The Grind

By: Dante Doom

Narrated by: Nathan Ash

Length: 19 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

One young woman hungers for status in a harsh, feudal future, but her greed could become her downfall.

In the desolate future city-state of Verre, King Leopold and his lords rule with absolute authority. There’s only one way for oppressed serfs to rise in rank: the MMORPG called The Grind. Once a year, players in this virtual game can fight for the opportunity to raise their standing by gathering as many points as possible. Peasants can become nobles, lords and, with enough skill, sometimes kings.

Savannah “Savvy” deForge is a grinder - the lowest of the low, who earns a living racking up points for players by “ghosting” them in the game. When a wealthy client named Timon comes calling, she sees him as her ticket out of the classless limbo of grinder life.

But when her father vanishes into the game, Savvy will have to choose between the advancement she craves and reclaiming the one she loves. As virtual deaths start to become terribly real, Savvy realizes there is much more at stake than status, and it may be too late to save anyone, including herself.

The Grind is a 165,000-word original LitRPG stand-alone with lovable characters, thrilling battle scenes, awesome weapons, and a big twist in the finale.

©2018 Relay Publishing (P)2020 Relay Publishing

LitRPG

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I really enjoyed this book. It was my first experience with LitRPG so I was not sure what to expect when I went into it. The characters were well built and the author did great with the world building as well.

Interesting a bit diferent

As a gamelit book this book does something pretty well that I don't think has been done before. It succeeds in making the realworld important, and has the game have direct consequences in real life. The political system they set up is strange, and it's a bit hard to suspend disbelief through most of the book about how the one major piece of technology that survives the end of civilization is VR gaming systems.

But it's clever and different, a bit rules lite and there's some good intrigue and character development. I definitely recommend this, but it does feel a bit more like a classic other world fantasy novel than a true gamelit.

I received a free review copy of this book at my request.

Good standalone LitRPG

This was an interesting story that I definitely enjoyed. I thought it was well-written, with a rich story and characters that I definitely wanted to root for. There was a good blend of action and plot, and it was a satisfyingly complex (but not too convoluted) world that the author built and revealed in stages. There ended up being a bit of whodunnit in there too, which was an unexpected surprise. And not to spoil too much, but the epilogue gave a satisfying ending. And, I don't want to short-change the narrator, whom I thought also did a great job. Finally, it's a small thing, but I appreciated that this story was standalone and not part of a long series!

If you are a fan of LitRPG or action and good storytelling, I recommend you give this book a try.

I received this as a review copy at my request in exchange for nothing but an honest review.

Loved this Fantasy-LitRPG from a total novice

I'm not a gamer and I've never read LitRPG before so I went into this with no comparisons in mind, no preconceived notions. I was thoroughly impressed!! This is a wonderful, fast-paced and exciting wild ride. I really enjoyed the characters and their world.
I will most definitely pick up more books by Dante Doom in the future. Thanks for introducing me to a whole new genre!!
I was provided this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

GameLit / LitRPG

Overall this is a fair book, the author did a good job world building, character development is so-so. The plot is fair, and keeps you guessing. I just could not get interested in this book. The characters did odd things, that are not true to real life. How is the MC so low level if her “job” is to level others and she gets part of the level? Odd Political system. I could never write a book this good. Give it a try, it may be the book for you! This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Amazing from start to finish

This story is great. It stands alone and wraps up with a great ending that still leaves room if he wanted to write more. Not many litrpgs are this neat and wrapped up in one go. I highly recommend this book.

so much wrong

There were a lot of dropped plot points, inconsistencies, and glaring plot holes.

some of the characters in their motivations were well done, but then the same argument or contradictory arguments into have a very frequently.

I didn't give one star, because it was interesting enough to at least finish.