I am still on my READING BAN, but still listening to audiobooks! So I can’t get through any of my physical or e-ARCs, but I was lucky enough to get Vicarious on audio on Netgalley and was excited to listen to it. It has Will Wheaton narrating with Katherine McNamara. The last thing I listened to that Will Wheaton narrated was the uber-popular Ready Player One. Although I enjoyed it, my reading tastes have evolved since then. I was interested to see what kind of stuff he has been narrating lately.

So in a nutshell and without spoiling the plot, it focuses on the characters Asher and Mission. Set in the distant future, Asher is the director of an extremely popular VR entertainment show called Ignis: Live. The show is a continuous stream of the lives of a colony on a space ship. Mission is one of the residents aboard, but she doesn’t realise her entire life is being played out for billions of people on earth to see in virtual reality. Mission doesn’t even realise there is an earth left!

I really enjoyed the two perspectives. The two totally different storylines and completely different PLOTS in this novel were really refreshing and engaging. I found it enthralling! The life of Asher on New Earth and his character development were exciting, and of course, the story of Mission aboard the Ignis was so completely different to Ashers, and even more compelling.

I don’t want to spoil anything by saying much more about the plot. But it has elements of The Truman Show and I couldn’t help but think of a short-lived tv show on Netflix I watched a few years ago called Ascension (actually really loved that show even though it had such a short run. It was really similar to the premise of this).

It delves into deeper themes especially class, equality and justice. As well as technology and addiction. It did remind me a bit of Ready Player One in that it had the emersion in technology. But it was very different – and in my opinion a lot more rich and enjoyable.

Overall, I really enjoyed the two narrators in the audio version. I can’t say anything negative about Will Wheatons performance, I found it extremely entertaining and he managed to create unique voices for each of his characters. MacNamara on the other hand – I found to be very monotone. Every character she narrated sounded the same and I enjoyed her parts a lot less. But then, after about halfway her narration improved quite a lot. However, she just didn’t have that knack for making her characters sound completely different. Maybe it is because I listen to a LOT of audiobooks and I am very fussy about narrators!

I also didn’t like the way the author used the word “whore”. He must have used that word 20 times in the book and it felt like he was just using it for the fun of it. I get that sometimes it was the right word. But when I swear like a trooper, and even I feel that the word was over-used... It was probably over-used.

I was also not too keen on the ending. HOWEVER, overall I really enjoyed it. I think that Vicarious is unique and I love the technology-rich setting in the world with all it’s morally grey people and circumstances. I think if you enjoy easy sci-fi with a good plot, you should enjoy this one!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the audiobook of Vicarious in exchange for my honest review.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ever since I saw that Kat was going to be a narrator for Vicarious, well, it's safe to say that I was really excited. Like, super excited. She is definitely an actor that I have fallen in like with and I was very intrigued to see how she would do with this book. As for Wil, well, it's safe to say that he does an amazing job narrating books.

Now I'm not going to lie. This book started off pretty well with me. I think the entire world and what was happening with each character definitely intrigued me. I was also getting so many ready player one vibes and I was loving it. I'll admit that it didn't flow the same way as RPO but I was still sitting back and enjoying it all.

Since I'm in the mood of spitting out the truth, I'll even state this this was snagged by some boring parts. Yes, it tends to happen with some bigger books and when you get vibes from other books you've read beforehand. Yet, I still kept strong with the book hoping it will get better. Eventually.

In the end, it did and I actually really enjoyed this one.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. But the audiobook feature on the NetGalley app isn’t the best, so I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to. 2/5.

Vicarious by Rhett C. Bruno
Narrated by Wil Wheaton &Katherine McNamara
Publisher: Podium Audio
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Literary Fiction | Sci Fi & Fantasy
Publication Date: April 13, 2021

Vicarious by Rhett C. Bruno is such a fun, thought-provoking book! This book was fascinating with so much depth! I love dystopian novels (without the zombies) so this was right up my alley!!!

I had no idea what to expect from this book, since this is the first I've read by the author I found this captivating and did not want to stop reading. There was so much to the story and I really wanted to see how things would turn out! I absolutely loved the characters! Mission and Asher were captivating and such fascinating characters! I loved how the story was divided between worlds that were related.

This is fast paced and so interesting! As much as I needed to know how it would end, I never wanted to the story to stop.

The narrated by Wil Wheaton & Katherine McNamara was incredible! They truly brought the story to life! Spectacular performance!

I'm so grateful to Rhett C. Bruno, Podium Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

🎧 📚 Author Scott Sigler recommended this book 6 freaking days ago then NetGalley approved me for a free copy yesterday. I gave it a lot of thought & I’m keeping the Audible & Kindle books that I bought.

Wil Wheaton & Katherine McMamara narrate, they both rock but I love his narration it brings me back to some books I listened to years ago.

The Truman Show meets Enders Game is pretty accurate. Reality TV in a VR world on a messed up Earth with a tyrannical political system set in the future. Mystery, thriller, sci-fi! I loved the book.

Mission & Asher change dramatically. They grew from the moment they met & were just all over the place. From where Mission started to where she ended was heart breaking & uplifting, remarkable!

Lost a star for an awkward scene near the end that felt like an afterthought but Wil Wheaton gained some back & saved the day. I want a sequel, the ending sort of would make that difficult without some really fancy footwork but I enjoyed it enough that I might forgive it.

The ending made me sad but it’s a fun wild ride with great narration!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

I review on Litsy as Twainy

First off, thanks to Netgalley and Podium audio for the review copy of Vicarious on audiobook.

After being disappointed with some other Truman Show-esque stories that have been released lately, I can say with enjoyment that this was a fairly enjoyable experience. Told from two perspectives, we have Asher and Mission, Asher the director of Ignis: Live, and Mission, the girl who has been a part of the VR reality show her whole life- without knowing it. The premise is basically that there’s one world where everyone communicates via VR and the other universe that is an entire population of people who believe they are the final survivors of humanity, and we’re seeing those two worlds from the perspective of Asher and his obsession with Mission, and Mission, who has immense love for her community without ever feeling as though she fit within it.

This one interested me mainly because I am such a big fan of Wil Wheaton. I was a fan of the ill-fated “Wil Weaton Project,” which was the magnificent sci-fi/fantasy version of The Soup that I miss to this day. I wanted to hear his round as a sci-fi audiobook narrator, and I can’t say I was disappointed. I was a little underwhelmed, but not disappointed.

Katherine McNamara is the star of this narration, which took me off guard. I was not a fan of many of Katherine McNamara’s television projects, so being as enamored as I was with her audiobook narration style was not what I was expecting. Wil Wheaton embodied the character he was playing, but his narration was not nearly as emotional and expressive as Katherine McNamara’s. Her character’s perspective might have been one I found irritating, but Katherine McNamara spoke with such complexity and nuance that I found myself loving the character of Mission by the end of the book.

I liked the ending, I liked the commentary the book was making, I liked the strangeness of the world- I didn’t like the way that people with strange hairstyles or alternative lifestyles were depicted. The only character who shows any semblance of being non-heteronormative is a villain- a woman who preys on other woman and augments her breasts to be larger than life. Everyone else fits within the male/female structure. The whole premise of the Ignis spaceship is that people can’t have sex to create children- it’s described as if without this, there is no enjoyable sex to be had, and there’s also no love. Not a fan of that whole dynamic.

Do with all of this what you will. I don’t regret reading this book, and I’m sure I’ll be recommending it to individuals who I think would jive with it, but it’s not my favorite of the year. It’s a good, solid read- an even more fun one with the actors who had the chance to narrate it.

Vicarious by Rhett C. Bruno was so refreshing! Finally, a sci-fi novel with well-developed characters. I was engrossed from the first sentence to the last. I absolutely could not stop listening!

Synopsis:
Asher lives in luxury on High Earth, the only part of the planet that has not flooded. He is so obsessed with the virtual reality show Ignis: Live that he gets a job working on the show.

The Ignis is a spaceship whose residents are on a pilgrimage to restart the human race on another planet…or so they think. Mission is a little girl who grows into an intelligent, beautiful woman on the show. She is the star of the show and the true object of Asher’s obsession.

When the show’s ratings start to slip, the creator will go to any lengths to get back into the #1 spot. When Asher finds out that Mission’s life is in danger, he bursts into action. Can he save her? How much will it cost him? Is everything too high a price?

Story Review:
Not only is the plot original, but Bruno pours his heart into the development of his characters. Asher’s passion for Ignis: Live is contagious. He is addicted to the show. As a reader of the book, you will be addicted too. You can’t help it! We see the show through Asher’s eyes. His preoccupation with Mission leads to some very complicated emotions. When someone is willing to risk everything for another person, what does that really mean?

The last hour of Vicarious had me completely enthralled. The plot twists are unpredictable and wild. I highly recommend this book to sci-fi and reality TV fans alike. What do you get when you combine sci-fi, virtual reality, and Rhett C. Bruno? You get a home run!

Narration Review:
Audiobooks with multiple narrators are my jam! Wil Wheaton does a great job narrating Asher’s point of view in Vicarious. Katherine McNamara is brilliant as the voice of Mission’s point of view! She captures the spirit of Mission and the entire population of the Ignis masterfully. She has just become one of my favorite female narrators. I can’t wait to find more books that she has narrated!

Source:
I received a free copy of Vicarious at my request in exchange for an honest review.

Sensitivity Warnings:
The vast majority of Vicarious does not contain anything worth a sensitivity warning. The outskirts of High Earth depict typical post-apocalyptic filth of humanity conditions, including a scene describing a physically disabled prostitute.

I requested this one because it might be a 2021 title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book is not my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one rather than push myself to finish it only to give it a poor review.

ARC provided by NetGalley.
I usually don't read sci-fi books but this one seemed very interesting.
Unfortunately, I wasn't 100% into the story and at the begging it was hard for me to focus and put the pieces of the story all together.
However, the plot and the concept is really good! And the audiobook is better !
If you love sci-fi and distopia this one is definitely for you !!