2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Upgrade by Blake Crouch.

Pages: 352 pages

Length: 1 month (December)

Participants:Rebecca, Dominique

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

I’m starting this one today and putting aside my last buddy read from November (Boy’s Life) because I’m excited about this one and struggling with Boy’s Life.

L'm excited to read this one too. Will start a few days before December.

So, I started this one and have already made it to page 70. It’s a page turner!! I wanted to mention that the scene in chapter three (view spoiler)[ where the agents are coming to get Logan and he’s trying to escape reminded me of Neo attempting to escape his office in the first Matrix movie (hide spoiler)]

I've managed to make it all the way to the halfway point now (page 174), and chapter six (view spoiler)[ is wild! First, the coming across the mother's body and then the sister shooting at the brother. My goodness!! (hide spoiler)]

Just one chapter left. I could easily imagine a movie version of this book. It’s quite action-packed and fast-paced.

Cool, can't wait to get into it.

Finished the book.

(view spoiler)[ What a disfunctional family. Myriam faking her death and then really dying. Injecting her kids. Logan and Kara trying to kill each other., Kara wanting to change the world and willing to kill billions of people to achieve it. Some parts felt like the matrix, especially the part where he was in his cubicle and got a text to tell him to leave.
It was sad that he had to lose his family because of what his mom did. I felt that his wife moved on pretty quickly after his death, I feel he could've just made her single. Can you imagine if we all had that upgrade? (hide spoiler)]

I know!! (view spoiler)[ That family was so dysfunctional. I don't think that having the wife move on so quickly was necessary either, but I can see how, if she hadn't, Logan would have felt more conflicted about his actions towards the end of the book.

I really enjoyed this one for how fast-paced it was and how I could imagine it as a movie. It was 4-1/2 stars for me, but I actually found the science explainers a little intrusive, and I had so many unanswered questions that I would have liked more background or flashbacks to Logan's family when he was growing up. (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Rebecca wrote: "I know!! That family was so dysfunctional. I don't think that having the wife move on so quickly was necessary either, but I can see how, if she hadn't, Logan would have felt more conflicted about..."

Totally agree, that`s why I gave it a 4 stars, more about his childhood was needed.

I'm glad you both liked this and am sorry that more people didn't read it, since it's a great book for discussion. I didn't like it as much as you two, but it's still a good novel.

Karin wrote: "I'm glad you both liked this and am sorry that more people didn't read it, since it's a great book for discussion. I didn't like it as much as you two, but it's still a good novel."

This book was so overhyped that when people read it, the book wasn't what they expected.

Dominique wrote: "Karin wrote: "I'm glad you both liked this and am sorry that more people didn't read it, since it's a great book for discussion. I didn't like it as much as you two, but it's still a good novel."

..."

Hype can spoil books for me, but in this case it'ss is the third novel I've read by him, so I ignored the it. I have only given one of his books 4 stars, and that was Recursion (3.7 stars rounded up.)

There was more than one area where I had trouble suspending my disbelief, some of which is on me, but I prefer science fiction where I can do that. Also I had a few other issues with it, but 3 means I liked it and I will read more by him.