I have a new found love for reading and photography. I am here to share all my book reviews and other bookish things. Hopefully we can be friends along the way!
I purchased this book almost a year ago. I remember reading the synopsis in my local Barnes and Noble and thinking it sounded unlike anything else I had yet to read. It turns out that I was correct, I hadn’t read anything quite like this book in my reading journey but it didn’t meet my expectations unfortunately.
“We’re all trying to block out feelings. Doesn’t matter if we use heroin, prescription pills, food, work, whatever,”
Meg works for a casino in LA, catching cheaters and popping a few too many pain pills to cope, following a far different path than her sister Haley, a famous actress. But suddenly reports surface of Haley dying at the remote rehab facility where she had been forced to go to get her addictions under control.
There are whispers of suicide, but Meg can’t believe it. She decides that the best way to find out what happened to her sister is to check in herself – to investigate what really happened from the inside.
Battling her own addictions and figuring out the truth will be much more difficult than she imagined, far away from friends, family – and anyone who could help her.
The beginning of this book gave me a lot of hope. I was really intrigued by the plot that was being set up. I enjoyed having the two different POV’s which I was a bit surprised about. I also didn’t dislike our FMC even though she was meant to be a bit unlikable so that was a pleasant surprise. But the book quickly started to fall short for me.
By the time i got about 40% into the book I was struggling to want to pick it up to read. I was using it as my before bed read due to the short chapters, which I loved, but the book wasn’t holding my attention long enough for me to want to read more than a chapter a night which was not ideal.
I found the book extremely predictable. I knew who our villain was straight out the gate which was disappointing. I had really hoped I was incorrect but it was painfully obvious. The big reveal at the end was anticlimactic as well, I was hoping to be shocked but their was plenty of bread crumbs along the way that made this twist fall flat in my eyes.
While reading this book I was really interested in the addiction recovery aspects of the book. I found myself wishing that the genre had been literary fiction rather than a thriller. I would have loved to see our FMC struggle with her addiction, learn to accept recovery and ultimately fight her way out of addiction while uncovering her past that she has forgotten. I think this would have made a much more compelling story. While we did get snippets of those aspects in our plot they were quickly over shadowed by our mystery and that just did not interest me in the slightest.
I wanted to learn more about our whole cast of characters in rehab and I think we could have gotten that in a literary fiction style book. It could have added depth to the plot that felt like it was lacking. I think each character was important to this story but they didn’t get enough attention for us to really grasp who they were and why we think they could be suspects. Sure we got bits and pieces dropped into our lap but a lot of those observations were pretty obvious and surface level.
Over all I guess I was expecting a completely different book than what I got. I am not sure this is a book that everyone needs to read so in my opinion you can skip reading this book.
“The good thing about recovery is you get your feelings back. The bad thing is you get your feelings back.”
The Jacksonville Rays series have been my favorite hockey romance books by a long shot. Each one has made me kick my feet and giggle more than the last. The audio books have also all been really great too so before you even get to my review for this book do yourself a favor and pick up Pucking Around, you will not be disappointed.
This particular book in the series really struck a chord with me and that’s due to the topic of Demisexuality. I will get into this more in my review below but just know Emily Rath can do no wrong in my eyes with her books.
I have somehow missed all the reviews for the previous books in this series so that’s my bad… Maybe upon a re read I will write my official thoughts.
“Lord knows he’s done enough for me already. Whatever my husband wants, he gets.”
The Jacksonville Rays go international when their Swedish star forward and the team’s physical therapist have to stage a very real fake marriage in this delicious slow burn, spicy MM, workplace hockey romance from viral sensation Emily Rath!
My name is Teddy O’Connor, and I just made a terrible mistake. It’s been six years since I was an intern for the Jacksonville Rays NHL team. Six years since I wrapped ice packs on knees and played Mario Kart on chartered planes. And six long years since I first met him. Henrik Karlsson, star forward of the Rays . . . and king of my heart.
Oh god, I’ve got to get over this crush! I’m a doctor now, a respected professional. And Henrik doesn’t even know I exist. So you tell me why I’m risking everything to follow this man halfway around the world!
After receiving news of his sister’s tragic death, Henrik must fly to Sweden to retrieve his injured, grieving young niece. But with a new hockey season about to start, Henrik can’t possibly care for her alone. In fact, the Swedish government won’t let him. He needs me. They both do. I’d be heartless not to help—right?
Well, that’s what I told myself last week as I signed our Swedish marriage license. It’s what I told myself yesterday as I moved into his apartment. And it’s what I’m telling myself now as the Rays PR Director stares us down. They want this marriage to look real. The team’s public image, our jobs, and Henrik’s custody agreement all depend on it.
But my problem isn’t that I don’t love my fake husband. God help me, my problem is that I do.
This series has meant a lot to me over the years. It was one of the first hockey romances that I ever picked up. I loved Pucking Around so much that it led to my current obsession with hockey. I am so glad this series came into my life. Each and every character will stick with me for a long time to come.
I have had this book sitting on my shelves since it’s release date last year just begging for me to pick it up. I hate that it took so long to finally dive into but I think I read it at the perfect time.
This may not have been my most favorite book in this series but I think its the one that meant the most to me personally. Karlsson learns a lot about himself and his sexuality throughout the book and it was really refreshing to see, what I feel was, an accurate description to what it felt like being Demisexual before even knowing what that term meant. You see Karlsson feeling like he is broken for not finding people sexually attractive or not craving a sexual relationship like all of his Hockey teammates. Teddy making him aware of the term and Karlsson doing his own research of Demisexuallity really helped him discover himself and feel comfortable with who he has been his whole life. I really loved the representation this book had as I don’t read about many characters who I can relate to on this topic.
The only part that I struggled with during my reading was that I occasionally found Teddy to be a tad bit annoying. The reason why I didn’t let this drag my rating too low was because it was a good representation to how someone with anxiety might be reacting to the strange situation that he found himself in. If it was up to me there wouldn’t be any conflict that felt unnesesary but then we wouldn’t have a book now would we? I just felt like he would spiral at the drop of a hat and sometimes it felt excessive.
With that being said, I still really loved Teddy’s character. The way he loves everyone so fiercely just made me swoon! He didn’t think twice before he offered to throw his whole self into the unknown for a little girl he has never met before. I adored his tender soul with all my heart.
Henrik Karlsson will have my whole heart for years to come. The “touch him and die” vibes were everything I needed from his character. He may have been reserved and quiet for most of the book but his quiet love was so enduring next to Teddy’s Fierce love. They really made a great pair and you could see it come to life on the page from the moment you first met them.
These characters becoming full time live in uncles over night was such a fun plot. They both showed little Karo love and support in their own way. Teddy became the fun uncle who knew how to bring the laughs out of Karo and Karlsson was the uncle she could turn to when she need a shoulder to cry on. They gave this little girl the most supportive family she could have asked for with the circumstances given.
Fake Marriage has yet to let me down as a trope. I am actively looking for book recommendations so if you have any please send them my way!
“You just be you, and I’ll be me, and we’ll just be weird and awkward together.”
This is a new release as of late 2025 that I heard phenomenal reviews for non stop so I was beyond excited to start the book. I even purchased myself a special edition copy which was also signed. I had no doubts that I would enjoy this book but man oh man do I have regrets.
“One of my worst realizations was how many people will—without a second thought—trade other people’s freedoms for their own minor comforts.”
Life in the perilous Thorn district is a constant battle for Arvelle and her younger brothers. And the vampire standing on her doorstep is about to turn their world upside down.
Faced with an unthinkable choice, Arvelle makes a magically binding vow to do the kill the emperor, an ancient vampire created by the god Umbros. But first, she must enter the Sundering—an arena where only the fastest, strongest, and deadliest survive long enough to be selected for the emperor’s elite guard.
She quickly draws the ire of the Primus, the powerful figure charged with protecting the emperor. But the vampire under the armor is the last person Arvelle expects to encounter in the emperor’s court.
With her brothers’ lives in the balance, Arvelle has no choice but to ally with the man who once shattered her heart… and with the emperor’s sadistic son, Rorrik—two vampires whose motives are impossible to pin down. Rorrik holds the key to understanding the powers Arvelle is developing—abilities that would put a price on her head if discovered by the emperor.
To survive the arena and complete her mission, Arvelle must get to the bottom of a conspiracy that will change everything she thought she knew about herself—and the two vampires who are deeply entwined with her destiny…
“Loving an addict is like being an addict yourself. Only you’re addicted to hope. You constantly tell yourself that this time will be different. Things will get better. And always”
I had very high hopes for this book. I had only heard great things regarding it but in all honesty I am so disappointed now that I have finished reading it.
The book started off strong, so strong that I went and bought a special edition copy which was signed. I should have waited to drop all that money till I had finished the book. Regrets were made.
As the book went on the plot lines got blurred. At times the main plot line got lost by the sub plots. Even the ending didn’t really satisfy any of the plot lines we were given.
The main character was annoying.. I’m honestly tired of reading books where our main FMC is supposed to be some big baddie just to find out she’s weak and can’t do anything unless it’s out of pure luck or someone swooping in to save them.
The main MMC was boring which I understand why as I see where book twos plot lines for the romance is headed but honestly we didn’t need the second chance romance plot lines as it didn’t feel important to the plot. Just let them be best friends. It would have been a much more enjoyable book this way.
I wish that we had gotten a whole book before this one where we got to see her grow up with her best friend so we could actually care for all these past history plot lines and even to help us not only understand the world a bit better but also the magic system and her relationships. I really do hope a prequel is in the works as I feel like it is really needed.
I honestly struggled keeping up with all the characters. At times someone would get mentioned in detail and I am like “How the heck did she even know this person?” I feel like important details got missed or glance over. The world was also really hard to picture in my head. Again the details just weren’t vivid. The magic system was lacking. I get that we have three types of people but I didn’t understand their powers as well as I feel like we should have.
This book felt extremely repetitive to the point where paragraphs would get repeated as a memory shortly after we just read them. It made me feel like the author just assumed we would not be smart enough to put things together without things being repeated. But to be honest the things that I wouldn’t have minded being addressed again felt like they were just skimmed over. The writing just left me extremely frustrated.
Ok so what did I like? I love Rorrik and their “relationship”. I liked her brothers plot line a lot. I also enjoyed the few friendships she created along the way. But so many things got in the way that it was hard to remember why I was enjoying the book. I just wanted to scream at our main FMC to get a grip.
The ending did make me interested in reading the second book but IDK if I can get myself to go through this again unless the author really changes the writing style. I need paragraphs to feel cohesive and things to not repeat nearly as often.
“That’s the thing about rights—you don’t realize you’ve taken them for granted until one day, you wake up, and they’re no longer a right. They’re a privilege reserved for other people.”
I am a John Logan Girly hands down and that is mostly due to the fact that Antonio Cipriano plays him in the Off Campus series and is my current Celebrity crush. I absolutely fell in love with John Logan in the first book and season of this series so after I finished I immediately hoped into his book “The Mistake”. I know my review won’t do his character enough justice but I am glad that I was able to read his story.
He’s a player in more ways than one… College junior John Logan can get any girl he wants. For this hockey star, life is a parade of parties and hook-ups, but behind his killer grins and easygoing charm, he hides growing despair about the dead-end road he’ll be forced to walk after graduation. A sexy encounter with freshman Grace Ivers is just the distraction he needs, but when a thoughtless mistake pushes her away, Logan plans to spend his final year proving to her that he’s worth a second chance. Now he’s going to need to up his game… After a less than stellar freshman year, Grace is back at Briar University, older, wiser, and so over the arrogant hockey player she nearly handed her V-card to. She’s not a charity case, and she’s not the quiet butterfly she was when they first hooked up. If Logan expects her to roll over and beg like all his other puck bunnies, he can think again. He wants her back? He’ll have to work for it. This time around, she’ll be the one in the driver’s seat…and she plans on driving him wild.
I have never been a big fan of second chance romances in books so I was a tad bit worried to hear that was the main trope going into this one. However, most of the second chance romances I have read have been high school sweethearts who drifted apart only to find love again years later. This one I could hardly count as a relationship before they “broke things off” and so few months passed before they were trying to make things work again so I didn’t end up having any issues with the main trope like I expected.
I really enjoyed the additional background information that we received on Logan’s life. His story was really heartbreaking. To have your life predetermined for you and ultimately feeling like you have to give up on your dreams just to help your family make ends meet is such a hard fate to accept. I could feel the anguish this was causing him but I could understand why he felt as if he had no choice. His story felt really personal and that’s why I really enjoyed it.
Grace felt really relatable in her own ways. Throughout the story you get to see her really grow and find her path and I really appreciated that in her character. I loved that she was able to find her voice and learn to stand up for herself. I don’t always feel like you get to see such a strong character arch in these romance books.
As for Logan and Grace’s romance it honestly felt kinda insta lovey for me and I think that is why I had the biggest issue with their relationship. I thought it was cute all the things Logan was willing to do to get Grace back but after only knowing the girl for a few weeks and then being hell bent on getting her back despite the obvious radio silence in my mind is a bit creepy. I am not sure I would have ever spoken to him again as he clearly doesn’t understand that silence is a boundary in of itself. But if I can get past that I do think they were cute together.
I heard so much about Logan’s poem to grace before I read the book that I was very let down by that part in the book. I thought it was going to be something very profound but in reality it was just meh. I almost wish it wasn’t so easy for Grace to take him back. I at least would have liked to see more of the 6 tasks she made him do instead of brief descriptions.
What I really loved was at the end of the book when Graces dad calls Logan Son and Logan just started bawling. It gave off a found family moment and I appreciated that. I adore when In laws are so accepting.
Honestly, I am not sure I will be continuing with this series as I don’t know if I care about the rest of the characters. The writing is ultimately not my favorite either so I am just not compelled to continue. But who knows. Maybe Ali and Dean’s season in the TV show will convince me other wise.
“Babe, you’ve gotta stop revealing all your crazy up front. Seriously. Save all that stuff for later, when you’re in a relationship with the guy and it’s harder for him to run away.”
This series has been sitting on my shelf for years and to be honest with you, I told myself if I didn’t pick the series up by the end of the year I would be unhauling them. I mean why let them collect any more dust and take up much needed shelf space if I was no longer interested in reading them?
The TV series is what brought new life to these books, I am one who sadly suffers from FOMO so I guess these books were given a second chance at life. Only time will tell if they will earn a permanent space on my shelves or if this was just a “phase”.
“I want to murder him in his sleep, A. No, I want to murder him when he’s awake so he can see the joy on my face when I do it.”
She’s about to make a deal with the college bad boy… Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she’s carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush’s attention, she’ll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice…even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date. …and it’s going to be oh so good!
All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he’s worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he’s all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn’t going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.
For someone who is a huge hockey fan I am honestly shocked it took me this long to get to this book. This hockey romance was one of the first ones to ever be added to my collection when i found this Sub Genre yet I kept passing over it. I had heard a lot of hype over the years for this series so I think I subconsciously held off on reading it as I was afraid it would not live up to the hype. As the years went by I started to hear people say it felt a little YA in the writing with the biggest complaint being how much swearing was in the dialogue. I can agree with those points now that I have finished the book.
I may not think that this book was the most well written book I have ever read but sometimes its not always about the skill of the writing but the vibes that the plot brings out. I had a fun time reading this book and that’s what matter the most to me by the end of it. I read this book really quickly which is always a great sign to my overall enjoyment.
Our main female lead, Hannah, has a past trauma regarding being Raped when she was in high school so if this is a trigger warning for you I recommend being cautious picking this up. While the book doesn’t go into too many details regarding this, the trauma is mentioned quite often and ultimately plays a big part in the characters development both personally and in relationships. This is a trope that I often try to avoid myself but I didn’t have too many issues with this topic in this particular book. I liked how the book handled this sensitive topic for the most part. The over arching theme is that your trauma does not define you but that it is okay to allow yourself the time and space to heal. I really enjoyed how her friends and family reacted to her story and didn’t beg her for further information that she wasn’t ready to share.
“And the most important lesson I learned is that I’m not a victim—I’m a survivor.”
I am a sucker for fake dating so I was really excited about that factor of this book but lets be honest.. it never really felt like fake dating to me. You could tell these two were head over heals for one another all too quickly so that pay off just wasn’t there for me. With that said their chemistry felt off the charts and that is what I loved about them the most. They were really able to lean into the trust aspect really easily and that had me falling hard.
Garrett Graham became a top tier book boyfriend for me by the end of the book but at the start I was honestly a little iffy about the whole thing. I just don’t love a reformed playboy but lets be honest… that is literally all of these men in this series so I just need to get over that I guess. Someone who is so cocky just gives me the ick, and he was beyond cocky at the start of this book so I was happy that that seemed to quickly dissipate as the love started to bloom. The hottest part of his character was that he truly fell first and that will always cause me to be wrapped around a book boyfriends finger.
I ultimately loved all the side plots and characters in this book and that makes a strong story for me. I WANTED to know about each of their passions, friends and family. I found myself looking forward to the music writing scenes or the ones where they were just hanging out with their group of friends. When we got to go to Thanksgiving with Garrett’s Dad I was so exciting cause we got to dive farther into his past when it felt like we mostly heard about Hannah’s and not his. Just overall the plot of this book was fun and interesting and I can’t say that about many romance books.
After finishing this book I immediately wanted more so I downloaded the second book “The Mistake” so I could learn more about the characters in this universe. When a book leaves me wanting more that is a great sign!
“How did I go so long without noticing you, damn it? Why did it take seeing a stupid A on your midterm to make me notice?” He sounds so genuinely upset that I scoot closer and kiss him. “It doesn’t matter. You know me now.” “I do,” he says fiercely.”
Okay, this is going to have spoilers for both the book and TV series so if you have not read and watched the show I suggest skipping this part. There may be spoilers for book two “The Mistake” and Book three “The Score” so keep that in mind.
I have a love hate relationship with the book and series now that I have finished both (at least the first two books of the series so I could be missing some fundamental plot lines for the TV series). I know I have some controversial opinions so just remember that we are all allowed to think what we want and we can agree to disagree if we need to. I am happy to have a health conversation about our opinions.
Casting
Lets start out with what I think is the easiest category for me to discuss, Casting. I have only read the first two books so I don’t feel like I can get the most accurate feel for characters who show up later but we will cross that path as we go.
Overall I enjoyed the casting. I only had a few minor issues which I feel is pretty promising! This will not be a comprehensive list.
Garret Graham: Belmont Cameli
Belmont was probably my favorite casting choice in this show so far. I think his acting was really great. He felt right for the role in my opinion. He was good looking, able to make me feel his emotions and ultimately gave off the right vibes for his character. I felt as if he understood his character really well going into the show and that is the most important part.
Hannah Wells: Ella Bright
Oh man, Ella was probably my second least favorite casting choice which is probably the first controversial opinion I am sharing. I just was not convinced by her acting. Her character has a really emotional arc and her acting just didn’t really let these emotions shine through for me. Don’t get me wrong, there were times where I felt like “Hey, now that’s Hannah.” But most of the time I just wasn’t connecting to her character.
Ali Hayes: Mika Abdalla
I love Ali’s character in the first book, I have not yet gotten to book three which portrays her story so I feel like my opinion on her casting might not be the most valuable insight. TV show Ali did not entirely match my expectation of the Ali I know from the book but despite that I think Mika is a good actress and really embodied the screen character she was playing. I feel like If I do end up reading her book that her on screen character will make more sense to me.
Dean Di Luarentis: Stephen Kalyn
Again I have not read Dean’s book yet so I don’t know his character all too well. I mentioned above in my review of the book that I don’t love a reformed fuck boy but by the end of season one I was really enjoying Dean’s character. I think Stephen will do his character justice and make the next season a good one.
John Logan: Antonio Cipriano
I am an Antonio super fan so I am probably bias when I say that I absolutely loved his acting in this series. The puppy dog yearning eyes get me every time. I feel like Antonio shows his emotions really well when acting and that’s very important to me when connecting to characters. I can not wait for his season as I feel like it might be my personal favorite of the show.
John Tucker: Jalen Thomas Brooks
Tucker is such a fun side character and Jalen was a lot of fun to watch during the show. You don’t get to know him all too well so it can be hard for those characters to shine but Jalen really steals some of his scenes and I really loved that. I am excited to see what he does with his character as the show goes on.
Justin – Josh Heuston
Lets be honest, my least favorite character by far. His acting was fine I guess… All I can say is not my Xaden Riorson ….IYKYK…
Plot Changes
In my mind I almost have to separate the TV series from the book. In my personal opinion, I feel like there were too many changes or adjustments for my liking. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that in order for us to an adaptation for any of our favorite books there will have to be changes but that doesn’t mean we have to like that, we just need to accept them in order for us to enjoy the show. So with that said the changes made did not make me dislike the show it just made me a little frustrated.
The biggest change that bothered me was that she was no longer doing the show case because she was a singer. She was a musical composer which is close enough I suppose, But for some reason this really bothered me. By the time we got to the end of the show where she was able to overcome her writing block it did make up for some of that frustration but man the song she wrote was not good… Sorry not sorry.
Related to the Show Case change was having Justin and Cass’s Characters be morphed into one character. I really enjoyed the Cass plot line in the book, it gave me a character to hate without making him a huge part of the story line. It made the show case actually interesting in my opinion. One good thing about this change is that her liking Justin actually made sense. She is a musician and so is he it felt natural for her to form a crush on him rather than a football player. Also they only had 8 episodes so to find time for two characters instead of one would have been much harder. We do get a glimpse at Cass in episode one or two I believe when she shares her musical composition with her class to get their opinions, which I appreciated.
This one really pissed me off and honestly I might move it to my number one spot. But Garrett breaking up with Hannah? Excuse me?! The Garrett I knew would have never let his ego get in the way of his relationship. The third act break up did not make sense to me in the show. In the book I can understand why Hannah called things off with him due to his horrible father but the show literally did not give me a good reason for this. Well okay except for maybe helping Hannah over come some of her traumas and given her something to write about I guess… But I think this could have been done no matter who broke up with who.
Ali in the book felt like such a better friend than in the TV show and I think that is because again we were only given 8 episodes to work with and they moved up Ali and Dean’s season to season two so they had to rush their story line which I feel like caused them to lose focus on the best friend aspect between her and Hannah and hoped that we could just sense the strong bond between the two of them and I felt like I didn’t feel it as much as I should have. I hope that as the seasons progress we will get to see their friendship deepen.
John Logan has an older brother in the books and as far as I can remember not a younger sister. Jules was kinda just thrown into this show and it threw me off a bit. I am curious how this will affect Logan’s back story. In the books it is also his dad who is an alcoholic and not his mom but I am not sure this will make too big of a change for the shows plot, but we shall see.
One that makes me sound super nit picky is that Della’s Dinner and Malone’s Bar was combined into one location. I understand this on a filming aspect but again story wise I just didn’t love it.
A change that after reflection I didn’t mind was that Hannah’s Attacker was on the opposing hockey team and Garrett Beat him up on the ice. In the book it was just one of the attackers friends who defended him when everything went down who happened to be at the St. Anthony’s game and Hannah saw him so Garrett attacked him in the concessions. I think plot wise the change makes more sense and made for a more convincing fight scene.
Where was the car sex scene after Thanksgiving?
One that I actually liked was that Hannah had a bike instead of borrowing someones car every time she needed to go somewhere. That detail in the book just felt really weird to me, she practically had possession of that poor girls car more than the girl did.
Dean and Beau sharing a birthday party was one that I didn’t mind but it also made it so there was one less party for Hannah and Garrett to connect at. It made sense for the shortened timeline we had with 8 episodes though and it really helped Beau and Dean’s friendship shine through which I think I didn’t really get in the book.
The campus wide hands off law was one of the greatest things in the book. It felt very “Garrett” coded. but because of the way the break up happened in the series just didn’t allow the Off hands law to make as big of an impact and felt like it was just tossed into the show for the readers.
Now that I am done ranting about the changes I know it sounds like I hated the show but that’s not true. I did enjoy the TV series quite a bit but I can’t let myself compare it to the book. My husband was sick of hearing me say “This is not how it happened in the book.” He would just roll his eyes. And I am sure I missed several other changes but these are the ones that really stuck out to me.
“Living well and being happy is how we get over the shit in our past.”
Now that I have gave you a review for the Book and my thoughts on the TV show I guess it is time to tell you my thoughts as a whole. I had a fun time with the book and the series really brought the characters to life. I see myself continuing to watch the series as new seasons are released but I am not sure if I will continue with the books. I finished book 2 “The Mistake” (review coming soon) but I don’t know if I care enough about the characters who are left in the series to finish reading them. While the books happen to read very quickly I just have so many other books that I am actually dying to read. However, this would not be the first time I eat my words.. I am almost positive that after watching Dean and Ali’s season I will wish I would have read their book. So I make no promises.
I hope you all give this book and TV series a try and I hope that you love every second of it.
“Sometimes people sneak up on you and suddenly you don’t know how you ever lived without them.”
Now Before you ask “Wait Bailie, where are the other seven book reviews for this series?” I will tell you. I read the first 7 books in the last half of 2025, and if you look at my blog post history you will see hardly any posts during that time. I was in a writing slump. So some of my DCC series reviews are on my Bookstagram and some are not. I just honestly wanted to enjoy these books and not have to think too much about my thoughts and how they would be perceived. Lets just say this is an all time favorite series of mine and upon my re read I will post deeper reviews for the rest of the series.
I have been waiting for this book to release since early December when I finished the 7th book. I even requested May 12th off months in advanced so I could just read on release day. So lets just say I had very high expectations for this book. Did this book meet my ever growing expectations for this series? Read to find out!
“Sometimes we don’t need to know someone’s full life story to understand them.”
It’s off to the races in the explosive eighth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.
As chaos and mass panic spread outside the dungeon in the wake of Faction Wars, Carl and Donut find themselves on the tenth floor, where they’re forced to compete in a surprisingly normal set of tasks. Well, normal for the dungeon.
Races. Get from point A to point B, and don’t come in last. After each race, they pick an upgrade for their vehicle and the track gets more challenging. It all seems a little too normal, a little too simple.
Ignore those strange glitches that are occurring with increasing frequency. Don’t listen to those whispers about what’s happening on the mysterious eleventh floor, something the system AI calls A Parade of Horribles. Nobody, not even the showrunners, knows what that means. Just that the AI has ominously dubbed it “a coming-out party for the ages.”
Everything is fine, Crawler. I repeat, everything is fine.
Carl hates that it’s business as usual. The rules of this floor have taken away his agency. That just will not do.
So Carl is planning a party of his own. It’s a plan so dangerous, so insane, he can’t even consult his friends lest the AI put a stop to it. Because if it goes wrong, it’s not just the end of Carl and Donut. No. The stakes are higher than they’ve ever been.
“Way to go! You have officially finished 8 books in the most gut wrenching series you have ever picked up!”
REWARD
“Emotional trauma while you wait for books Nine and Ten. “
Okay but in all seriousness this one wasn’t as gut wrenching as I expected it to be. And again one finally time there will be spoilers so if you have not finished this yet DO NOT READ the rest of this!
I think I only teared up once in this whole book which is really odd for me. In the past I have sobbed my way throughout most of the books. I am not saying I hoped for some of my favorite characters to die or anything but maybe a bit more plot that tried to rip my heart out or something. I think the most I sobbed at was when Rend “Died” and literally came back to life.. Like okay not that big of a deal I suppose.
I personally thought that floor ten was quite boring compared to the rest of the floors we have seen. We hardly spent any time on the floor when you consider that each heat of the race was pretty different and the timelines were relatively short for most of the heats. My favorite parts were in between races as this is where most of the plot happened.
By no means is this me saying I hated this book. I really did have fun reading it but it did remind me why the series was so addicting at the beginning. I was missing the atmospheres of past floors, The consistent loot box opening but mostly, I have been missing the character interactions. We used to spend a lot of time with our fellow crawlers getting to know them but now everything is so high stakes that they don’t get those brief moments to breathe and develop as much with other crawlers. But that is the nature of this series and I do need to remind myself this is exactly how it is supposed to feel. Like we are in the dungeon with them not getting a second to take a break and relax. Did you notice they just didn’t even mention sleep at all? So sad that something as simple as sleep is just non existent now.
Despite me missing “simpler” days of the early dungeon, I truly did enjoy this book. We are getting so many more details into the AI and outer world that my brain feels like its swimming with nonsense. I can’t wait for all the dots to connect, even if that means the series and the crawl all come to what I assume will be a classic explosive Carl plan.
Seeing Donut drop her guard more in this book and see how the Dungeon has been affecting her has been breaking my heart. She is so strong but the strongest people tend to hold everything in till the metaphorical river overflows and everything comes streaming out. I love seeing her step up so well into a motherly role for Mongo and Rend, its the one thing outside of a performing that she can really fall back to and feel like a “normal” being.
Carl is even more Unhinged than ever. One of my favorite quotes is from Chapter 94. (see below) Somehow Carl’s chaos plans seem to always pan out, god knows why but everyone is so very thankful for them.
“Carl: Plan C. Gotta go with plan C. Donut, be ready. Elle: Of course. The Psycho Plan. Got It. Donut: It’s CALLED PLAN CARL. Florin: We really need to start making plan C the primary one.
DCC 8 Chapter 94
Imani and Chris! Enough said there, but dang, I need a side book just for their relationship. I really hope that they can reconnect soon. They both have been through enough!
Okay, Now it is time to discuss my favorite character from this floor, Drum Roll please! Prepotente (AKA Pony)!! Ugh the few background pieces we got for him were everything! Merium Dom in the apartment living a life where she never had Pony nearly Broke me! Basically all of chapter 77 had a hold of my heart,
“Carl,” Prepotente said, stopping me. He wiped his eyes again. “yeah?” “You can call me Pony if you like.”
DCC 8 Chapter 77
Now that I have discussed some of my favorite characters I would like to discuss the ending of this book. The ending was literally where I felt like all the meat and potatoes were. All shoved into the last 100 maybe 150 pages of the book.
So much was revealed on floor eleven. I can barely even process everything that happened. I am so glad that all of our main characters made it through this floor despite the craziness. I mean Carl really said “fuck it” but somehow those things work out well for him.
I am left with so many more questions than answers. Like who the heck is Samantha? What kind of Chaos is Eris going to bring? The history of the AI and how a Princess lost everything just to give the universe another chance.. Does that mean Donut will live while everyone else she loves dies? What do you mean everyone went to the 15th floor and not the Pineapple Cabaret?
Ugh so much yet to unfold and we only have two books left? I have no clue how Matt is going to pull this off but lets just say I am terrified! I can’t get all my thoughts out here but hit up my DM’s and lets chat!
Quotes
“It’s okay to forgive yourself. Sometimes there are no good choices, and we just do what we have to.”
“You keep trying to divide us. Don’t you realize what you created? We have been tempered in the fires of Hell, and we are now passed the point of being broken. Your downfall has already been written in the stars. You may hurt us. You may kill us all, but it’s not going to matter. Don’t you realize? Don’t. You. Realize?”
“If you go to war against drugs, drugs will always win. Drugs will win because what you’re really doing is going to war against the biological imperative all living creatures have to find comfort and happiness. And if you’re unwilling or unable to first provide that, artificial alternatives, no matter how destructive, will always prevail.”
“Since you’re new to this, let me give you your first lesson on being a princess. Lesson one, don’t put yourself in situations where you’re so afraid that you piss yourself. It shows a lack of decorum.”
“Elle: I’m alive. Barely. Someone help me dig me and Bodi out of this truck. It’s wrecked pretty good. I haven’t been folded like this since Brandon showed us how to use Tinder.”
World of Bai 