Melissa's Reviews > Recursion

Creative. Though-provoking. Emotionally-charged. Memorable.

Whether you’re a reader that frequents the sci-fi genre, or one that only occasionally takes a risk when it comes to the suspension of disbelief (hello, that’s me!), recognizing and appreciating the level of creativity behind Blake Crouch’s work takes little effort. Time and again, Crouch has proven just how rewarding it can be to take a chance on something different. Something totally outside of my typical. With Dark Matter (one of my all-time favorite books) and now Recursion, Crouch presents readers with a mind-bending reality. While each book provides its own unique and fully immersive journey, they share the provocation of deep thought and emotion on the part of the reader.

Fair or not, my feelings for Dark Matter sent me into Recursion with the highest of hopes. Hopes that I thought were going to be shattered early on when focusing felt undoable. A science guru I am not. Wrapping my head around what these characters were trying to achieve with memory recalibration, while simultaneously trying to foreshadow how Crouch would tie the two timelines together, felt taxing on my brain. So much so, I had to take a breath for a few days. Following that brief timeout, I did would I should have from the beginning. Instead of trying to make sense of it all—way too early on—I handed the reins back to Crouch and put my faith in his ability to tell an unforgettable story. And sure enough, along the same vein as Dark Matter, there was no walking away unscathed or unmoved by his words or these characters.

The first tease of the storylines converging was all it took for the pitter-patter of this idealistic heart of mine to speed up. And wouldn’t you know, the two characters in question not only managed to steal my heart, but to hold it captive for the entirety of the remaining pages. It was with hope, fear, and bated breath that this lover of love watched the couple’s pilgrimage play out. There’s something to be said for Crouch’s ability to relay a love story of this caliber within such an intricate and science-based thriller. There are romance authors out there who fail to pull off such an unwavering love; one that transcends several iterations, at that.

“My soul knows your soul. In any time.”

From the very beginning to beyond the final words, Crouch’s exploration of memory, and what it would mean to have the ability to go back and undo those moments that tether our pain, proves to be more than just imaginative fiction.

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.

*Thanks to my #bookbestie Haley for sending me a gorgeous ARC and for ensuring that I didn’t miss out on this mighty piece of fiction. ♥