Do you have a twisted sense of humor that can laugh about humanity’s death knoll? Are you either a cat fan or a cat hater (either one will work)? Most importantly, do you play RPGs? If so, you will love Dungeon Crawler Carl.
If not, you will probably think it is a repetitive and violent piece of garbage.
So what did I think about Dungeon Crawler Carl? I switched back and forth between both viewpoints. In the beginning, I was entranced with the epic world building. And, of course, a talking cat named Princess Donut. At about a third of the way, I was definitely feeling the repetition. There are only so many times you can watch Carl kick and squish his way to victory with his bare feet. Eventually, I realized that this was a mashup of the old Schwarzenegger movie Running Man and the Hunger Games series. With more snarky humor. By the cat.
Can you suspend any sense of reality and enjoy this book? I don’t know. I’m not even sure whether I enjoyed it. However, I definitely enjoyed the author’s warped sense of humor so you might too. 5 stars for originality even though it is based on two familiar sources. Again, this review, as well as the book it is based on, is a conundrum.
Thanks to NetGalley and Ace for providing me with an advanced review copy.