Dungeon Crawler Carl has been one of those books that feels impossible to avoid if you spend any time around book people online. If you read much at all, or post about anything even remotely nerd-adjacent, this title has probably been clogging your Instagram and TikTok feeds for months. Along with Red Rising, which is still sitting on my ever-growing to-be-read pile, it feels like one of the two most relentlessly recommended books of the last few years.

For the most part, Dungeon Crawler Carl absolutely lives up to the hype.

At its core, it is LitRPG done in a way that scratches all the right old-school nerd itches. It hit those same parts of my brain that used to light up for DnD sessions, video games, leveling systems, and chaotic quest mechanics. It also leans hard into a brand of sophomoric humor that really worked for me. It knows exactly what kind of book it wants to be, and it commits to the bit.

One of the smartest choices in the whole thing is Donut. Toss in a pretentious talking cat, and suddenly you have a book that can pull in readers who would normally never touch an RPG-heavy story. That was definitely part of the magic here. The setup is bizarre and fun, with Earth basically transformed into a giant televised game show for the universe to consume. It is absurd, violent, funny, and weird in a way that keeps the pages moving. Also, I’ve started saying “Dammit Donut” when our toy aussie is being a menace.

That said, the first book never felt especially tense or dramatic to me. I never really had that sense of peril where I truly did not know how things would turn out. The momentum comes more from the ride, the humor, and the worldbuilding than from any real edge-of-your-seat danger.

Still, as a first book, it is a very strong foundation. You can already see the potential for the series to grow into something bigger, with a more intricate world and what feels like the possibility of deeper political intrigue as it goes. I also did my best to avoid spoilers here, but I will note one post-book prediction: I do not think Beatrice is gone from this story.

Overall, I’d go 9 out of 10 stars. A very fun start to a series, and I’ll be diving into book two soon. Now excuse me while I get out there and kill, kill, kill.