Review: Upgrade by Blake Crouch (Spoiler-Free)

We had gotten so much right.

And too much wrong.

The future was here, and it was a fucking mess.

Attention! Attention, please! Did you like Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary? Did you love how deeply it explored its premise? Its hopeful yet conceivable outlook on the future? Were you addicted to the pure adrenaline each action scene brought you?

Well, do I have the book for you.

From the first page of this book, I was strapped in for what I knew would be one hell of a ride. It checked all the boxes for me.

Clearly, I love sci-fi. But I didn't realize I loved sci-fi until this year. That being said, I am a little particular when it comes to what I love about it. Let me try to lay that out for you:

- Unique premise ✅

- Not nihilistic portrait of the future ✅

- HIGH-STAKES action ✅

- Does not shy away from the nerdy math and science details ✅

- Mega-corporations ✅

- A statement™ ✅

Oh, would you look at that, this book really did check all the boxes. And not only did it check them off, it shot them all off the page. Especially the third and last one.

When I tell you the action in this book was insane, I don't think you can properly understand what I mean. It was so CREATIVE and shocking and stressful and I loved every second. I highlighted so many passages and wrote "MOVIE!!!" next to it because I legitimately need to see them translated to the screen. So epic.

For that last bullet, I think the best way I can describe what I mean by a statement™ is just: what Everything Everywhere All At Once manages to achieve. Or Arrival. Or Interstellar. If you've seen those movies, you know that they aren't just sci-fi to be cool and fast-paced—they have something to say.

Anyway, I think I'm butchering how amazing this book is by trying to whittle it down into my pathetic little review, so I'm gonna stop talking while I'm still ahead. Blake Crouch, I bow down to you and your brilliant mind and I will be reading every one of the rest of your books soon.

~ Thank you to Ballantine Books and Penguin RandomHouse for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review! RELEASE DATE: July 12 ~