3.5 stars
I’m really enjoying this series and am really pulling for Carl and Donut to get through with some of their friends intact, and the ability to stick it to the corporation! But they have a ton more levels to get through before that can happen!
This particular level (will there be 18 books for 18 levels?) was not exactly interesting. The main challenge in this book was that they had travel by train, hijack some trains, destroy some trains, do whatever it took to get to a station so that they could then get down to the next level. As much as I’m enjoying the series, I tend to get lost in the details and forget the big picture. So with the exception of some of it, the trains were my least favorite part of this book. I did like the demon engineer and her babies!
But I liked how this one had Carl becoming a leader of sorts, coordinating with other crawler groups, and trying to get everyone to work together so that as many of them can survive to the end. While some of the leaders are clearly out to get other leaders for the good of their own group, Carl is all about helping all the humans survive the hell that is the dungeon. His biggest weakness is that he sometimes lets his anger get the better of him.
Without revealing specific spoilers, the title of this book is also one of the plot elements in this book, and I look forward to finding out more about it in future books. I didn’t like that Mordecai was as absent as he was because I do like his character. But on the flip side, it allowed Carl to make his own decisions, and whether they were the best decisions or what Mordecai would have recommended, I think they did help Carl learn a lot about being a leader.
Princess Donut is also maturing from the initial spoiled brat of a Persian she was at the beginning of the series, and I like that Carl recognizes that about her. While he knows some of her weaknesses, he also knows her strength, and I like that he tends to try talking through things with her, respecting her as an equal partner in what they choose to do. That’s what this book felt like to me. The continuing development of their relationship with each other with mutual respect and love. What I like is that she is not his pet (or even Bea’s pet) but his partner, while Mongo is her pet.
I also liked the addition of Katia–while she started out kind of like a wallflower, I liked watching her development, and I really liked how Carl tried to help her grow, even if he knew she was part of another team. It ultimately made me realize that he wants as many humans (well, the original humans) to survive the dungeons as possible. I’m hoping to see a lot more of her in future books.
I will be continuing with this series!