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zluke's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
A bit of a filler book in the trilogy, some good world building but not much in the way of plot. I would have liked to see more character development but I didn't feel like Koli develops much at all. I find him a bit of an annoying idiot.
I hadn't realised Cup was so young and was wondering how Koli magically knew she was a girl when they met, but it makes more sense in this book. It was odd that puberty blockers were controversial when Ursala usually jumps at the chance to do something and gene editing is apparently fine.
I hadn't realised Cup was so young and was wondering how Koli magically knew she was a girl when they met, but it makes more sense in this book. It was odd that puberty blockers were controversial when Ursala usually jumps at the chance to do something and gene editing is apparently fine.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia
secre's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I finally got around to completing this series! Having read the initial instalment in 2021, I was half expecting to have to go back and re-read the initial novel, but was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to pick things back up.
Having been kicked out of his village and made shunned, Koli is on a mission to journey across this dangerous futuristic land and find lost London and the sword of Albion, which will somehow save humanity. How? Koli's not so sure about that bit. One problem at a time, guys. Back in Koli's old village, you have a secondary perspective here in Spinner, once upon a time Koli's love interest and this was a welcome breath of fresh air as Spinner has a maturity and intelligence that Koli often lacks.
The author has put a lot of thought into this world where half the flora will kill you, let alone the fauna with teeth. The various aspects of the world really do come to life around you and I very much enjoyed seeing the various areas Koli travels through, but also spending more time back in Mythen Woods with Spinner and watching them overcome challenges and hardships. It's well balanced between the two narratives; Spinner's voice is far more adult than Koli's, despite them being of the same age, whilst Koli often has a desperate naivety to him. I also appreciated all the secondary characters, particularly Cup and Ursula who are probably the only reason Koli is still alive by this point.
All in all, a well written novel that takes the events of the first novel and both expands on them and loops back to come familiar scenes. The split perspective really worked well here and I'm intrigued to see where the final novel in the trilogy will take us.
Having been kicked out of his village and made shunned, Koli is on a mission to journey across this dangerous futuristic land and find lost London and the sword of Albion, which will somehow save humanity. How? Koli's not so sure about that bit. One problem at a time, guys. Back in Koli's old village, you have a secondary perspective here in Spinner, once upon a time Koli's love interest and this was a welcome breath of fresh air as Spinner has a maturity and intelligence that Koli often lacks.
The author has put a lot of thought into this world where half the flora will kill you, let alone the fauna with teeth. The various aspects of the world really do come to life around you and I very much enjoyed seeing the various areas Koli travels through, but also spending more time back in Mythen Woods with Spinner and watching them overcome challenges and hardships. It's well balanced between the two narratives; Spinner's voice is far more adult than Koli's, despite them being of the same age, whilst Koli often has a desperate naivety to him. I also appreciated all the secondary characters, particularly Cup and Ursula who are probably the only reason Koli is still alive by this point.
All in all, a well written novel that takes the events of the first novel and both expands on them and loops back to come familiar scenes. The split perspective really worked well here and I'm intrigued to see where the final novel in the trilogy will take us.
binarybuns's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
noranne's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book, but it definitely suffers from middle book syndrome. The ending is not a particularly conclusive ending but rather the narrator just needs a break before he tells the last part of the story.
We get more into the tech in the books, and we also revisit Mythen Rood from a new POV, which was interesting. The book also expanded a bit more on the "crossed" (aka trans) character, which was interesting but not entirely well-executed. It was quite jarring to read a debate about puberty blockers in the middle of a book who's main character is illiterate and has not a clue what a chromosome is. It also was notable to me that somehow every village they encounter has a name and an established-ish response to trans people, even though these villages are about 100-200 people. And then there were somehow not a single mention of gay people? Anyway that broke my suspension of disbelief a bit, but not a big deal.
I do wish we got a bit more of Koli here. Despite being the sole narrator of the first book and half of this book, he's still a bit thin to me. He has a stated motivation, but it doesn't feel very fleshed out.
Definitely curious how the last book will wrap things up! This one ended on a bit of a cliffhanger.
We get more into the tech in the books, and we also revisit Mythen Rood from a new POV, which was interesting. The book also expanded a bit more on the "crossed" (aka trans) character, which was interesting but not entirely well-executed. It was quite jarring to read a debate about puberty blockers in the middle of a book who's main character is illiterate and has not a clue what a chromosome is. It also was notable to me that somehow every village they encounter has a name and an established-ish response to trans people, even though these villages are about 100-200 people. And then there were somehow not a single mention of gay people? Anyway that broke my suspension of disbelief a bit, but not a big deal.
I do wish we got a bit more of Koli here. Despite being the sole narrator of the first book and half of this book, he's still a bit thin to me. He has a stated motivation, but it doesn't feel very fleshed out.
Definitely curious how the last book will wrap things up! This one ended on a bit of a cliffhanger.
cookie1980's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
wolfmantula's review
I absolutely loved The Book of Koli, so I knew I had to jump right into book 2. What took me by surprise is that the author went from a single first person narrative story, to a double first person narrative story, which now includes Spinner. This is an interesting choice, because making a change like this, mid-series, can backfire. However, this did not backfire at all and I thought it was great addition, Koli’s story reached a point where he, Cup and Ursala were in the same spot for a while, so it helped beef up the story, but also got to see part of Koli’s story from a different angle, while also telling Spinner’s story. The addition also came with another narrator on top of Theo Solomon returning, and Saffron Coomber did a phenomenal job. Both narrations were top tier and helped fall into the story with ease.
The similarities between The Walking Dead & The Book of Eli grow even more. In The Book of Eli, books are featured as being very important, and a certain book is the most important of all because of the power it holds over the people, in The Fall of Koli, there’s a line that suggests something similar, that it seems the books were destroyed on purpose to control the masses, which is what the antagonist in The Book of Elitries to do, and I feel like may play a role in this as well. The TWD similarities is still mostly about the post apocalyptic nature of the story and how nature is the zombie. Like the later seasons of the show, the zombies are more secondary than a primary threat, and that’s the way this story is. Carey continues to show that the people that have survived are still the biggest threat to the living world.
“Oftentimes, stories have magic spells in them that twist the world into a daisy chain when they’re spoken. But every word’s a spell, or can be. Words are terribly strong when it comes to changing the world.”
One thing that I absolutely loved is the growth of all the characters, Cup was one of my favorites from book 1, and continued to be such a demanding force that gets better and better, Cup is such a interesting character because of her identity as a person being a person that is “crossed” or in our terms, trans. Her story is devastating but also uplifting to see the growth. But because of the new POV, there is a massive growth with Spinner, especially with the new light and understanding of her character. The banter between Monono, Cup, Ursala and Koli is terrific, there were many times that I couldn’t help but giggle at something that was said. I think that really helped with their development as well.
I absolutely enjoyed this, I do think I enjoyed book 1 more just because there was a bit more of a journey to it and most of Koli’s story is based in one spot for the majority of the book. But Spinner’s pov helped alleviate some of that with her story and some of the things that she had to endure and overcome. All in all, this series is not talked about enough and should be on everyone’s post apocalyptic list of reads to get to.
sarahsss's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0