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Upgrade
In a future where technology can fix any flaw or imperfection, individuality is hard to come by. Every aspect of life has been optimised for maximum efficiency – education, nutrition, even the human brain. TsCorp, a powerful science corporation, have started performing “upgrades” – alterations of the brain to help people live up to their full potential. Disorders that were previously treated with medication and therapy are now curable with one procedure, but it doesn’t stop there. People are now offered surgery to improve their language skills, understand maths better or even remove annoying personality traits. But, as one group are realising, just because you can alter something, it doesn’t mean you should. Progress has a price and it’s not always worth it.
198 pages, Paperback
First published June 25, 2013
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 9, 2016
Overall Rating: 5/5
“Sometimes it's difficult to imagine a time when human beings didn't feel a need to fix everything themselves. Once, it was normal to kneel in prayer, rather than invent solutions to all kinds of problems. That was a long time ago now.”
Wow. Okay, wow.
First off, thank you so, so much for the book, Emma. I didn't want to dirty the gift you gave me so I bought the kindle edition as well!
Anyway, this review is about two years late, but I finally got around to reading this book. I'm so sorry, there aren't any excuses but I was in a reading slump for a while. I read more fanfiction & nonfiction books for such a long time I think I forgot how to read fiction.
Can I just mention how awesome this book is? I finished this book under three hours while reading it everywhere - on the train to and from work, on the toilet (with my kindle, not the book, of course), & on my bed before sleep. The plot was so gripping I had to finish it like yesterday (okay, not funny, as I was supposed to finish it two years ago).
In this novel, we follow the perspectives of several individuals - initially, we don't see how they're related but slowly their lives intertwine. We see how they are collectively affected by the way science has progressed in a world that was destroyed & rebuilt.
The premises are not unfamiliar - we often read about dystopian novels where the world crumbled due to a disease & individuals scrambled for survival. In "Upgrade", I noticed the similarities with "Brave New World", one of the most well-written dystopian classics out there.
"Upgrade" shows a world rebuilt by a single corporation, where they offer cosmetic brain surgery (just like giving it an upgrade) for individuals to appeal to their loved ones & whatnot. The juxtaposition of science & religion is beautifully written. While following the different intertwining stories of several special individuals in the book, the concept of religion was introduced in the form of a support group created for the 'failed upgrades'.
As the plots of the individuals overlapped, the story comes together & we see how failed upgrades affect the 'upgraded' individual & the people around them. Personally, I liked the story about Jonathan & Sahara rescuing & caring for a man, Owen, who was a failed upgrade.
If I really want to nitpick, the only thing that I was disappointed by the book was the length!!! I need more of this!!! & personally I don't really like open-ended endings but that's just me. Anyway, this book was so good that I felt the need to dedicate this long-winded review to the very amazing author, Emma.
TL;DR: Asher should have read this book like two years ago & now she just can't stop fangirling over how amazing the plot is. Please just go read it so you can fangirl with me.
You can get this book on Amazon! You can have a sleek green cover, or if you're worried you will dirty the paperback, get a kindle edition like me! Kudos!
“Sometimes it's difficult to imagine a time when human beings didn't feel a need to fix everything themselves. Once, it was normal to kneel in prayer, rather than invent solutions to all kinds of problems. That was a long time ago now.”
Wow. Okay, wow.
First off, thank you so, so much for the book, Emma. I didn't want to dirty the gift you gave me so I bought the kindle edition as well!
Anyway, this review is about two years late, but I finally got around to reading this book. I'm so sorry, there aren't any excuses but I was in a reading slump for a while. I read more fanfiction & nonfiction books for such a long time I think I forgot how to read fiction.
Can I just mention how awesome this book is? I finished this book under three hours while reading it everywhere - on the train to and from work, on the toilet (with my kindle, not the book, of course), & on my bed before sleep. The plot was so gripping I had to finish it like yesterday (okay, not funny, as I was supposed to finish it two years ago).
In this novel, we follow the perspectives of several individuals - initially, we don't see how they're related but slowly their lives intertwine. We see how they are collectively affected by the way science has progressed in a world that was destroyed & rebuilt.
The premises are not unfamiliar - we often read about dystopian novels where the world crumbled due to a disease & individuals scrambled for survival. In "Upgrade", I noticed the similarities with "Brave New World", one of the most well-written dystopian classics out there.
"Upgrade" shows a world rebuilt by a single corporation, where they offer cosmetic brain surgery (just like giving it an upgrade) for individuals to appeal to their loved ones & whatnot. The juxtaposition of science & religion is beautifully written. While following the different intertwining stories of several special individuals in the book, the concept of religion was introduced in the form of a support group created for the 'failed upgrades'.
As the plots of the individuals overlapped, the story comes together & we see how failed upgrades affect the 'upgraded' individual & the people around them. Personally, I liked the story about Jonathan & Sahara rescuing & caring for a man, Owen, who was a failed upgrade.
If I really want to nitpick, the only thing that I was disappointed by the book was the length!!! I need more of this!!! & personally I don't really like open-ended endings but that's just me. Anyway, this book was so good that I felt the need to dedicate this long-winded review to the very amazing author, Emma.
TL;DR: Asher should have read this book like two years ago & now she just can't stop fangirling over how amazing the plot is. Please just go read it so you can fangirl with me.
You can get this book on Amazon! You can have a sleek green cover, or if you're worried you will dirty the paperback, get a kindle edition like me! Kudos!
Displaying 1 of 1 review