Recursion - July 2020

[Kristie, Moderator]

Winner of the Science Fiction award



Recursion by Blake Crouch

Memory makes reality.

That’s what New York City cop Barry Sutton is learning as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived.

That's what neuroscientist Helena Smith believes. It’s why she’s dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious memories. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent.

As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face-to-face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease—a force that attacks not just our minds but the very fabric of the past. And as its effects begin to unmake the world as we know it, only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it.

But how can they make a stand when reality itself is shifting and crumbling all around them?

[Brandon R. Jackson]

Can't wait to dig into this book this month!

[Michelle]

I just finished this book. I was intrigued right from the first couple of chapters and my heart was racing throughout the entire second half of the book.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I enjoyed this book, but I had issues with it too. It was a little repetitive due to the nature of the story and there were some inconsistencies that I couldn't overlook.

My review with more details in the spoiler: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Michelle]

I don’t want to spoil it but I also felt it was a bit repetitive near the end. However, I was also anxious to get to the point where it all got resolved so I kept racing to the end of the book.

[Michelle]

This was the bit in the book that I had trouble accepting. Please only read further if you've finished the book.

(view spoiler)[If Helena had managed to figure out how to erase false memories since the original timeline, why did she take so many timelines and still not be able to figure it out? We are talking over a hundred years to solve a problem that she apparently had the capacity to solve within a few years before. (hide spoiler)]

[Kristie, Moderator]

Michelle wrote: "This was the bit in the book that I had trouble accepting. Please only read further if you've finished the book.

[spoilers removed]"

*Spoilers from the end of the book*

My problem was that (view spoiler)[ half of the time Barry would remember his previous lives and not his current life, which made no sense and did not fit the story. The other half of the time he remembered his current life and not the previous one until the appropriate time on April 16th, which is what should have happened every time. (hide spoiler)] I found that quite frustrating.

[Michelle]

Kristie wrote: "Michelle wrote: "This was the bit in the book that I had trouble accepting. Please only read further if you've finished the book.

[spoilers removed]"

*Spoilers from the end of the book*

My prob..."

Yes I noticed that too. (view spoiler)[I thought the current life's memories are always supposed to be there and that it's just the ones from the previous timelines that flash back in. However, in the part of the book where they kept going through loop after loop, this became really inconsistent. I think that's part of the reason why I read the book so fast. I just wanted to get past all those time loops. (hide spoiler)]

[reem]

What a page-turner! can't wait to finish it

[Geoff]

I think most of it was enjoyable and i agree both Kristie and Michelle Yes a little repetitive and some inconsistencies that made it difficult to follow sometimes.

[Joan]

I just completed book 1 and I'm enjoying it. I really enjoyed Dark Matter which I know some people had an issue with parts of it.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Joan wrote: "I just completed book 1 and I'm enjoying it. I really enjoyed Dark Matter which I know some people had an issue with parts of it."

I think they had similar concepts, though I think I liked Dark Matter slightly more. That's probably just be because I read it first though.

[Joan]

I just finished Book Two and I'm definitely turning the pages quickly.

[Bonnie]

Michelle wrote: "I don’t want to spoil it but I also felt it was a bit repetitive near the end. However, I was also anxious to get to the point where it all got resolved so I kept racing to the end of the book."

Yes, I ended up giving it 3 stars although it would have been 5 during the first half plus. I got bored about the last third until the very ending.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Bonnie wrote: "I ended up giving it 3 stars although it would have been 5 during the first half plus. I got bored about the last third until the very ending."

I agree. I did like the ending, but there was a chunk there in the middle that was just too much.

[Vicki Willis]

Yep, this was a good one.
Though I agree abt the inconsistencies, I still gave it 5 stars because I couldn't put it down! Some of the repetitiveness actually ramped up the tension for me. I had to force myself to slow down.

[Joan]

I just finished it and I loved the ending. I agree the repetitiveness ramped up the tension for me also. (view spoiler)[ I'm trying to remember the inconsistencies - it was confusing me too a little. But I think if you were the person going back in the timeline then you remembered everything but if you were the person that didn't go back in the timeline then they all happened on that day. I'm not sure if that was mixed up in the story or not but that was my take away from it. I think when Barry went back to the original dead memory then he would have been the only one that remembered. Or at least I think that is what the author was aiming for.

I loved the fact that he ended up living in his first life and his daughter happened and the eventual estrangement from Julia. I liked the fact that he found Helen after all that had happened. (hide spoiler)]

I can't wait till Blake Crouch comes out with another book. I read his Wayward Pines series and Dark Matter. I think there are a couple of other books by him. Has anyone read those?

[Vicki Willis]

I love all his books. Some of my favorites are:
Run
Snowbound
and
the Thomas Z/Luther Kite series (3 books)
Desert Places
Locked Doors
Break You

[Joan]

Vicki Willis wrote: "I love all his books. Some of my favorites are:
Run
Snowbound
and
the Thomas Z/Luther Kite series (3 books)
[..."

I'll add them to my list then. He is definitely on of my favorite authors.

[Brandon R. Jackson]

Maybe I am in the minority, but I really liked this and the repetition served to anchor the reader to the frustration and fruitless desperation the main characters faced in the last half. I also found this book. With hard to describe - so I basically described it to my gf as a “mind-f*ck involving memories and the relativity of time, inception/style”. Not sure if I did it justice... :). But I thoroughly enjoyed the ride!

[Kristie, Moderator]

I didn't dislike it, Brandon, and I think yours is the more popular opinion.

I personally struggled with the repetition because it is something I don't care for in books. I dnf Life After Life for just that reason. I understand the use of repetition in certain stories; I just don't like it.

I also noticed some inconsistencies in the second half and once I noticed them I couldn't un-notice them. That took away from my enjoyment a little too.

There were still parts of the book that I really enjoyed and I ended up going with a 3 star rating, feeling the the book ended up being pretty average for me. (I'm pretty sure that's the lowest rating in this thread so far.) I will read continue more of Blake Crouch's work in the future.

[Joan]

In this situation I liked the repetitiveness.

That's interesting about Life After Life - I considered putting that on my to read list but I'm not sure I ever did.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Joan wrote: "In this situation I liked the repetitiveness.

That's interesting about Life After Life - I considered putting that on my to read list but I'm not sure I ever did."

It's very repetitive telling the same story over and over and if I recall there were some slight differences and changes to the ending, but then you'd start again at the beginning. I finally decided that I just couldn't listen to the same story again. However, many people loved it and the repetition is supposedly important to the story so if repetition doesn't bother you, go for it!

[Clarabelle]

Just finished recursion and it's past my bedtime but I can't even think about sleep because that book has my brain whirling! Read it in basically one sitting. I think that actually added to my enjoyment because it didn't give me time to contemplate any potential errors in logic.

[Bertie (LuminosityLibrary)]

I can't decide what I think of this book! I thought it was super intriguing and I enjoyed reading it with the frustration it managed to build with the repetition. At the same time, the inconsistencies were annoying and I didn't really connect with the characters past the middle. I don't think I'll ever want to re-read this but I'm glad I gave it a go because it certainly was an experience!

[reem]

Just finished it and at first I thought I was going to to give it a 4 star rating but ehh... I didn't mind the repetitiveness, I actually kind of liked it? but the inconsistencies bothered me, but overall i really enjoyed reading this book.