Recursion by Blake Crouch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“Life with a cheat code isn’t life. Our existence isn’t something to be engineered or optimized for the avoidance of pain. That’s what it is to be human - the beauty and the pain, each meaningless without the other.”
The story line is an absolute thriller ride. I loved Blake Crouch’s approach to cutting down on things that the reader would feel repetitive, especially in this story/genre.
The cynic in me has screamed at inconsistencies in the “science” and at few places it was hard to follow the explanation. Looking back there are few illogical scenes that could have been avoided but are present only because the author wants to portray and stress a view from that scene.
Author’s attempt at linking time and memory are commendable. Each character is well written and has enough space to grow and come together. As a reader, I connected to Barry Sutton with all his regrets, and failures. “sometimes those failures are people you once loved. when the city sleeps but you don’t, and all the regrets of your life rage in your mind with an unbearable intensity.” Helena Smith’s character could have been given even more depth, her journey through the ‘Sameness’, with all the burden and a single specific goal to achieve is terrifying. Her journey her fears, all the emotional trauma of her can be further expounded from her perspective.
Author’s decision to stick to the story, characters, and values over bombarding ‘science’ at readers has hugely paid off.