior, a show about a sexy hit man and his sexy con-woman girlfriend (Michelle Dockery from the TV series Downton Abbey). Every time the credits rolled at the end of an episode, I saw that the writer was Blake Crouch. Blake Crouch, Blake Crouch, Blake Crouch. Zap! Hit me with that cool name enough times, and it’s planted in my memory forever. So when I saw that he had just published Recursion, I thought, hey, why not read it? I loved his TV series. All jazzed, I figured I was settling into a clever crime drama. Wrong! Imagine my surprise when I realized immediately that it was sci-fi. How did I know the writer can do different genres? I’m innocent here.

This book went from a 5 to a 4 to a 3 to a 2, and so did the beloved chair. What a plunge! Wish it had been an exciting countdown instead of a case of falling stars. It was a slow decline at first, but by the last third of the book, I was a maniac. I wanted to be a bossy bitch and tell Barry and Helena to stand up and move, not sit still in that horrid chair. “No no no no no. Do not, I repeat, do not, sit in that chair one more time!!! Step away from the vehicle! You’ve been here and there and then back again just too many times! I’m sick of this! You’re driving me nuts!”

This chair that I once loved? Now I hated it with all my might. Every time they sat, they went to another timeline and the story got completely confusing. Memories were all over the place. We’re not just talking your garden-variety memories—there are false memories and dead memories, too. How was I expected to tell them apart? And to make matters worse, we were told to question reality: I couldn’t tell if the characters were in reality of any sort (and they couldn’t either). Did the past really happen the way they’re saying it did? Or were they in a fake past reality?

You’re supposed to be sad when a main character dies, it’s supposed to be a big deal. But in this book, who cares? You’ll probably see them alive in the next chapter! The characters die and get alive again so many times, it’s ridiculous. It was like they cried wolf too many times: “I died. Feel sorry for me. Just kidding, here I am again. Okay, this time I really did die. Ha! Fooled you again!” Now how can you care about the characters with this going on?!

Oh, and another peeve. Usually, when the characters went back to the past, they remembered the future, which you might expect, right? But sometimes they got all scared and acted like they were clueless about what would happen next. Huh? Why were they scared when they knew the outcome? This just seemed like bad writing, and it bugged me to death.

I know there are people who bounced back and forth through memories and timelines and had a hell of a good time reading this book. I just wasn’t one of them. I wish I could just sit here in my regular (but nonetheless spiffy) chair and erase the memory of reading this book!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

megs_bookrack

Rating: really liked it
A Neuroscientific Thriller for the record books. I feel like I just awoke from a fever dream. Recursion, wow!

What in the actual heck just happened?!

The possibility of this fictional scenario playing out in a future world is utterly terrifying to me. Can you even imagine?

Maybe you don't know what Recursion is about. Honestly, I am not sure I am the person to tell you what it's about, but I shall give it a whirl.

Basically, this novel follows two characters, Helena Smith and Barry Sutton.

Helena is a neuroscientist dedicated to creating a technology that will preserve our memories. Her mother is losing a battle with dementia and Helena is determined to help her before it's too late.

She gets recruited to work for a private company to pursue this research, but when her work proves successful, Helena's afraid of the repercussions it could have should the tech fall into the wrong hands.

And, oh baby, is she ever right!

Barry is a New York City cop, who, when he can no longer ignore its significance, begins to investigate a phenomenon known as False Memory Syndrome, or FMS.

FMS is so powerful, it is causing a significant number of people to take their own lives. It is a mystery as to what the cause of the syndrome is, but Barry is hoping he will be able to uncover its cause and put a stop to it.

When we begin following Barry and Helena, they are in different timelines, but eventually, those converge and a partnership develops.

Helena essentially helps Barry, by filling in a lot of missing pieces to his investigation.

This was such a wild ride. No one does temporal stories like Blake Crouch. The shifting timelines, the examination of time as a construct, dimension, however you want to describe it, it's amazing to read.

Recursion left me reeling. I am so glad I finally made the time for this one. It was hella fun!

I did get confused a bit as it starts racing to the conclusion, however, I'll be honest. There were a lot of jumps and perspectives to try to remember and recall.

I think partly, that may have been because, it got so intense, I was reading really quickly. I needed to know what the heck was going to happen.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, it just makes it hard to let every detail sink in and I think this is a very detail-oriented story.

If you liked Dark Matter, you should definitely check this one out. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Write on, Crouch! I can't wait to see what he whips up next.

Paromjit

Rating: really liked it
Blake Crouch's latest science fiction thriller is a complex mind messing of a thought provoking read. It is intense, time shifting and asks profound questions of identity, memory, and what it is that makes us human. Just be prepared to find yourself buffeted all over the place. I understand that the novel is going to be filmed, and I am not surprised by this, this is a twisted story that just fizzes with energy and vitality. NYPD police officer Barry Sutton tries but fails to prevent a woman leaping off a skyscraper. Despairing and distraught, she spoke of false memory syndrome (FMS) with their vibrant and visceral memories and how her son has been erased, but he had never existed. Is FMS a contagion? A deeply troubled Barry, with his own past traumas, sets out on a journey to investigate.

Helena Smith is a brilliant neuroscientist carry out cutting edge technology research on memories. A well intentioned woman, her mother is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, which drives Helena's ambition and work on a memory chair, where she can record memories and re-implant them. Her project receives a huge boost when a rich philanthropist injects it with the necessary financial resources, but does he have a darker hidden agenda? Barry and Helena drive the narrative until their paths connect. What are the repercussions of having our memories manipulated and replaced? Is it a worthy desire to replace our painful memories? How does this impact our sense of who we are?

Crouch writes a hard hitting, insane, ground shaking thriller, well constructed, full of tension and suspense, that rockets around all over the place with it's ideas and concepts. It certainly holds the reader's attention with ease, although I admit to enjoying Dark Matter more, there are times when this feels slightly more clunky on occasions. Strap yourself in for one hell of a thrill ride, movingly touching on some crucial issues, with its overt agenda of making you think. Many thanks to Pan Macmillan for an ARC.

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