A review by geethr75
The Fall is All There Is by C.M. Caplan

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This has been on my TBR for a while and I've not read it because I was warned it was very dark, and I'm not a person who usually reads or likes dark fantasy, but of late I've been on a dark reading mood. I blame Tainted Dominion for changing my tastes so thoroughly. Anyhow, coming back to this, I decided to read it, and– 

 

It's not as dark as I was led to believe. Don't get me wrong, this is an awesome book, and I would give it more stars if there were any, but it's not really something I would call as dark. Very violent, very bloody, very gory, but not dark. 

 

It's not for the faint of heart, that's for sure, but it's a book that's really worth reading. Just take heed of the warnings to make sure it won't affect your mental health or well-being, however. 

 

The protagonist is a prince called Petre Mercy who has run away from home five years ago. Being autistic and a general embarrassment, his father, the King, just let him leave. But now, his father's dead and his elder sister (elder is a technicality since Petre is the youngest of quadruplets, and his sister is the eldest) is taking the throne. She requires Petre to go to the capital and take an oath of fealty. Petre also receives a letter from his brother, Edgar, that he's coming to see him and to pick him up. 

 

Petre doesn't want to go, but he fears what his siblings will do to the found family he has now. It consists of Avram, a scientist and inventor who was once employed by his father and who is now exiled, and Mercedes Blackheath, a noble and businesswoman who is a staunch supporter of Anoise, Petre's sister. Having decided to go, Petre sets off with Edgar, only to realise that Edgar isn't taking him to Anoise, that he is infact, rebelling against her. 

 

Petre now has to choose if he wants to join Edgar's rebellion or join Anoise, but whatever he chooses, he might lose one sibling, if not all of them. 

 

I loved Petre's voice in this. It's just this side of frenzied, anxious, panicky, neurodivergent that resonates strongly with me. Like I get how it feels to talk yourself into a panic, to fixate on small details, to not be able to articulate something the way you mean in a conversation. He has other issues as well, like he needs very painful injections to help co-ordinate his muscles and his hand eye co-ordination because he's more likely to trip over his own feet without it. 

 

Apart from the violence, there is a strong theme of familial especially parental abuse in the book. Petre's parents are both abusive assholes, and his mother has treated him as a science project, frustrated at her inability to cure his autism and has invented the injections as a way to compensate for it. His father is all about appearances, forcing Petre to be shunted aside, invisible, while his siblings are held up to impossible standards of perfection the smallest deviation from which calls for punishment. From the way the parents are, it's a surprise the kids didn't turn out even more dysfunctional than they seem to be. 

 

Anoise, who is a lesbian, is forced to marry a man who doesn't seem to care for her, Edgar is rebelling against his sister since he thinks he'll make a better King, Desmon is getting crushed under the expectations of being the cool problem solver, and Petre is the problem child who doesn't care who rules as long as everyone he cares for is safe. 

 

The world itself comes to life as richly detailed and realised without any exposition. There was magic once and technology, but two annihilations have ended it all. Now all they have is corpse technology that creates everything, from Petre's injections, to the food they eat and the horses they ride and the weapons they use. 

 

If you love dystopian books, very flawed characters struggling in an inhospitable world, interpersonal conflicts that are a bit too personal, sibling dynamics, and neurodivergent rep, you will love this book.