Book Review: Recursion by Blake Crouch

My brain hurts. It’s been worked out to the max with this book! However I’m incredibly impressed with how Crouch manages to make sci-fi accessible to all readers. (Although the real question is will my phone ever just fucking accept that sci-fi is a word and not just autocorrect it to sci-go??!)

“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.”

A quick vague synopsis! At first, False Memory Syndrome is thought to be an epidemic spreading through its victims, driving them mad with memories of a life they never lived. But this is no pathogen, and Detective Barry Sutton is closing in on the truth...

It is a truth universally acknowledged that I am not really a fan of thrillers. Sure, they’re fast, enthralling and addictive, but once I’m done I just feel dissatisfied. And that’s how I felt with Recursion. I had a fun time reading it (mostly), but it hasn’t really left a lasting impression on me.

Without giving anything away, the last third of the novel or so is incredibly repetitive. It EXHAUSTED me, and I ended up just pushing through to get to the conclusion. And although I have commended Crouch for managing to make sci-fi accessible, there are still parts that I’m sure have just gone completely over my head.

I loved the overall idea and the avenue that Crouch went down - the potential fall-out of such massive scientific developments. It was quite scary to read those parts and imagine how the world would react. Those were the sections I enjoyed reading the most!

Overall, I enjoyed it for what it was! Unfortunately I just didn’t love it as much as nearly everyone else seems to. I’ve found that plot-driven books aren’t my jam, I need my well-developed characters and beautiful writing to really fall for a book. But Recursion is worth the read! 3.5 stars.

Johann

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