Look. I can’t believe I’m saying this again but…this is the best book yet in the series. EVERY TIME I read a Carl book, I think there’s no way Matt can top it…and then he does. Why are we only allowed 5 stars? This book deserves more.
This book builds on the previous ones in terms of politics, intrigue, conflict, and snark. It GORGEOUS how Matt Dinniman weaves so much together that makes his stories the perfect balance of everything you want in a good book. But the disgustingly talented narrator, Jeff Hayes, MAKES THIS BOOK HAPPEN.
So we have the major characters again, and we know how Carl has been trying to break the game. We’ve also seen how the AI is becoming more sentient, Katya more secretive, Donut more bold (if thats possible), etc. Its kicks up a notch in Masquerade. You have everything from hilarious antics and ridiculous quests, to mysterious sponsors, groups breaking up and reforming, REALLY SAD PARTS that will tear at your heart and leave you empty, bad things happening to good people and bad things happening to bad people; the political unrest is becoming a huge problem, things coming full circle and things breaking out of the box…and there’s more 80s and 90s tunes than ever before.
DO NOT SKIP THE CREDITS or the epilogue. Trust me on this.
I’m actually depressed that as of writing this review, there’s only 1 book left in the series. Matt has said he’s planning 10 books, and even that doesn’t seem like enough. I am completely obsessed with the Carl series!