Category: Fantasy

4.5/5 Stars – The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

I finally finished book 6 (audio book) of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series – first, it was VERY LONG. Such a good listen though, probably one of my favourites so far. The adventurers are on a new floor, which of course means new mechanics. This floor involves cards almost like Yu-Gi-Oh or Pokemon, and they’re used in combat.

There wasn’t enough Princess Donut in this book, and I wasn’t especially engaged in the card fight mechanic for the floor. Carl goes through some brutal memories and scenes involving his step brother and Dad. The AI is messed up. Mordecai was OK. The nun was creepy.

This book was completely off the wall in a way that I’ve come to expect from Matt Dinniman, except I have NO IDEA how he does it. The entire book is filled with action, horror, humor, and drama. The more you listen to it, the more everything that seems over the top and ‘too much’ clicks exactly into place, and you’re just left standing there thinking “woah, holy shit.” and the amazing (to me) part of it is – IT MAKES SENSE. Matt Dinniman has created an incredibly over the top messed up world that logically makes sense in my brain when he describes it, despite the fact that it is completely made up bonkers nonsense.

This book held more emotional scenes than the previous ones (IMO), and I was there for it. I can’t wait to start the 7th book.

4.5/5 stars

4/5 Stars – Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries

This book was recommended to me by all sorts of friends, and I started seeing it pop up on my feed here and there – so when Kobo offered it on sale, of course I had to grab it. This was the very first book I bought for my Kobo Clara, and it was a lovely read. Things started out a bit slow, but as I progressed through the book and learned more about the two characters, I got deeply involved in the story. My only reason for giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is because I didn’t really enjoy how this book ended, it felt a bit rushed compared to the overall feel of the rest of the book.

The more I read, the more I started liking Wendell Bambleby (Emily’s colleague / rival) and the less I liked Emily! She started getting on my nerves. I did love how well we came to know the main character, the book came complete with footnotes and it was pretty unique. I saw some reviews mention the ‘dryness’ of the book, but honestly I think it suits the academic feeling of things, and I found the deeper stories to be just perfect. Overall, a lovely cozy read, and I’m sure I’ll be picking up the others before too long.

4/5 stars

5/5 Stars – Clockwork Boys

This is Clockwork Boys, by T. Kingfisher. Wow. I’m so glad I read the Paladin series first, even though it’s out of publishing order as far as these books go. I loved this book so much but I think it also helped that I already knew the history involved. Kingfisher is brilliant, her characters came to life (as always), and I can’t say enough good things about this read. It was an absolute joy in every aspect.

There’s a ton of ‘unique’ aspects of this book that make it so much more than your basic fantasy read. The carnivorous tattoos, the ex-demonhunter paladin, a smart ass assassin. I’m very excited to read the next book because of course it ended on a massive cliffhanger.

5/5 stars

3/5 Stars – Demon World Boba Shop: Vol. 1

This is Demon World Boba Shop: Vol. 1 by R.C. Joshua. First of all, this is not my first LitRPG – but it is the first time I actually understood what a LitRPG book WAS.

LitRPG, short for Literary Role-Playing Game, is a literary genre that combines elements of fantasy or science fiction novels with the mechanics of role-playing games (RPGs), particularly those found in video games. Essentially, it’s a story where characters navigate a game-like world, often with visible statistics, levels, quests, and other RPG elements integrated into the narrative. 

Unfortunately, nothing ever really HAPPENS in this one. I was looking for a slice of life read, but this was TOO casual, even for me. I do like the genre, and I will continue to pick up other litrpg (Dungeon Crawler Carl is another example of this genre), but this was not it. At least not for me. On the plus side, it *was* very well written, and that helped. It’s also not exactly a small book, coming in at 414 pages. In that time frame, the main character arrives at his new planet, gets established, discovers his skills, makes some friends, one ‘event’ happens that leads to a second ‘event’ and that’s it. That’s the entire story. Again I know I was looking for a calm quiet slice of life read, but this was too casual a read for me.

4/5 Stars – The Prisoner’s Throne

Another amazing read, once again into the story of Oak. His love interest really frustrated me, but I loved watching his character develop. The world building was fantastic, but the ending seemed rushed and didn’t make much sense to me, hence my 4 star instead of 5. I’m glad to be finish with this duology, even if it did leave me with more questions than answers.

4/5 stars

4/5 Star Review: The Gate of the Feral Gods

This book was amazing. Princess Donut makes the book, as always. I listened to it as an audio book – HIGHLY recommended for all of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. Rough story about Maggie & Chris. Frank. I wonder how Agnes manages each floor. I’m excited to start the next book and it’s probably the only book that I suggest people listen to the audio instead of reading it.

4/5 stars