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Sunday, April 5, 2026

Review: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

Title:
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Author: Matt Dinniman
Series: Dungeon Crawler Carl #1
Genre: Science Fiction/Dystopia/Adult
Publisher: Dandy House
Publication Date: October 2, 2020
Edition: 464 pages, Kindle Edition
Source: Library
Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Bookshop | Powell's
 
 





Synopsis:
The apocalypse will be televised!
   A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.
   In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth—from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds—collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.
   The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.
   Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style.
You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big.
   You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game—with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.
They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.
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Bulk Review: Graphic Novles pt. 11

  
 
Another year, another bunch of manga. My library has been great about having manga I've wanted to read these past few years.  
 

Monday, March 9, 2026

Review: The Floating World by Axie Oh

Title:
The Floating World
Author: Axie Oh
Series: The Floating World #1
Genre: Mythology/Fantasy/Mystery
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: April 29, 2025
Edition: 358 pages, Kindle Edition
Source: Library
Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Bookshop | Kobo | Powell's
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
Synopsis:
   Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of perpetual darkness. An ex-soldier, he can remember little of his life from before two years ago, when he woke up alone with only his name and his sword. Now he does odd-jobs to scrape by, until he comes across the score of a lifetime—a chest of coins for any mercenary who can hunt down a girl who wields silver light.
   Meanwhile, far to the east, Ren is a cheerful and spirited acrobat traveling with her adoptive family and performing at villages. But everything changes during one of their festival performances when the village is attacked by a horrific humanlike demon. In a moment of fear and rage, Ren releases a blast of silver light—a power she has kept hidden since childhood—and kills the monster. But her efforts are not in time to prevent her adoptive family from suffering a devastating loss, or to save her beloved uncle from being grievously wounded.
   Determined to save him from succumbing to the poisoned wound, Ren sets off over the mountains, where the creature came from—and from where Ren herself fled ten years ago. Her path sets her on a collision course with Sunho, but he doesn't realize she's the girl that he—and a hundred other swords-for-hire—is looking for. As the two grow closer through their travels, they come to realize that their pasts—and destinies—are far more entwined than either of them could have imagined.

From Axie Oh, the New York Times-bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone in this romantic fantasy re-imagining the Korean legend of Celestial Maidens.
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Sunday, March 8, 2026

ARC Review: Our Wicked Gifts by Kathryn Foxfield

Title:
Our Wicked Gifts
Author: Kathryn Foxfield
Series: Standalone (I think)
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/YA Fantasy
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 7, 2026
Edition: eBook
Source: NetGalley
Pre-Order: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Bookshop | Kobo  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Synopsis:
   Cicely is the black sheep daughter of the powerful Winter family, who made a deal with the devil in exchange for riches and ruthless magic. Soren is the boy her family banished to the underworld. Their fates intertwine when Cicely's loathsome Uncle Dorian winds up dead at a masquerade ball.
   Once overlooked for her lowly gift of discovering secrets, Cicely is now her family's only chance at survival, tasked with finding the killer before he takes out every last Winter. With time running out, Cicely narrows her sights on Soren, who she suspects is back for vengeance.
   Yet the more Cicely investigates Soren--and gets to know him--the more she begins to question how much family loyalty is worth. After all, when it comes to being a Winter, one can have love or power, but rarely both.

The daughter of a sinister magical family who made a deal with the devil must stop the man killing them off, one by one, in this deliciously dark fantasy thriller that’s House of Hollow meets Succession, laced with a kiss-or-kill romance.
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Monday, February 23, 2026

ARC Review: In Stormy Weather by Chelsea Curto

Title:
 In Stormy Weather
Author: Chelsea Curto
Series: (unknown, might be a series)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: July 16, 2026
Edition: eBook
Source: NetGalley
Pre-Order: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Bookshop | Kobo | Powell's | 







Synopsis:
   Nothing can rain on Quincy Monroe’s parade. She’s a woman-in-STEM with a PhD in atmospheric sciences, the host of a successful online weather show, and has one million followers on her meteorology Instagram.
   Quincy has spent endless hours forging her path in this male-dominated field, becoming one of the best in the industry. And with a new job opportunity, nothing can derail her success. Except for the ill-timed arrival of Sebastian Dunn.
   Sebastian is her best friend’s brother, her long-suffering academic and professional rival, and a flashy TV weatherman from New York City that everyone swoons over. Everyone but Quincy.
   Over a scorching Florida summer and record-breaking hurricane season, Sebastian and Quincy are forced into close proximity. Setting aside their grudges to chase storms and stay alive is one thing, but can they weather the inevitable collision of their hearts?
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