Momo the Ripper: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure

The Lighter Side of Darkness #1

by C.R. Dryad

Meet the Necromancer Cult’s newest, sleepiest, and least-qualified Momo Lim. As an anti-social art major perpetually at risk of dropping out, college life wasn't a great fit for Momo. When she wakes up one morning in a dark cavern full of sentient skeletons and oddball introverts who call themselves necromancers, she knows a new era of her life is about to start. Chosen for her meek and harmless personality, she is able to exist under the radar as she completes the Dawn's necromantic missions. Watch her as she gains confidence (and class levels), and reluctantly rises from meager apprentice to self-assured queen of the underworld. Dive into a lighthearted and humorous (but epic!) isekai LitRPG, with a vivid world full of characters for Momo to meet, battle, bemuse, and most importantly—bring back from the dead. Also available on Audible, narrated by Anjali Bhimani, best known for voicing Symmetra in Overwatch and Rampart in Apex Legends, as well as acting in Ms. Marvel and Critical Role.

Genres: Litrpg, Fantasy, Fiction

648 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 16, 2024

Reviews

[Jacob Proffitt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Momo is, frankly pathetic. She even gets a skill for it. And while this is played for laughs, I didn't find myself actually amused at all. And frankly, it took way too long (if it ever happens) for the blurb's insistence that she gains confidence and becomes self-assured. I got tired waiting for that promise to manifest.

One star for a one-trick narrative that forgot to find the humor in a story that absolutely needed it to alleviate the necromantic ick surrounding it.

[Estanford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just plain fun

I have supported C.R. Dryad on patreon for many moons now and have never regretted it. This is the most wholesome story about an adorable evil necromancer I have ever seen, and it is absolutely worth your time.

[Dennis Heizelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

I like Momo. She is interesting, if not a little (ok a lot) self depreciating. It was an enjoyable, twisted tale that led down many unexpected and entertaining paths. I can wait to see what happens next.

[Elena Maus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love this book! The characters are wonderful and so loveable, each with their own unique quirks and depth that made them feel like old friends. The plot kept me glued to the book, I was so immersed in Momo’s world. I can’t wait to read the next one! Kudos to the author!

[Bubba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesomeness . I just listened to this on a audiobook . Outstanding fun .

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Momo is awesome

Momo, a socially awkward teenager, who is practically an introverted shut-in, is summoned to another world and inducted into a necromantic cult. She discovers that she is the most socially outgoing member of the cult, and as such is appointed to be their public face. She goes out and starts making her way through the world, getting up to hijinks after hijinks. She tricks people into subscriptions, into attending a dance school that she starts, and stumbles her way into not one but two coup d’e tats . In the end, she survives, has a new respect for herself, and her growing power.
This is a hilarious read and listen, The narrator is awesome in her voicing. The world is interesting and captivating. The pacing of the narration keeps you hooked and every moment has humor laced through it. It is also a wholesome, and I would say family friendly read , Please enjoy Momo the Ripper

[Tom Petersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did not finish: made it to15%

I really wanted to like this book. It sounded like Mono was going to be a slacker necromancer, as an Xer this appealed to me. Not a slacker, just lazy and pathetic, in fact she got a skill based on being pathetic. A slacker should be apathetic not plain old pathetic.
As for humor, I think there were parts that were supposed to be funny, I found them very not funny. The 'humor' didn't land. I like over the top humor, but it has to be funny.
Advice for the author: you need to have a story worth reading by 10%. I gave it an extra 15% because I wanted to like this book.
The pros: The writing style and dialogue. The dialogue is surprisingly good, something many authors struggle with. The dialogue in this book felt natural.
The cons: The characters, the plot, and the world. Tom out

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

From start to finish I loved this book, the MC lazy to the extreme just wanted to nap and eat food (other than bugs) and I could relate, the motivation and drive that she has was simple and understandable, she wanted to impress a girl and have an easy life, but despite that she constantly ended up in crazy and often fun adventures while only starting with a simple goal of delivering something. It's a hard book to talk about with out giving huge examples and spoiling it, but it's safe to say if you want a fun lighthearted read, this is it.

[Aaron Eichler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes college leads to death

This was an interesting story of what I think was a lesbian girl who dies and gets brought to another world by a woman who she really likes. I loved how she grew from a mousy college girl to a badass.

[Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what a ride!

First off, let me say that this book is very well written. You will not be upset by the skill of this author. The story is a comedy with very well written characters. Every single character is very eccentric.

What might upset you, is the fact that the main character has been drafted into a Necromancer cult who like to pretend that they are evil and conniving. I have not figured out if they actually are evil or not yet. The leader does claim to be a pacifist and wants to free the land from a tyrannical King. But all questions of Good and evil are left up the reader and what we learn in future books. If you want a straightforward, good heroic main character though, you might be disappointed. Momo is a very nice girl and would be heroic, if she wasn't a wallflower and forced to become a necromancer. She will bow down and cower to what her new lovable Master says. At least at first. She actually has a lot of character growth throughout the book. And whenever she's told to do evil things, she always tries to do them in the nicest way possible, and things usually work out okay. Which is why it is a comedy. Momo trying to do evil things but being very nice and polite about it.
I just wish that poor Momo would be able to eat a meal and get some sleep.

[Cmoore · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF. So far I've found nothing in this book to hold my attention... so I put the book down and listened to a few other books, alright more than a few, it was more like 7 other books 😆. But I finally got through my tbr pile... I actually found some good things in the book like Anjali Bhimami I hadn't heard her narration before but she's great. And the main character Momo is surprisingly sweet and likable for a necromancer. So I decided, after girding my loins, that I'd give Momo the Ripper another chance... Unfortunately after listening to the first six hours I was still waiting for the book to start 🙃. I was finally convinced that this was all it's gonna be, and that's just not enough to satisfy my appetite for good books!!!

[Linus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall i have a positive opinion of the book and will continue to listen to the series. This is a relatively easy listen with some decent humor, i especially like the internal monologue of the MC. I do however feel like the writing style or humor gets in the way of character depth and sometimes causes dissonance and makes the characters feel a bit incoherent. Overall though it is still worth a listen to find out if it gels with you.

[Leonard Loar · Rating 4 out of 5]

The word

The word is putty not puddy I don't know why authors don't have appear to have the time to check the spelling of words that they believe that they know the spelling and the meaning of when I am quite certain that they can't spell their own names please check your spelling .

[Shanamarie Rushing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darkly, hilariously funny

I really enjoyed this book. Dryad has a fantastic sense of the absurd. Momo is my new favorite female dark hero. The situations she finds herself in would kill the 'normal' heroes in seconds, but she keeps her hamster wheel going strong. I really look forward to the next installment.

[Charles Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Amusingly Comic Story Of Necromancy And Self Actualization.

The humor and comedic tone of this novel is its greatest strength; its greatest weakness is the numerous missing words, duplicated words, odd (and in some cases wrong) word choices. I hope a re-edit will fix these errors in a newer release.

[Kaiju · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the funniest, best, most greatest protagonists ever

Really there's nothing I didn't like about this book. The protagonist could easily be a side character in just about any other story, but here she shines. In the most hilarious ways possible.

[Bookcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

New author for me. This was so cute! Not the hard system of most LitRPGs I'm familiar with, at least not the same delivery. Momo is my kind of introverted anti-social under-the-radar realist 🤭 (example: jail time = saving money) 😅

[Dichotomy Girl]

dnf @27%

[M L Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cutesy

This was a fairly low stakes, cutesy adventure. Momo encountered all kinds of problems and just kind of stumbled her way through. Good, simple fun read.

[Alli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this a lot! Momo's a fun protagonist!

[Duyu Wander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining

Good characters, well-written, funny, and adventurous. I really enjoyed it and will recommend it to those who are looking for light-hearted adventure books.

[Bender · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing is good, but very slow paced even for a cozy fantasy. Just took too long to even get into the plot....

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW

This is the first book in this series. I don't know if people will want to read this series so it's up to them to deside if they want read it or not.

[Nina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun and silly, but quite slow. I kind of wish the main character had just a little bit more… oomph sometimes.