Review 85: Upgrade

Upgrade by Blake Crouch
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

''Upgrade'' is Crouch' third book I've finished and I'm not sure I will read his fourth. Upgrade is not bad per se, but it's also not great. The premise is good, but the execution is lackluster. In a world where anything is possible through gene editing, Crouch does not exceed the level of ''make humans harder, better, faster, stronger''. Whether it is the Marvelisation of pop culture or just plain unoriginal, I don't know, but at no point this the book manage to really hook me. The second reason you might want to skip this one is the pacing and predictability. Early on, you can form an idea of how the rest of the story will unfold. This is the case with many books, but then it's up to the author to surprise you and ''subvert your expectation'' (fill in your D&D/GoT joke here). This simply does not happen here. The story hits all the predictable beats to the predictable end and no unexpected turn has been presented. Lastly, this book is flat. I'm not referring to page numbers, but rather to intensity. Ideally, once the story picks up, so does the pace. The stakes rise and you wonder more and more how the main character will make it out of their predicament alive. As you might be able to guess, Upgrade does not deliver here. At no point is there a serious uptick in intensity. It just plods along until the finish line, like a marathon runner keeping an extremely steady pace of many kilometers, with no obstacles in their way. And just like that would be, in my humble opinion, rather boring to watch, so is this book boring to read.

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Prompt 9: Overqualified

Also posted here: https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/ze79if/wp_you_just_saved_the_world_from_an_apocalyptic/

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The words spoken at countless job interviews, remarks at networking events (oooh, how he hated networking events), resumé advice consultations, and underhanded snide remarks thrown about in casual conversation still rang in his ears.

''Sorry, we are looking for someone with a little more direct experience for this particular role.''

''Our apologies, we cannot hire you at this moment. We're just afraid you'd get bored.''

''We júst hired someone last week. Your resumé otherwise perfectly fits to what we need.''

''Is it ok we keep your resumé on file? I'm sure something will come up soon and we will contact you right away.''

Experience, he had plenty of that. Bored? Can I make that call? Of course, you hired someone last week. Just my luck. Oh yes, please, keep it on file. I'm sure you will most definitely call me back. 

After each of those conversations, he was this close to throwing his computer at the wall, though he never did as he might just actually throw it through the wall and accidentally kill Gary, his geriatric neighbor. That would be bad form. Punching people in the mouth at social events generally doesn't do any wonders for your career either, just ask Will Smith.

Review 84: The Measure

The Measure by Nikki Erlick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads lies. Because let's be honest here for a second. I picked this book because it was nominated, by Goodreads, for their Choice Awards, IN THE SCIENCE-FICTION SECTION! You can say a lot about this book, but sci-fi it is not. It is really well written, the characters are great, and the emotional dilemma is handled with a rare level of grace, but it is not sci-fi.

I wondered and pondered many questions myself because of this book, which I probably would not have picked up since it is far from my usual cup of tea. My usual is sci-fi, which again, for clarity, this book is not.

So is it bad that Goodreads lied? Well yes, they shouldn't nominate a literary novel that has a thin veneer of science fiction in that section when there are so many great writers actually writing science fiction that would have benefited from a nomination. But I would have never picked up this book otherwise, so if I'm being selfish, maybe on occasion, a lie is in your best self-interest. Who knows.

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Prompt 8: The Wooden Purge

Troy could barely contain his excitement. Looking out the window of the airplane cabin, he could see Amsterdam's canals beneath him. The angular and organized appearance belied the chaotic celebration he knew it would hold. He was happy he was able to actually look out the window as he didn't originally book a window seat. That one turned out to be empty, however, as was most of the plane. When he asked, the flight attendant was happy to let him switch seats. "Enjoy it while you can", he said before walking away with a strange smile on his lips. Troy couldn't be bothered. He had spent the better part of the last three months convincing his parents to bankroll his very own Eurotrip, though he made sure never to refer to it as such. God forbid they'd Google the term and stumble upon the same-named movie from 2004. Though he didn't have his own Mike/Mieke to chase, it was the direct inspiration for him, and thus made it his mission to follow in the footsteps of the movie's characters. He profusely promised his parents that it would be a cultural trip. Museums, historical sites, cuisine and theater, and the like.

Strictly no drugs, and little alcohol. Troy had quickly accepted these rules, knowing that getting to Europe otherwise be close to impossible, not with his burger-flipping salary at least. Troy was a man of discipline though and he managed to save up enough to have some fun anyway, the way he wanted it. In the end, his parents paid for the flights, accommodation, entrance fees, a daily food budget, and any other local travel, anything else was to be covered by himself.

Review 83: Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence

Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence by Anna Lembke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Anna Lembke dives deep into what drives us to take unhealthy decisions, again and again, despite seeing the negative impact it has on us (or how we pretend not to). We learn that all these addictions essentially derive from our need for a hit of dopamine and how that can happen, regardless of the type of addiction, be it drugs, smoking, sex, social media, alcohol, or pretty much anything else. More interestingly, she talks us through her experiences with her patients and how she got them through it. Honesty and positive shaming are mentioned as options to take when you are struggling, as well as pushing on the ''pain'' side, to balance out the ''pleasure'' these addictions cause. The conclusion is that fighting addiction is hard, and more many, it will be a lifelong struggle, always coping, never being fully cured of it. Perhaps a tad bleak, but for many facing any sort of addiction (big or small), being honest about the possibilities is often the first step. 

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