Upgrade by Blake Crouch // Book Review

“We were a monstrous, thoughtful, selfish, sensitive, fearful, ambitious, loving, hateful, hopeful species. We contained within us the potential for great evil, but also for great good. And we were capable of so much more than this.”

This new novel from Blake Crouch was definitely different than the ones he’s written in the past. However, it felt like I was watching a movie and hope that someone does pick it up one day (probably will). Thanks Ballantine Books for the gifted copy.

Here’s more about Upgrade

“You are the next step in human evolution.”

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.

And even as he’s fighting, he can’t help wondering: what if humanity’s only hope for a future really does lie in engineering our own evolution?

Intimate in scale yet epic in scope, Upgrade is an intricately plotted, lightning-fast tale that charts one man’s thrilling transformation, even as it asks us to ponder the limits of our humanity—and our boundless potential.

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My thoughts

Like I mentioned earlier, this was defintiely different than the Blake Crouch we’ve known in both Dark Matter and Recursion. Instead of focusing on theories within quantum physics, he’s decided to go the biology and genetics approach.

A lot of this book feels like it’s been influenced by the events of the past few years. From the pandemic, to climate change, to social justice issues, the story envisions an entire breakdown of humanity, it creates a futuristic America where humanity is on the brink of destruction. And in this world, science has caught up to science fiction as humans now have the capability to manipulate their genes. It’s kind of crazy to think that you can edit yourself and change your face, make you more intelligent, or even create new species of animals, and yet, we are still down the path to the end of our species.

In this world, Logan is an agent for the GPA, Gene Protection Agency, who works to stop unlawful use of gene manipulation. On a routine investigation and raid of a possibly illegal genetics lab, Logan is attacked. He contracts a random virus leaving him in quarantine for fourteen days.

Once Logan has recovered from the virus, he slowly starts to change. He remembers every memory from his life as if they just happened. He can recall every piece of writing he’s ever read right down to the very quotes. He can think more precisely, more logically, and can also suppress his own emotions. He’s an enhanced version of himself and he’s made this way by design. He realizes that his genes have been upgraded, but he doesn’t know why.

From this point, the book turns into an action movie. You have your main character who escapes the GPA in order to find out why he was infected and what will happen to him in the future. Honestly, every bit of this story felt like I was watching a summer blockbuster action movie starring Tom Cruise or something. There were cyphers and codes to go through. There were shootouts and melee fights. There were even some touching moments with Logan and his family. It was the perfect combination of science fiction with thrilling action movie and I devoured the crap out of it. I don’t think my eyes read that fast in my life.

I also loved Logan as the main character, grasping between his logical thinking brain and his emotions. I loved seeing him push and pull between the two and the imagery really reminded me of Mr. Spock from Star Trek; a man stuck between the intelligent choices and the emotional choices Something I love about Blake Crouch’s stories is how human he makes his characters. They always have someone they are fighting for and it’s the same in Upgrade as Logan can’t let go of his family. It truly made it so much more personable especially when it gets heavy with the science.

This was such an absolutely thrill to read and I can’t believe I devoured it so quickly. I loved the characters, the action, the adventure. I think the only thing I didn’t like was the epilogue, but that’s not really anything to criticize. Overall, it was such a fun read and definitely one you want to squeeze in before the summer is over!