I think this is in my top three of the series. The ending was one of the wildest things I’ve ever read in a book. But way too much happened here, and I have way too many thoughts to sum up my feelings, so we’re going to bullet point this one with things that I’m thinking of off the top of my head:
*You love Prepotente, this is your book. I had so many feels about him, also I laughed at him quite a bit. Despite his threat to Carl in the last book, we do get several warm hugs. Also, if you do the audio, stick around past the end of the book to hear his ode to his BFF Carl.
*I’d heard that people were going apeshit over Chapter 57 of the audiobook, and when I got to it, at first I was just merely tickled, but by the time a certain high note was hit (and every time after) I was howling with laughter so hard tears were streaming down my face. I probably should have pulled over.
*Donut broke my heart in this one. Her little paw wiping. Her relationship with Carl. The way certain events of this book parallel her journey to becoming sapient in the worst circumstances possible, and what that’s done to her. But also, she’s a badass. I just love her so much.
*The ending of this book was the weirdest and highest stakes one yet, but it felt so much more clear what was happening. I love book seven, but I’ve read it twice now and the chaos of Faction Wars is just too much for my brain to handle.
*The Pineapple Cabaret is finally coming into play in the main text, instead of the short stories at the end of the hardcovers. And it was in a way I did not expect!
*I will be honest, I did not care about all the races, pretty much only the character stuff at this point. But there was some truly weird shit in terms of bosses and quests going on here, and it made me laugh just because it was so what the fuck. Like, what the fuck, Matt?
*I cannot believe the amount of Crawlers that are left.
*Dinniman has become a wizard at hiding clues in his books to set up reveals.
*The A.I. losing it is stressing me out. And it’s in such a weird way! He’s not just losing his grip, he’s losing it while being eloquent about economics, class discrepancies, oppression, and a whole bunch of other serious topics. But at the same time, he’s going to take over the galaxy, bitches!
*“Biscuits, Mordecai! I need to make biscuits!”
*Carl: Plan C. Gotta go with plan C. Donut, be ready.
Elle: Of course. The psycho plan. Got it.
Donut: IT’S CALLED PLAN CARL.
Florin: We really need to start making plan C the primary plan.”*“I grunted with amusement. ‘Eat the rich,’ I said. Rend looked at me, tongue lolling out. ‘Yum,’ he said.”
CBR BINGO: Wheels (this level of the dungeon features seven unhinged racetracks our heroes must traverse in their not so trusty food truck)
