Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
💛❤️🖤💛❤️🖤💛❤️🖤💛❤️🖤💛
Dungeon Crawler Carl is the 1st-installment to Matt Dinniman’s epic Lit RPG series of the same name, which is currently taking the world by storm.
I picked this up for a Book Club discussion earlier this month and I’m so glad that I did. I’m absolutely obsessed with this book, have bought the next four, and cannot wait to continue on this journey with Carl and Princess Donut!
In this story, we follow Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s spoiled cat, Donut, as the world is destroyed by an alien race, and all survivors are conscripted into an intergalactically-televised reality competition show, Dungeon Crawler World
There are 18-dangerous levels in this subterranean labyrinth that Carl and Donut are going to have to navigate if they want to have any hope of survival. Trust me when I say, it’s not going to be easy.
Within the first 20-pages of this book, Dinniman had me absolutely hooked. The writing and plot are both so unique and entertaining, I never knew what to expect next. It truly kept me on my toes from start to finish.
I have heard a lot of people saying how fabulous the audiobook is, and I wish I could have had that format, but nevertheless, I found my hard copy super engaging as well.
After they enter the dungeon, Carl’s ex-girlfriend’s cat, Donut, who he was bravely rescuing from a tree at the time the action kicks off, gains the ability to talk, and she was born to entertain. You’d be hard pressed to read this and not fall in love with Donut.
Carl, as well though, is such a compelling main character. I adore him. He’s such a good human, and his whole development, everything he does and says, felt so genuine and believable to me.
It’s hard to say how you would react if put into this bizarre circumstance, but I think based on what we come of know of Carl’s training and life experiences, his reactions and ability to adjust to the nature of the dungeon makes sense.
Overall, this is an incredible start to a series. As much fun as it is, there is a lot of deeper themes and plot lines that I am anxious to explore more in future installments.
If you haven’t picked this up yet, and think it sounds at all interesting, I highly encourage you to give it a try. For me, this is sure to be one of my most memorable reads of 2025!!