I found this book totally charmless. I was drawn by the book’s comparison to Severance. There is a kind of similarity there, but the humor is really lacking and the hero is totally charmless. The thing that really made this book unpleasant for me was the narrator, who I felt added to the monotony.

Interesting, bazaar and monotone. It was a slow burn. I would be interested to see what the authors other books are like. Thanks NetGallery!

I love a good techy book as the world gets techier but this book was so cool and just such an amazing listen.

I really enjoyed USERS by Colin Winnette! This novel is about Miles, who works at a virtual reality company, and his unraveling world as he receives death threats, tries to save his job and his relationship with his family. I loved the fun journey of finding out if Miles will end up okay at the end. It was just one thing after another that made me think it couldn’t get any worse for him. I loved the blend of science fiction and humour. The ease to this writing made this book so inviting to read. I couldn’t put it down once I started it. I liked this book so much I got one of Winnette’s previous books to read next!
I first read the physical book and then listened to this audiobook. The narrator Justin Price did a fine job but upon my second reading of this book I found I didn’t enjoy it as much. I’m still eager to read more from this author.

This is the story of a man whose lack of ambition has still managed to lead him to great success and reverence by those in the gaming field. He obsessively logs the continued death threats he receives for years, as they seem to be the only thing providing any kind of spark or conflict in his life. His wife is bored of him, his children do not like or respect him, and only the colleagues who do not work directly with him seem to hold him in any kind of esteem. His role at work seems to be to mitigate the potential ethical responsibility for the games they produce, which is what seems to propel him down this path of reducing the importance of almost everything in his life. Until he enters the game himself and has a shocking experience.

The main character is not likable by any means (very few of the characters are) in this tale of what happens when you do not have the motivation to push yourself off the easy path.

Nice audio narration.

Unfortunately, this book really did not work for me. I felt kind of lost a lot of the time, like I had missed something, and I couldn't tell if it was because I kept zoning out (which rarely happens with audiobooks for me) or if it was just the way the book was written. I felt like some interesting ideas were brought up surrounding VR, privacy, and consent, but they weren't explored in a satisfactory way.

I just, am tired. This has the very unlikeable characters, confusing plot, and almost so confusing it feels like a fever dream. But not a good fever dream. Bummed this one didn't work for me.

This book was just not for me. It’s very slow, and I had a hard time staying interested. I think the premise is interesting but the delivery is dry.

This one didn't quite hit for me - I saw someone describe it "like listening to a coworker describe a really fucked up dream" which honestly really sums it up.

This is a pass for me but I did enjoy the concept.

Thank you to Netgalley and HighBridge Audio for the ARC - Users is out now!

When we first meet miles he is reading a death threat or something he perceives as a death threat that’s magnetized to his refrigerator. This one letter will ultimately ruin his life he will eventually involve his coworkers and although he thinks he knows the user that is causing all his trauma he cannot for the life of him flush this man out. When his coworker tells him everyone has gotten these letters he blows her off because he is obsessed with the supposed death threats he’s been getting they haven’t just been ladders but they’re all Benouari some for poor miles. Can he figure out who is sending this or is anyone sending this at all. This was one of the craziest stories I had ever read I thoroughly enjoyed it and although at some points it got confusing I stuck with it and ultimately I totally loved the story. I thought the narrator did a good job and he totally fit the part of miles. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This was a bizarre read. I could completely understand someone reading this and being rocked by it, but it wasn't for me. The plot was too disjointed, the VR world wasn't presented with clarity, and 95%of the characters weren't likable. The concept is intriguing, but it was a miss for me.

I DNF’d this at 50%, it wasn’t for me. The story was a lot less sci-fi and tech than I thought it would be and was a lot more about family struggles that just didn’t hold my attention. This was just too slow for me and the underlying narrative of the dangers of technology were too light handed for me. The audio narrator was fine but nothing special.

Users by Colin Winnette is a thought-provoking novel that explores the dark side of the tech industry. The story centers around Miles, a name to know in the virtual reality field who creates a new product called The Ghost Lover. While the premise of the novel is interesting and the exploration of interpersonal experiences and private decisions in relation to virtual reality is thought-provoking, the main character, Miles, was challenging to connect with. His motivations and actions were often difficult to understand and I felt really disconnected from him.

One of my major issues with the book was the difficulty in believing some of the situations. Miles is married with children, yet he seems to have little knowledge of his family's lives, including not knowing anything at all about his wife of 15+ years' childhood (truly, this man knows absolutely nothing about his wife- I was really curious about how their marriage even came to be) or the layout of his home... that he lives in... all the time. This level of ambivalence and separation seems unlikely in a long-term relationship with children, or at least impossible to fathom for me personally, and that made it hard for me to fully buy into the story.

On the other hand, there are merits to the book. The exploration of the impact of tech on people's lives is thought-provoking, and the book raises important questions about the role of tech companies in society. While Miles may be difficult to connect with, his story is still an interesting one that provides a glimpse into the world of virtual reality and the people behind it. I would have lovAed more of that in this novel, especially more about Ghost Lover itself. So that leaves me to rate this an A for premise, but a solid C for execution.

Thanks so much to Soft Skull Press for the opportunity to listen to an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I took a flier with this audiobook. It's the first time I've used NetGalley to access media. This book is only just released, so I hadn't heard about it when I checked it out. This is my honest review of it.

I liked it. This is my kind of story, a darkly humorous cautionary tale of technology gone wrong. Although the technology isn't the star, and it only goes wrong for Miles, the lead character. Miles is a spectator in his own life, a "user" of his surroundings much like the people who interact with the VR environments he creates for a tech company.

Huge parts of the book are Miles's internal dialogue, a bewildered, uncertain, existential confusion that consumes him while life keeps flowing by. Miles is receiving death threats from a singular, menacing presence. His wily older daughter may harbor sinister intentions. His wife is consistently horrible to him. No wonder he retreats to the narrative in his head.

By the book's end, Miles has solved some of his life's mysteries. But he's encountered new ones, including the very home he occupies. It has become increasingly nebulous as the digital spaces he navigates come to feel increasingly real.

thank you to the author, publisher, and netgalley for an advanced audio version in exchange for honest review

1.75 stars- interesting plot(s) but too disconnected main plot lines not tied together enough, combined with a frankly annoying protagonist, and a too dry narrator killed any joy i got from the book. nothing felt like a suprise to me as i kept listening, and that made me realize there are much better similar works out there to consume if you want the near future sci fi tale of melding the human mind and VR and its ramifications. i wanted to love this book so much but sadly i didnt.

This one was a very interesting short quick book! I love speculative fiction around near future tech advancements and this one was no exception. I thought the concepts of memory and reality were fascinating on this one and thought the audio was great to listen to!

Thank you so much to HighBridge Audio for the ALC of this one.

It is a completely different book but my mind draws parallels with another 2023 release: The Red-Headed Pilgrim. A white man bumbling his way through the modern world and not incredibly well-prepared to meet the emotional and societal problems they end up facing. Additionally, I read Winnette's previous book, Haints Stay, an Acid Western from Two Dollar Radio, which also published the Maloney work.

I enjoyed how the nouveau-tech-rich was portrayed in a more accurate light than they themselves like to be portrayed. Not as a prophet descended on high to bless this country with their beautiful minds, but as a generally normal man who is in the right place with the right product at the right time.

I cast no aspersions on the humor and writing, both exquisite, but do think that perhaps this book did not come to me at the right time. Burned out by tech geniuses and the overwhelming presence of Musk-related content in the news; this book, already quite dark, crawled under my skin just a bit too much. I know a book need not be scored purely on "enjoyment" but the queasiness I got from this book cannot be overstated. I can identify with the anxiety expressed by the main character, but vitriol of his work partner, the stonewalling by his wife, and the cruelty of his daughter all ended up contriving a picture of a man very much alone. I know others may appreciate this perspective better than I did, but I yearned for this man to find a community that cares for him.

After reading the description of this book, and along with the cover artwork, I was interested to give it a try, even if thi is not the type of book I would normally read. I found the premise very intriguing and rather relevant to the technology and Virtual Reality-centered world we are living in and moving towards. But the level of self-doubt, insecurity, and paranoia throughout this story of the main character, Miles, and his relationships with his family members, made it hard for me to want to continue to see where the story was going, because it was just too much. It felt that there was no development, no growth. But that is maybe the point. Miles is stuck in his paranoia, and there is confusion between his reality and the VR world created for his company. I honestly had a hard time following this storyline. I was ready to leave the book behind, but ultimately I kept listening and did continue to the end to see where this paranoia and VR story line would lead. Again, while the premise of this book is intriguing, this book wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this Advanced Copy audiobook.

I liked the premise much more than the execution. I found the narration here very... detached in a way that made it difficult to connect to the emotional aspects of the story. There were not characters here that were easy to latch onto. I think to an extent the detached nature was part of the commentary, but it did not make for an enjoyable reading experience.

DNF @ 42% this book has a narrative structure that felt deattatched and nearly impossible to connect to. The protagonist attempts to balance family, work, and fear, and while there was potential for each of these focuses, none are being executed in a particularly impactful way.