Thank you First Second and Netgalley for the digital ARC.

This is an interesting book, as I was expecting more D&D-like adventure and got a much heavier mystery and social deduction book instead. It is a fun read mostly dealing with mistaken identities and kingdom shifting regicide. A light but fun book.

Did not enjoy this book and did not finish it. The artwork and writing were a bit too immature and the writing font was hard to read. Maybe a book for 8-13 year olds?

Wasn't actually able to read it; the images and text in the ARC are so compressed (something First Second does with almost all of their digital galleys) that the majority of the text is impossible to make out. Still, it looks cute, and I look forward to checking it out once it's published.

Dungeon Critters is a fun-filled graphic novel that may take its inspiration from the standard tabletop RPG but ultimately creates into a fun and original world that stands on its own as well as any classic adventure.

The main cast consists of the excitable feline fire mage Rose, the practical healer and botanist dog Juniper, the strong and quiet peacekeeping snake (with arms) Goro, and the royal bear family's not-adopted frog daughter, Prince Chirp. The artwork is imaginative and expressive, with each character having their own distinct and recognizable personality, right down to the varied choice of font in the text bubbles. Even when there's two important things happening at once, the layout of the panels smoothly clues the audience in as to what is happening when, keeping the battle scenes exciting and easy to follow. The characters all play to their roles in some ways and deviate widely from them in others, giving the book a fresh feel.

The story starts off as a fun and crazy romp with the friends defeating an easy foe before crashing a fancy party. Prince Chirp's rival causes a bit of trouble for them while Juniper begs Rose to approach problems with something other than arson. (I'm not sure how many readers at this age level know what "arson" means, but considering how June yells, "No arson!" right when Rose is setting everything aflame, it's a term that explains itself eventually.) After the party is when the main plot really picks up, with Juniper capturing a sample from a definitely-very-evil plant. I was impressed with how seamlessly the book was able to pivot from the largely gags-and-puns introduction to a deeper story that not only tests the characters' friendships and loyalties but sets up some serious stakes as well.

There is a surprising amount of romance in Dungeon Critters--at least, more than you might expect from the cover and description. Every character in the main cast (and several outside it) is either paired up with someone by the end, tries to pair up with someone, or is part of some unrequited love. If romantic subplots are not a particular reader's cup of tea, they may start to feel tedious after a while, but they will no doubt be a collective positive for others. Even if you're not on the edge of your seat over who ends up with whom, the story, dialogue, and artwork are all excellent and well worth a read.

Rating: 4.5 (rounded up to 5 for Goodreads & NetGalley)

Disappointing to say my e-arc was so blurry the dialogue was almost impossible to read at times. I managed to follow along for the most part, but it definitely made for a less than enjoyable and somewhat disjointed reading experience. Hopefully that will be sorted out before publication.

A cute story about adventuring animals on a D&D-esque quest. I think I probably would've really enjoyed it without all the formatting issues. I did like the characterizations of the four main characters quite a lot from what I could make out of them: the boastful little frog, the kindly giant dinosaur (lizard? i don't know), the arson-obsessed cat, and the thoughtful dog. The frog and turtle reminded me a bit of the characters from The Swan Princess, which did make me smile. And I am a sucker for the power of friendship saving the day, so the adorable ending was definitely a point in its favor.

This book has great humor (bring on the puns!), vivid illustrations, and defined characters. The adventure story is great and with the renewed interest in D&D, this will likely be a popular choice in youth collections.

I received a copy from Netgalley for review.

Dungeon Critters by Natalie Riess was a total riot. It started with action and excitement and didn't slow down at all. It featured fun and unique characters that were all very silly in a D&D style adventure. There's something timeless about the classic adventure fantasy tale and this book nailed it. My kids and I really enjoyed this graphic novel and we can't wait to read more!
I will definitely be buying a copy for our local library!

This is a fun, adventure graphic novel that I would hand to children in grades 4th-7th. The art is really nice and the colors are bright and fun. The text is easy to read, which I think is important. Great for fans of adventure stories, mixed with D&D. There was good humor but I just couldn't immerse myself in this book the way I had hoped I would. I'm not always a huge fan of animal main characters and I think that had something to do with it. Even though I didn't love this book, I gave it four stars because I believe the audience it is geared toward will really enjoy it.

I got an ARC on Netgalley in return for an honest review! My digital copy was a bit blurry, so it was a bit hard to read at times, but I still managed to follow the story and most of the dialogue!
A pretty cute graphic novel about a bunch of gals going on adventures! Maybe a tad too many subplots for my liking, and I felt like some of the plot points weren't really necessary. Love the representation, the overall story and the characters tho! Can't wait to see how the story continues!