Recursion

I actually finished this several days ago, but wanted to let it percolate a bit in my brain before deciding on a rating. This was not a bad book by any means (in fact, quite good actually), but it is a complex book with a lot of science-y type stuff thrown at you fairly quickly.

It's a tough book to summarize because of the necessary mess that is time travel. Essentially, a device is invented that allows the user to go back into their memories. Originally developed by the creator, Helena, to help Alzheimer's patients, the idea gets snapped up and quietly co-opted by her source of funding into something simultaneously more advanced and more sinister. Being able to literally go back in time to a previous point and re-live a life has predictably messy results on the future, and despite wanting to keep access limited, the word eventually gets out and Helena and her husband/future-husband/ex-husband Barry struggle to undo all the damage done to save the world from itself.

Right off the bat, I'm going to let you know that this is a very science-heavy book involving time travel. While I wasn't confused along the way necessarily, there's definitely parts of the book that you really shouldn't think too closely about or try to understand. Actually the reason I gave it 4 stars and not 5 is because it felt like rather large plot holes were hidden under these science-y parts, where as long as you don't look too closely at the seams everything looks flawless. There's also some rather jarring time skips (understandably) where a reader might be confused if they aren't reading closely, and a definite tonal shift as the book progresses and the late game kicks in and things start feeling more frantic.

But at its core it's a character-driven story about time travel. I loved that we spent time with Helena and Barry across different iterations of their life/lives together, and got to experience the different events that changed them subtly in each one. Additionally, we also get to see the changes in each of them as they experience these lives, with Helena (late book spoilers) getting increasingly disenfranchised with all their attempts at trying to undo the chair's creation. Rather like when you make a copy of a copy, each iteration of herself makes her more fragile than the last. It's a very human reaction/interaction, and I liked that a large part of the late book plot involved it.

Just a really good book, I'm surprised I didn't read it sooner.