Book Review: The Butcher’s Masquerade (Dungeon Crawler Carl #5) by Matt Dinniman

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Dystopian Sci-Fi
Length: 707 pages
Author: Matt Dinniman
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: April 8th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Attention. Attention. The gates are down. The hunters are loose. Run, Run, Run.

A lush jungle teeming with danger. Savage dinosaurs seeking blood. A fallen princess intent on vengeance. A mysterious, end-of-floor celebration for the top crawlers, dubbed “The Butcher’s Masquerade.”

The sixth floor. The Hunting Grounds.

As the remaining crawlers battle for their lives, a new, terrible threat looms. Outside tourists are finally allowed to enter the game, and they are here and ready to hunt. Among them is Vrah, a famed and veteran hunter, intent on collecting the biggest trophy of her career.

But their prey is far from harmless, and this season they are fighting back.

Dungeon Crawler Carl and Princess Donut return in book five of the acclaimed litrpg series.

ANOTHER BANGER.

Book four had become my most recent favorite but maybe five outshines it?? I DON’T KNOW. All I know is I had the urge to read the next DCC book and I could not put this down. I was locked in. Who knew I’d be so invested in a friendship between Carl and Princess Donut? BECAUSE I AM AND I CARE SO MUCH. Not to mention a dozen other character dynamics too.

I don’t want to speak a lot about the plot because I refuse to spoil anything for anyone. I think the pacing was great and the action beats hit at just the right teams. The masquerade itself was WILD and the ending left me GASPING. I’m just enjoying this journey. It’s complex and hard hitting with the right level of humor woven in too.

Once again may I beg of you to listen to the audiobooks because they are incredibly well narrated.

Overall audience notes:

  • Dystopian Sci-Fi
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: none
  • Violence: high

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Book Review: The Shadows that Listen (Angel Ruin #1) by Louisa Carmody

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Louisa Carmody
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: September 9th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

WHO WILL SURVIVE THE NIGHT?

The Shadows that Listen is an unputdownable dystopian romantasy with a delicious slow burn romance, from debut author Louisa Carmody. Perfect for fans of Crescent City and Silver Elite.

It’s been five years since the world was brought to its knees by an immortal war. Daemons crawled from the depths of hell and the sky bled gold as the angels arrived. Humanity thought it was saved, but the angels did not come to protect us.

Amara is a human warrior working for the Angel Intelligence Agency. She spends her days searching for those who don’t make it home after curfew. But when her boyfriend Jeremy goes missing, she decides to venture into the shadows to bring him back. Even if it means death.

Nathaniel is an archangel tasked with leading the destruction of humanity, for which he cares little. He doesn’t have time to protect little humans running around in the dark, especially those who stab him in the stomach.

But Nathaniel and Amara will soon realise they share a foe, one that lurks in the shadows and stalks them from the skies. She might long to kill him, but Amara knows that having an angel at her side is the only way to find the man she loves.

The shadows lengthen. They listen. Who will survive the night?

Thank you Orbit Books for the gifted copy.

I’LL READ BOOK TWO.

I didn’t know a single thing about this book and I decided that it was a gem! I appreciated that even though it’s an “urban” fantasy I didn’t feel like it was. The setting gave off purely fantasy vibes. Add in the humans + angels + demons combo and I was sat.

There was too much conversation around finding Jeremey because I just didn’t like Jeremy, but that was my biggest complaint. I liked the plot and that things kept moving. There’s good reveals and *AHA* moments that I can’t wait to see play out in book two.

The romance is a slow burn. THANK YOU FOR THE SLOW BURN. I did think it was funny Amara called Nathanial archangel for so much of the book. I couldn’t even remember what his name was most of the time because of it. I’m real down bad for these two so I can’t wait for more in this department too.

Overall audience notes:

  • Dystopian fantasy romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: high

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Book Review: Smoke and Scar (Shattered Crown #1) by Gretchen Powell Fox

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 466 pages
Author: Gretchen Powell Fox
Publisher: Hopewell Media
Release Date: March 11th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Birthed in shadow. Forged in fire.

A Splintered Kingdom

An ancient grudge has kept humans and the magical races of Arcanis at odds for centuries. The Arcane Crucible, a legendary series of trials that occurs every 25 years, offers a chance for peace.

A Haunted Warrior

Elyria Lightbreaker, once a celebrated fae war hero, is a shadow of her former self. Drowning in grief after losing the man she loved to the previous Crucible, now she must rise to stop his sister from falling to the same fate.

A Vengeful Knight

Hardened by loss and fueled by hate, Cedric Thorne’s lifelong goal to conquer the Crucible on humanity’s behalf is finally within reach. The only problem? Getting through the trials alive means working with Elyria—the very fae he blames for his parents’ deaths.

An Unwinnable Challenge

With alliances fragile as spun glass and betrayal lurking at every turn, Elyria and Cedric must navigate deadly trials that test their strength, spirit, and magic… as well as their increasingly complex feelings for each other.

This is the Arcane Crucible.

I’M TIRED.

Reallllll tired of the *lets go through a competition trial* trope. I think I’ve read too many back to back and now they all sound the same. And they used to be so good!!

The use of the trials feels like a weak plot device to move the story forward when nothing major has been happening. I was bored both during the trial and outside of it too. The romance had no sticking power and I won’t be continuing this series.

My positive note is that the audiobook is DUET. Which I will never stop saying is one of the best audio formats out there.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: make-outs
  • Violence: high

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Book Review: Poisoned Ivy (Legacies #1) by Ava Rani

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: NA Contemporary Romance
Length: 398 pages
Author: Ava Rani
Publisher: Self published
Release Date: October 17th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Maxton Hall meets Rory Gilmore’s college years in this decadent college romance that equal parts passion, privilege and mystery.

Malena Amin is two people.

At home, she the respectable, rule-abiding daughter that her controlling family expects. At her prestigious Ivy-League University, she’s the risk-taking, adventurous woman that she wants to be. With parents who demand to know her location settings at all times, Malena uses a secret phone and secret bank account to make her double life possible.

But when her tutoring job falls through, she hits a snag in funding that double life. So, Malena sets her eyes on the prize money from a National feature-writing contest through the school paper. And when she intercepts an invitation to an ultra-exclusive secret society on campus-she has the perfect story.

She’ll attend, lay low, and get an inside look.

Unfortunately, she’s discovered early in the night by the notorious playboy and Hastings Media heir: Conrad Hastings.

The frustratingly attractive Conrad doesn’t aspire to anything other than a good time. But when his newspaper-magnate father discovers that he’s delinquent on work for the school paper, Conrad needs to complete it before his father can make good on an ultimatum. So, he agrees to let Malena into the secret society-temporarily- if she agrees to share a byline on the article they’ll write together. Conrad fulfils his obligations, and Malena gets the inside look she needs for the contest.

But, the two soon discover an art world mystery hidden between lavish parties and Gothic libraries. And more concerningly: a palpable spark between them. With new clues unraveling before them, mounting desire they can’t ignore and Malena’s web of lies threatening to collapse-their partnership becomes a lot more than a simple deal.

GO FOR THE AUDIO.

I’m a sucker if I see that an audiobook offers duet narration so here we are!! A new to me author and I totally think I’m going to read the next book in this series. I would love more college romance books so this hit the spot. I loved the yearning and the dash of mystery and that undeniable connection between Conrad and Malena.

I didn’t love a few innuendo based things about the book. It kind of felt forced and overdone. Same with the spice. Less is more for this story.

But I adored Conrad. He was just THERE in all the ways Malena needed. I really liked Malena’s friends too. What I wouldn’t do to have such a solid base like that. The setting with the amongst the wealthy with secret societies and such was different than my usual which made for a quick and enjoyable listen.

Overall audience notes:

  • New adult college romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 5ish open door
  • Violence: low
  • Content warnings: domestic abuse (Mom pinches and slaps FMC), mentions of infidelity (not between the main couple)

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