Cinnamon Bun

Read Time: 2 Minutes

Cinnamon Bun, written by RavensDagger is a light, wholesome LitRPG adventure of a teenage girl named Broccoli Bunch who finds herself in a new world where monsters, level-ups, and dungeons crawls are a thing.

I couldn’t but love the character of Broccoli. She’s an eternal optimist, seeing the best in everyone and every situation – even those that are trying hard to kill her. After accepting the quest invitation to help cleanse the world of evil, Broccoli finds herself in a ghost-town where she quickly needs to learn how to handle the new world and its level-up systems.

The whole premise for her being there seems to fade away after the first dungeon. I might have missed something, but I thought there was to be more the whole “kill the evil root” thing than played out in this book. I’ll be listening to this one again, so I’ll work that out next time.

Through her complete naivety and lack of guile, she blunders out into the wider world on a quest to make friends, level up her skills, learn how to cast “fireball”, and maybe ride a dragon. Her zest for life is infectious, though, and I can’t help but think we need more people like Broccoli in the world!

The world we find is interesting and richly thought out, with plenty of races and history that slowly draws out over the course of the book. Lots of subtle (and sometimes unsubtle) nods to other works and pop culture, plus some cheeky, not-so-wholesome remarks sprinkled in here and there, almost blink, and you’ll miss them if you’re not paying close attention.

The progression system seems well thought out. The book isn’t too stat-heavy either. There are the occasional breaks where Broccoli’s current stats are read out, but it’s needed information and doesn’t get in the way.

The narrator, Reba Buhr, solidified herself in my list of favourite narrators. I’ll be searching out other books she’s read for certain. Her voice and mannerisms nailed the character of Broccoli and the other characters. Overall, the book is professionally finished and produced, and I’ve not a bad word to say.

Long story short – This is a breath of fresh air. The story subverts an entire genre and ends up with something incredibly fun to listen to. I’ll be getting the next one as soon as my next credit lands!