The LitRPG genre is not known for being overly serious, and that is definitely true of Dungeon Crawler Carl which does not take itself very seriously. At the same time, the story can be as grimdark and traumatic as anything I’ve ever read and Dinniman writes it masterfully.
From the compelling characters, outrageous humor, and darkly grounded human trauma, I came away thoroughly impressed with with this book and dove right through the rest of the series.