Review: Monster Girls Unlocked

Title: Monster Girls Unlocked: A Mature Harem Fantasy Adventure

 

Author: Justin Trublood

Rating: 4/5

Comments:  So this looked like your typical "story in a virtual game world" book where it's "Chad in Monstergirl Vaginaland" so I didn't expect much when I picked it up.  If I had predicted a rating from the title, blurb, and my innate cynicism, I would have probably said 2.5-3.5 with a high probability of DNF.

I was pleasantly surprised to say the least to find a book that does not merely have "real world" set dressing, but the bulk of the story is in the real world!  I prefer stories where a quick respawn won't solve all your issues.

While this isn't a Chad in Monstervaginaland, the protagonist does have a number of frollick buddies, and there are some definite and clear kinks letting their freak flag fly, so that may skew your rating either way.  Oddly enough there aren't really any more extreme examples of the monstergirls than half-orc and goblin.  Kind of figured he'd go farther with that theme given the title, but apparently not in book 1.

If you share his fetishes, I could see someone going 4.5 or 5 on this book, if you don't well it could be a quick DNF.

Bedroom Activities: Explicit, definite fetish content

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Review: Wyrmshard: A LitRPG Adventure (Savage Dominion Book 2)

Title: Wyrmshard: A LitRPG Adventure (Savage Dominion Book 2)

Author: Luke Chmilenko, G.D Penman

Rating: 2.5/5

Comments: Ok, so I almost didn't write this, but I feel like I have to give the bad with the good.  I really liked book 1, and I thought the characterizations were good, I thought the characters played a smart game.  I don't know what happened with book 2.  I got to about 40% into it, and it just wasn't any fun.  I could see the "twist" at the end coming (independently verified by a 3rd party) and if there's one thing that will put me off a story it's the protagonists being willfully stupid.  If your average 11 year old can see that you're screwing up, there's no excuse for it unless the protagonist is stupid.  Our heroes in this book are not stupid, so why are they acting like it? 

Anyway this was a big DNF for me, and I hope this isn't a trend for books from this group.  I've seen some early chapters of Iron Prince and those are everything I would have hoped for.

So RIP Maulkin, I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually, but I doubt I'll read it.

Bedroom Activities: FTB

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Review: Cat Core 1 and 2

Title: Cat Core: A LitRPG Dungeon Core Adventure 

            Cat Core, Book 2, Lich's Bargain (A Dungeon Core, LitRPG Adventure) 

Author: Dean Henegar

Rating: 4/5

Comments:  I picked up book 1 of this series on a bit of a lark, and then it sat in my queue for months before I gave it a real go.  I was amazed how much I enjoyed it.  The pacing is good, the characters believable and fun.  Even has some genuine emotional impact in spots.  And this coming from someone who doesn't like the whole concept of a dungeon core.  When I finished it I grabbed book 2 and it went just as fast.  I'm looking forward to book 3.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Warhawk’s Amnesty

Title: Warhawk’s Amnesty: A Space Opera Harem Adventure (The Amnesty's Adventures Book 1)

Author: Ajax Lygan

Rating: 3.5/5

Comments:  I wanted to like this book, I really did, but the best I can muster is  "I don't hate it."  There are a lot of things in this book that I found improbable, implausible, or just flat out wrong.  If you like space opera it's probably worth a look, but at least by my standards it's just ok.  

Bedroom Activities: Explicit

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Review: Battlemaster's Gambit

Title: Battlemaster's Gambit: A LitRPG Monstergirl Harem Adventure (Tournion Book 1)

Author: Nathan Pierce

Rating: 4/5

Comments: I honestly didn't expect much of this book, as it looked a lot like the lowest common denominator dreck that I have to filter through, but I heard some positive buzz about it on Discord and decided to risk it.   I'm rather glad I did, as it was a decent, if not terribly original, story.  Some very good characters in it too.  If you're looking for a book in this genre, you can do worse, much worse.

Bedroom Activities: Explicit

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Review: Town Under

Title: Town Under: A Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG (The System Apocalypse: Australia Book 1)

Author: Tao Wong, K. T. Hanna

Rating: 3.5/5

Comments:  My rating is less about this book specifically, it's a reasonably well written book, and more about the genre premise.  I have concluded, after several forays into the system apocalypse that I hate the whole genre.  I thought maybe it was just the ones I had read, but no I think I just hate the whole genre.  So if you like the genre, I will say this one is pretty decent, in that I finished it and admit to that fact.   Call this a 4.5 out of 5, but a -1 penalty for the genre.

Bedroom Activities: None

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Review: Reaper

Title: Reaper (Cradle Book 10)

Author: Will Wight    

Rating: 5/5

Comments:  It's book 10 of Cradle, if you have made it this far it's well worth the read.  Some big revelations in this one.  Great book, and looking forward to the next.

Bedroom Activities: FTB

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Review: Dungeoneers: Mazerynth

Title: Dungeoneers: Mazerynth (The Dungeoneers Book 4)

Author: Jeffery Russell

Rating: 4.25/5

Comments: Dungeoneers is something that I pick up when I need something light-hearted and funny. The Dungeoneers are a company of professional dungeon clearers who take a methodical and scientific approach to dealing with dungeons.  Hilarity ensues.  I highly recommend them if you want something light.  

Bedroom Activities: None

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