Book Blurb:
Upgrade by Blake Crouch: At first, Logan Ramsay isn’t sure if anything’s different. He just feels a little . . . sharper. Better able to concentrate. Better at multitasking. Reading a bit faster, memorizing better, needing less sleep. But before long, he can’t deny it: Something’s happening to his brain. To his body. He’s starting to see the world, and those around him—even those he loves most—in whole new ways. The truth is, Logan’s genome has been hacked. And there’s a reason he’s been targeted for this upgrade. A reason that goes back decades to the darkest part of his past, and a horrific family legacy.
Worse still, what’s happening to him is just the first step in a much larger plan, one that will inflict the same changes on humanity at large—at a terrifying cost.
Because of his new abilities, Logan’s the one person in the world capable of stopping what’s been set in motion. But to have a chance at winning this war, he’ll have to become something other than himself. Maybe even something other than human.
My Review: 3.5 stars
Upgrade by Blake Crouch is another satisfying sci-fi thriller by the master at relatable books in this genre. This one delves into genetic manipulation that makes people smarter, but sometimes that can be dangerous thing. I really enjoyed Crouch’s Dark Matter from 2016, which was my first time reading sci-fi. It was set in Chicago which really appealed to me, and obviously, I went back for more with Upgrade.
This book had me thinking about the science behind genetic engineering. By portraying different examples of how this science can be horrific or beneficial was quite interesting. Actually, as I type this, I realize that it really scares me. This technology, placed in the wrong hands, or used haphazardly, can be deadly.
The author has a certain cadence to his writing. I came to this conclusion as I physically read Dark Matter and listened to Upgrade, yet there was a point in which I felt the main character was the same man from both books. I’m going to find a live interview online and see if he speaks with that same rhythm.
Honestly, this is the only sci-fi author I’ve read, since assigned reading in high school, and it challenges me as a reader to go outside my comfort zone. I love that!
Quotes I liked:
I had extraordinary dreams and an ordinary mind.”
“And I was struck, again, as an outside observer, by how much the members of our species needed one another. All these people out in the cold rain. To laugh and drink. To talk about nothing. it was almost as if that need for connection and touch was our… their… lifeblood.”
“We lived in a veritable surveillance state, engaged with screens more than with our loved ones, and the algorithms knew us better than we knew ourselves.”
