Reviews

The Butcher's Masquerade by Matt Dinniman

Only show reviews with written explanations

joshuanrobinson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Another great entry to this series.

vmcait's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

guillaume_rho's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

How does this series just keep getting better and better? THERE IS SO MUCH HAPPENING IN THIS BOOK—some of which I expected, and yet it didn’t happen in the way I thought it would, which is the best kind of surprise in a book.

There are lots of reveals in this book, with some very powerful and emotional moments. Probably the best scene in the series so far came from Donut and Carl talking to someone (whom I can’t mention, obviously, for spoilers). I had tears in my eyes. And the narrator’s delivery… wow!

The dungeon crawling itself would be interesting and entertaining on its own, but the series would stall if that was all there was. The fact that the story is constantly expanding with the outside world is what makes it a phenomenal series! And the world expands SO MUCH in this book, with the plot involving more and more of the world outside of the dungeon. We get tons of new characters, including an alien attorney who vapes, but is incredibly helpful to Carl. The core group of Carl and Donut really join forces with lots of other crawlers, including Prepotente (the most entertaining character, who becomes way more complex in this book). It all culminates in the party of The Butcher’s Masquerade, which leads to the crawlers working together like never before and it was so entertaining to witness.

Finally… WTF WITH THAT EPILOGUE!?!?! That was insane! Two big twists in one epilogue!?! I can’t wait to read book six!

fatoodles's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

You are either the hunter or the hunted.
Carl delivered a threat and now it's time to make good on it.

Things are really getting juicy now. When you start to feel bad for the hunters you know that we are right where we need to be.
I really enjoyed the world building in this one. Both of the floor itself and things happening outside of the game.
Everything was brought together nicely. I love the growing teamwork and the tenacity of the earthlings.

rjdobinson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

voidmonster's review against another edition

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5.0

Always a fun time with a Navy veteran with a suspicious amount of PTSD and his talking cat Princess Donut trying to survive an alien TV show that puts Liar Game to shame. I've recommended this series plenty enough times that I should get a fancy shirt that says no "C word."