I went into this one fully expecting it not to be my thing, and I could not have been more wrong. Within a few chapters I was completely hooked, cackling at the absurdity and genuinely stressed about what was going to happen next. Carl is a solid protagonist, relatable and funny in all the right ways, but honestly? Donut runs this whole operation. A tiara-wearing, impossibly competent princess cat who treats a deadly alien death dungeon like her personal runway is not something I knew I needed in my life, but here we are.
The world-building is wild in the best way, the humor lands consistently, and the action keeps the pages turning faster than you’d expect for a chunky book. This is the kind of story that sneaks up on you, and by the end you’re left wondering how a dungeon-crawling LitRPG about a man and his cat became one of the most fun reads you’ve had in years. If you’ve been on the fence about this genre, consider this your sign.