The Fall of Koli by M.R. Carey #bookreview #TheFallOfKoli

The world that is lost will come back to haunt us . . .
Koli has come a long way since being exiled from his small village of Mythen Rood. In his search for the fabled tech of the old times, he knew he’d be battling strange, terrible beasts and trees that move as fast as whips. But he has already encountered so much more than he bargained for.
Now that Koli and his companions have found the source of the signal they’ve been following – the mysterious “Sword of Albion” – there is hope that their perilous journey will finally be worth something.
Until they unearth terrifying truths about an ancient war . . . and realise that it may have never ended.

💚💚💚💚💚

Hi and welcome to my review of The Fall of Koli! Huge thanks to Tracy Fenton for the invite and to Orbit for the gorgeous paperback!

After The Book of Koli and The Trials of Koli, The Fall of Koli brings the Koli trilogy to a close and it has been my honour and my privilege to take this journey with him. I have been wondering where we’d end up ever since we embarked on this adventure, and while I never came even remotely close to guessing the ending, I have to say it is nigh on perfect.

It goes without saying that, being the final part of a trilogy, The Fall of Koli can’t be read as a standalone. I daresay that if you’ve read the previous instalments, there was never any doubt in your mind that you’d be reading the finale as well. If there was, I’m here to tell you to pick it up, and sooner rather than later. And if you’re new to Koli and you’re into dystopian stories, do yourself a favour and check out this trilogy!

The narrative in The Fall of Koli is split once again between Koli and Spinner, with Koli and his companions still on the road and Spinner still working hard to keep their hometown Mythen Rood safe and thriving. Koli has finally found what he set out to find, the Sword of Albion, but he soon realises it might be a bit of a poisoned chalice. Meanwhile, Mythen Rood is gradually advancing towards a state of war, with the lives of the entire town hanging in the balance. I love how the world-building continues even now, how we’re still learning new things about this world we’ve been visiting.

All these adventures Koli and his friends have been on over the course of these three books, everything they’ve been through, however suspenseful and thrilling and action-packed and entertaining these events may be, they wouldn’t mean half as much without these amazing characters I’m truly sad to say goodbye to, specifically Koli himself. If there is one quote I could give you that, for me, sums him up perfectly, it would be: “people is people”. One of the characters is “crossed” which is Koli-speak for transgender. When Koli is asked whether boys shouldn’t just be boys, and girls just be girls, Koli shrugs it off saying people is people, and I couldn’t possibly have loved him more in that moment. After all he’s been through he has lost some of the innocence and naiveté he started out with but he is still that sweet, beguiling boy – young man now really – who stole my heart last year.

The Fall of Koli was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, my expectations were sky-high but, frankly, so was my trepidation, because I needed this third book to be as good as its predecessors, if I had to say goodbye to Koli, it had to end on a high note. I wanted a happy ending for Koli and Spinner, but at the same time, I was afraid a happy ending might feel forced, could they all really live happily ever after? Well, you’ll have to read it to find out, but I will tell you that I found the ending Mr Carey came up with to be very satisfying and a worthy finale to an epic trilogy that I highly recommend you add to your shelves.