This ended up being an extremely interesting and enjoyable entry into the LitRPG genre, but it took 2/3s of the book to convince me. In the first half of the book the promise of the story was somewhat overshadowed by some clunky character motivation and the narrator’s odd delivery.
To start with, the exposition on the MC’s obsession with his negative feelings toward “the rich” was ham-fisted and forced. His whiny, woe-is-me affect and the author’s overdone portrayal of parental neglect made it hard to stay immersed in the story.
Then there was the narrator… on this count my opinion may be more subjective than objective, but I found the narrator’s elocution extremely annoying. His stodgy Minnesota/Wisconsin dialect really didn’t fit the material for me. Every time he said the word “popcorn” I had an irrational desire to slap him. So my critique of the narrator’s delivery may or may not be relevant to other readers.
By the end of the audiobook however, I found myself totally pulled in by the story and character development. The author managed to overcome most of my complaints and almost made me feel guilty for not giving this book 5 stars.
Definitely worth the credit and I’m excited to start book 2.