This one was great fun. Better than some of the others in the series... the story was really great. And the audiobook is outstanding as well. So highly recommend reading this one if you've enjoyed the others. I will absolutely be continuing. Fun, quick, action, comedy... good stuff!

A jungle hunt, dinosaurs, and tourists allowed to join the hunt? Book five keeps up the tradition of Dinniman surprising readers with twists and turns.

I don’t think I’ll ever find another series as hilarious, unhinged, and absolutely unputdownable. I’m eating this series up and I’m trying addicted. I can’t wait for more of Carl and Donut!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
This series continues to give so much amazing, I’m still loving it five books in which says something.

The Best DCC so far! I loved this floor, I loved the plot developments with the hunters, and I loved Donut's character development in this one. The climax was wild. Can't wait to continue!

This was a great read! I have been hearing a lot of great reviews about this series and I look forward to reading more books from Matt Dinniman.

***4.5 Stars***

Overall,

This series is so much fun. You never know what to expect. This may be one of my favorite books of the series so far. Carl is on a whole other level this book. This book reminds me a bit of Yugio or Pokemon. IYKYK. While the crew is split up for the majority of this book, there are so many moments that are just so fantastic. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a high stakes whacky story that will make you laugh out loud and also love the characters so much you want to see them succeed. #PrincessPosse

This book was pure chaos in the best possible way!! The arena setting, the shifting alliances, the sheer brutality of the challenges, this book is seriously incredible. Carl and Donut continue to be one of the most compelling duos I’ve ever read, with banter that cuts like a knife and loyalty that hits you in the heart. The satire is razor-sharp, the action relentless, and somehow, through all the blood and absurdity, the humanity is still deeply relevant.

I absolutely love this series. It's really easy for my to handsell to any sci-fi (or fantasy) readers coming in for a fun book. I absolutely love where this series is going and the humanity Dinniman has given to the characters. At the start of the series I was worried there wouldn't be any character growth, but he has proven time and time again that they "level up" in many different ways.

I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and were not affected by the free copy.

Vengeance has come to the dungeon; the hunters are loose, but they aren't the only ones doing the hunting. Carl is ready and willing to sacrifice almost anything to ensure they don't survive.

I still adore this series, it's so quirky and fun, but we are starting to lose the funny aspect. This series was always dark, but it just keeps getting darker as the crawlers get put into even worse situations. I'm emotionally invested in these characters, and we keep getting crushed.

These book was much easier to follow, to me it felt like a very clear-cut map, a variety of sized villages surrounded by jungle and ruins. My biggest complaint (and it's honestly pretty minor), is the length of the book. It's absolutely a tome, and there are a few portions were the pacing drags a little. However, the author manages to keep me invested most of the time, and the audiobook is amazing.

This series is definitely not for everyone, but it's definitely for me. I'm now actively looking for other LitRPG to try, I'm that obsessed. I'm recommend this series all the time, and I will read every single book in the series that ever gets published.

Thanks NetGalley for giving me access to the ARC. Another 5-star read. Truly a master at keeping an audience engaged. Loved the sassy but heartbreaking and rewarding storyline.

A great continuation of Carl & Donut's action-packed crawl. Hilarious and chaotic as always, and with some great character building moments and a twist at the end.

These are such a delight - groundbreaking? No. Totally in no need of further editing? No. But they're a blast and they go down easy - I haven't read anything this FAST since I was a teenager.

Another easy five star for me. This has become a favorite series. I enthusiastically recommend to everyone and am so glad this series is having a viral moment. No specifics for spoilers but I bought the copy for my home library.

Thank you @MattDinniman, #Berkley, and @AceBooksPub for the free book! #BerkleyPartner #BerkleyBookstagram

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Butcher’s Masquerade (Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 5) by Matt Dinniman
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 732 / Genre: Sci-Fi Fantasy
Original Release Date: February 28, 2022
Hardback Release Date: April 8, 2025

In Book 5 of one of my all-time favorite series, the crawlers reach the sixth floor of the dungeon, where fans of the show get to actively hunt them down. All the action leads up to the Butcher’s Masquerade, a lavish party where the crawlers and hunters can mingle without killing each other. Yeah, right. How do you think that goes?

The deeper you get into this series, the better it gets. Old characters mingle with new ones. It’s fun to see them working together and shocking to find out things you didn’t know before. I loved it and can’t wait for the next one.

Another amazing addition to the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. Great fun, filled with action. This one is not to be missed!

This isn't my first experience with LitRPG, but I feel that this series is primarily aimed at a male audience. I received the ARC edition of this book, and I immediately felt an ick factor, which is unusual for me since I live in a household full of boys—three sons and my husband. I’m a girl who enjoys video games, comics, and attending events where I can dress up as characters. Additionally, I am a teacher who dresses up for my students, and I have a degree in English, so it's not like I can't relate, but this book just did not cut it.

This has quickly risen to one of my favorite series! We are back with Princess Donut and Carl as they arrive on the sixth floor, and wow have we already had a rollercoaster ride just to get to this point! I can't say too much as this is book 5, but from start to finish, there is action, adventure, murder, and mayhem, along with the fact that not only are we rooting for Donut and Carl, but there so many other players we are introduced to that I didn't think I would care that much about but I was wrong. Even the ones we only met briefly made me sad when they were taken out of the game.
This one had some more emotional moments, along with so many where Donut and Carl were in mortal danger, and it had me in its grip!

Even with this book being over 700 pages, whenever I sat down to read, I flew through it and didn't want to put it down. In each book, our crawlers are in more and more danger.. with outside influence both helping and going against our players, and I can't wait to see whats going to happen next!

I also listened to a bit of this on audio, and it was amazing!

Thank you, Berkley, for The Butcher’s Masquerade!
I’ll admit—I don’t usually read sci-fi, but my brother and husband jumped on the Dungeon Crawler Carl bandwagon a year or two ago. Between my brother raving about the audiobooks and my husband devouring the books for their quirky themes and gloriously bonkers storytelling, how could I resist? Especially when it meant sharing a series we both love.

The Butcher’s Masquerade was exactly what I wanted—more of Princess Donut (the absolute best), more Carl, and a return to the wild, immersive world Dinniman has built. The storytelling is a fast, loopy rollercoaster of action, layered with just the right amount of political snark and sharp commentary. The pace keeps things fun, but what really makes it stand out is the attention to detail, the clever plotting, and how the characters continue to grow.

This wasn’t just a fun ride—it left me immediately wanting the next book.

Every single book of the series thus far has been SO GOOD. But this one took it up a notch. I’ve had a ton of fun reading these books, but this one had me getting emotional too. I was tense, worried, and on the edge of tears for the last part of the book. And the epilogue?!? First I was pretty let down and disappointed, but not in a way that made me dislike the book at all. I just kinda felt like I was robbed of a good time 😅🥲 But then the ending??!? What?!? No!! 😨😭

Anyways. I loved it. My level of obsession with this series cannot be overstated.