Fallocaust

Fallocaust #1

by Quil Carter

Over two hundred and thirty years ago the Fallocaust happened, killing almost everything that lived and creating what is now known as the greywastes. A dead wasteland where cannibalism is a necessity, death your reality, and life before the radiation nothing but pictures in dog-eared magazines.


Reaver is a greywaster, living in a small block controlled by a distant ruler said to have started the Fallocaust. He is a product of the savage world he was raised in and prides himself on being cold and cruel. Then someone new to his town catches his eye, someone different than everyone else. Without knowing why he starts to silently stalk him, unaware of where it will lead him.

Genres: M M Romance, Dark, Dystopia, Horror, Science Fiction, Romance, LGBT

ebook

First published February 14, 2014

About the author

Quil Carter has been writing stories since he learned how to write. Now that people seem to like his stories, this is pretty much what he is planning on doing with his life.

Reviews

[Quil Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I can rate and review my own book? This is so much power!

I liked it, though the author is a bit of a nut.

[Julio Genao]

there is more stupid in the first ten pages of this book than i can imagine filling the entirety of human literature across the span of the multiverse, including every possible version of the eragon series.

it was so painful to read i kept stopping to ask people if it was a satire.

ten pages. i couldn't take more than ten pages.

wanna know how many more there were to read before the end?

892.

AND IT'S PART ONE OF A TRILOGY.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

It could have been so easy for me to play the cool hypercritical reviewer by picking apart out everything that’s wrong with this beast of a book. But I’m not, as popularity for Fallocaust grows – and believe me it will – there will be someone else to dissect and eviscerate facets of this novel. I hate them already, but only because I won’t be able to argue against their points by saying more than: yeah but so what, it’s still sooo good, the author is only young and it’s his debut novel – so come on, it’s self published, give him a break – suspend your belief just a little, this story and it’s characters get under your skin to make your heart race like a racehorse and leave your palms all sweaty – it’s that good. If that doesn’t win the argument I’ll just say: fuck off, I don’t care what you think anyway; to which I will then stomp off while pouting appropriately. I love this book with it’s flaws and all, I love it. And it’s not just me, at present Fallocaust has earned nothing but praise (fist bump to all like minded depravity lovers!) and currently boasts an overall current rating of 4.65 Stars on Goodreads because the 75 readers who have read and rated it obviously don’t care about the trivial editing issues, not when the content is so damn intoxicating.

You have to know that Fallocaust is not for everyone, (see Tracy’s reasons in the link below) it’s harsh, uncompromising and heinously gory, with rape, cannibalism, psychopaths, copious amounts of opiates and acts of torture so vile I guarantee you you will experience extreme and prolonged bouts internal screaming. Nothing is fade to black, you get to experience it all right there and then! You can understand why I love it so much.

This is dark dystopian set 250 years after the Fallocaust (nuclear annihilation) happened. The world is an ugly bloody carcass of it’s former self and life for humans is dangerous and …temporary. Reaver is our resident psychopath/sociopath, whatever …he’s just really bad, but he’s also seriously sexy – so whatever he does is fine with me. And yes, there is a softer more tempered side to him that can only be brought out by the new(ish) guy on the block – Killian. Killian is light to Reaver’s dark, his conscience when he doesn’t have one, his one and only …something, his blah blah blah … you think you know how it goes but, ha! No, you do NOT! And I freaking LOVE that. This is not a sweet predictable romance my friends; yes it’s unconditional and fierce, but jesus, it has it’s own rules and consequences which will keep you turning pages way into the early hours to figure them out.

I’m not going into the plot because I’ll spoil it for you but there is so much here: thrilling action, excitement, chilling revelations and situations within the constantly unravelling plot, original characters that do the unexpected, characters you will love and hate and then love again. I loved how the author so nonchalantly incorporates cannibalism like it’s as easy as eating potatoes; it’s gory but not for the sake of it, it has purpose. No longer does a good boy get a can of something special for a treat, he is the something special in a can! But people are starving, they have nothing else to eat so a can of tender Good Boy goes a long way. It’s insane, but it’s horrifyingly credible.
Told in dual POV by Killian and Reaver this sometimes reads like a horror story but at the same time there are laughs and there is hope. The writing at first, feels amateurish but it gets better as the author’s skill develops and we are rewarded with some great lines like this:

He could see the white dusts of ash rimming the trunks like snow drifts, coating the bark like fingers dipped in cocaine; even the darkest black was touched with grey.

Intriguing characters and the games of an immortal King who turned this world into the greywastes is what gives this book the meat and bones it needs to carry this series beyond the relationship. The fantastical element brings a fresh and always unpredictable twists to the plot. “Like pieces of a fucked up puzzle” it all comes together but not completely, not yet. I have questions about the credibility of some aspects of life and technology that could truly last 250 years after a nuclear annihilation but I’m happy to suspend my belief until I get an explanation for all the gameboys that miraculously still work when mine didn’t last five years.

This has huge potential to be something truly unforgettable, I mean, it already is to me but I’m just nervous to see how it’s all going to play out in the future. This is one of the most exciting books I’ve read all year and I really want everyone to read it but I’ll warn you and say there is a cliffhanger ending and it is extremely dark. The next book in the series is not far from being completed but you have Breaking Jade a companion book to the series to keep you enraptured in this crazy world and perhaps fill in some answers for you too. I hope you take a chance with this one and when you do, just give it a chance to …settle. You will be rewarded :)

[Darien · Rating 4 out of 5]

UMMMMMMMM THA FUCK!!

So I had no expectations going into this. A few friends were reading it and my pal Angela is a huge fan so I decided to give it a try. She gave me all the warnings and said it wasn’t for everyone but I guess it must have been for me because I gobbled up over 800pgs in 2 days.

So gather around children while I give a glimpse into what is known as The Fallocaust.

So its many years in the future and one man has destroyed the entire fucking world. Like the earth is dead DEAD and people can survive barely. But just like life is now, you have the elite the rulers, the ghetto rats, the greywasters, and indescribable monstrosity of people and animals (it’s fucking wild).



In the greywaste town of Aras we have Reaver the little psycho ass among his towns people. He likes to kill and he’s a brat but then the brat starts to fall in love with a boy named Killian and the rest you can say is history (not really history but a series of events so crazy and some gross, that I couldn’t stop reading).

From the beginning you can clearly tell that you are in for a ride, a smooth or bumpy, depends on the reader. It was quite smooth for me.

Smooth Bitch, real smooth...



THE WARNINGS 🚨 🚨

First..
Cannibalism
Rape
Torture
Torture with Rape
Using humans to make fois gras (that is an experience)
Drug Use (next level type use)
2x Cannibalism (like its a way of life in order to survive and thrive)

Don’t take the warnings lightly. Its not a passing thing that happens, as I said most of these things are a way of life for both the rich and poor.

Overall, I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The science parts are questionable, sometimes the writing can be terrible, its overly long and would benefit from a overhaul but alas..I FREAKING LOVED IT 🤷🏽‍♀️

Fallocaust is not a book for everyone but it sure as hell turned out to be for me. I’m looking forward to the series (fingers crossed 🤞 it continues to captivate).

[Mariam, · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roses are red
Violets are blue,
My sanity ceases to exist.
Where This book had no right.
And now I'm gonna go die in my corner
from the nightmare that is this book.

The slums had taught him only one thing:
be prepared for the worst, because it will happen.

Me before reading this book: Life is so dandy and boring. I need fucked up characters to bring some spice in my life.

Me after reading this book: 🤡

“And the most terrifying question of all may be just how much horror the human mind can stand and still maintain a wakeful, staring, unrelenting sanity.” Stephen King – Pet Semetary.

I don't really know how to express all 800 pages of this book (or 1900 on my phone) because at the same time, it felt like I (barely) survived an era reading this book.

This book was fucking crazy. I can not find another term that exacts to quality that is this book. I mean, here's a passage from the book and let me just say, this wasn't even the start of the beginning of the hell hole. I don’t remember a time where it did bother me. I’m sure Greyson and Leo probably have memories of me being a blood soaked two year old laughing at the rats’ throats being ripped out.
I still laugh at that.

And to further illustrate my point, here is something I had noted while also reading

“
This book sucks the sanity out of me. Nothing makes sense so don't even try to have even the simplest shit make sense.
”

This book was mad, infuriating, frustrating, gaslighting my ass off, and so fucked up, I swear I lost my sanity between the half point, BUT it's MY CRAZY. I have been aching to find a good and actually dark book and everything hadn't even been as close as a cheap rip off.

This book defines what it means to be dark, to be fucked up, to be desperate, to make stupid decisions and not only fight, but kick and crawl for you life

“Most of the population was wiped out,” Greyson continued, “and those who didn’t die, wished that they had. The rains stopped, the sun dimmed. They had no food, the water was bad, the ground was burnt and dry, everyone was starving and dying of disease.”



This is what our world was, we were just a bandage trying to stem the inevitable.

NOTE: there is a lot of history and a lotttt of hierarchy in this book. So if you aren't a idiot like me, grab a notebook and a few pens and get ready to write this shit down. I said in my annotations and I quote for word by word: This book is so densely packed with its own history, I need a fucking textbook

He was like a stray dog lost in the greywastes, and no stray lasted long as night fell. Not without someone there to watch over him.
That’s when I had noticed him, that’s when I started following him. Because I knew if I didn’t he would die.

Don't be fooled. This book is not a romance. It might just be a tragedy, and it's not for the soft hearted, nor the weak. This book is War. The depiction of Anarchy, of blood and cruelty, the riddles of the past that bites our present.

The greywastes was a basin overflowing with insanity, the very earth underneath me was only surviving because it was too mad to know it had died.

I wish I could say the beginning of the book was easy, but NOPE. It wasn't and it slapped me in the face MULTIPLE times and it's my sanity laughing right now who says, in hindsight, the shit that happened in the beginning? Wow, who knew that was just barely the tip of the ice berg?

“They said back home that the ash of the greywastes is the ground up bones of the dead,” Killian said, he held up his grey dirt streaked hands and blew on them. A puff of dust blew from his breath. “That’s why it’s so hard to grow things here.”

“The world is poisoned, that’s why.” I shrugged, rubbing my nose as the loose dust started to creep up the insides.“Nothing good grows in poison.”

And oh man, Quil played me. He played my sanity like a fucking guitar and it sang in tune to the madness he brought to my mind.

This book said, don't underestimate a certain character.

And I'll say, don't fucking underestimate Quil Carter.

“Are they all suppose to be like this?”
Leo stared down at the carnage around them.
“No, he wanted him to be worse,” Leo whispered back. “You know that.

I think for the first time in my life, I actually felt fear. Real life terror and was bat shit scared for the characters in the book, for whatever fuckery that would happen next and YES, I was scared for my fucking life.

“And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad. The dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had.”

I think one part of this book I had a Passive-Aggressive relationship with was Killian Motherfucking Coward. He was SO STUPID, and weak and fucking whiny, I lost count of the amount of times I screamed at my pillow, BUT at the same time, he was one of the most strategic fuckers I have ever read, I was almost and in fact actually proud and was fucking clapping my hands for him. And then he would do stupid shit again but then he would pull out the big guns (aka the smart logic guns) and all was well and dandy but then he pulled that shit again SO AS YOU CAN SEE, someone's blood pressure has been exceedingly high for a week.

And to further my point of Passive-Aggressiveness, one of the more unique style I had noticed from this book was, well, not only the world building, but the pacing of this book. I wanna laugh my ass off and spoil how and when our Love Interests get together but I swear, you would miss out of that fucking opportunity(aka adventure 😉). THAT, and how FAR into the book it took for our characters to FINALLY do the Hanky Panky. (oh and don't get me started as to what INFLUENCED that part) and I'm also kind of bitter THAT FOR 800 PAGES, we only get ONE SCENE!!! One hanky panky scene!!!! 👁️👄👁️ Quil Carter, wtf?

“You’re like a little angel of mercy, huh?”

I wiped my eyes. “And you’re what? The demon of indifference?”

And one thing I want to credit my ass of this book, the only thing this book pulled of an Oscar winning award was: Nailing a fucking psychopath and sociopath.

People. WE FINALLY (aka I finally read) AN ACTUAL VILLAIN who
a. Isn't dumb
b. Scares the mother fucking life out of me
c. Played my hysteria like a fucking sonata
d. IT WAS IN FRONT OF OUR FACES THE WHOLE DAMN ASS TIME AND WE GOT PLAYED LIKE A FUCKING FOOL AND IT WAS THE BEST AND MOST SHOCKING SIGHT OF MY LIFE.

The scariest part of this book was realizing who you were fighting against, who the actual villain was. And he wasn't a fucking cliche, the scariest part was knowing He was smart, he was cunning, and that I, as a reader, had underestimated what it means to be cruel.

Reaver’s eyes shot up to the window, and quickly found mine. He looked up at me and smiled, the flames flickering in the black depthless eyes. Dancing like dragons in a the pits of hell.

I think at a certain point of this book, the middle to be exact, this book was SPIRALING. Like I felt how everything truly just.... went to Chaos. And I do use that word many times and I never would have thought that all my other times were loosely minded but the INSANITY that I'm taking about? It truly just felt like this book? The characters and every single aspect of the writing and the pacing was spiraling. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Oh no, hell has barely even opened at that part, and I'm pretty sure there was a time where I literally wanted to gag and I actually prayed for this book TO NOT DARE go that way, but I'm not also saying that I thoroughly drank it up.

But on the flip side, the moment you think this book couldn't get any more worse, yeah well 😘 I give you my blessing to keep your sanity intact for the worse is so coming your way.

because to quote this book , ...“I was too numb to have the weight of what had happened today effect me. One god damn thing at a time.” because ain't that my entire experience of this book

My head was scared, scared of hurting the kid, scared of being hurt myself. Like losing him had hurt, it had brought up so many fucked up emotions I lost my mind. I didn’t want to deal with that again, I hated that I couldn’t feel the good without the bad. It was a notion I wasn’t used too. Being emotionally dead had been so much easier. Seemed like this kid was a drug though, once you had that taste, good luck getting it out of your head. You would just keep upping your dosage until you became hooked. I had already started doing that.

Okay. So if you're REALLY REALLY, REALLY asking for my honest-est opinion and every word you read here is already honest, here is a touch too honest, which I had written nearing the ⅗ of the book.

“

Would I ever reread this book? God freaking no. Hell no. Hell has to fucking freeze and I still wouldn't give anyone the satisfaction of me reading this again, but I have to say, I won't forget this book. There were a lot of times I disagreed with the flow of actions, or how characters couldn't help but everlovingly seem to frustrate the brain cells out of, or how they ticked and kicked off every moral compass I thought I had, There is just something about this book, that no matter how frustrating or repetitive or mother freaking long, there was a charming aspect of this book that kept me going and appreciated every scene. Hell, during the days I was reading this, I had a gruesome amount of school work and only few books litter across my mind when I'm concentrating on my work. I couldn't help but think of these characters, about the scenes I read, wondering about what would happen next, making predictions, yada yada.


”

And I don't know if it's just my version, but there was a lot of grammatical errors, which is alright but it still sucked. Ps, here's a note from past me while reading this: I think the only thing I'm not liking is the witting. It could be better. There's nothing wrong with it but I just wished it flowed better. Constant period and that made me want to rewrite paragraphs lmao

Also I was going through my notes where I listed my predictions and well, I'm not about to type it here and although this book isn't really hard if you put in the effort to debunk it, I did have an inkling to a certain character, and let's just say... I used one word loosely and holy shit did that word tie up the plot twist.

“All of their secrets are going to get us killed.”

[Kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the most graphically violent novels I have ever read!

The premise of the book sounded really interesting and I have to admit it had possibilities. But the way it was written really spoiled it. First, there is the violence. I get that the world the characters live in is a violent one and some violence is to be expected but what is presented in the book was way over the top. It was just gratuitous and unnecessary. Then there are the descriptions of the several rapes that take place throughout the book. If that is not enough, how about cannibalism as a daily means of survival? Add to that the prevalent drug use that is a continuous part of the plot and it all just got a bit too much. Oh and I don't think the novel was read by an editor at all. There were countless errors throughout. Things like using "heard" instead of "herd" were just the beginning of the issues. 

It is really sad too because the story has so much potential. I think if the author got a good editor and they sat down and worked on the book they'd really end up with something great. But as it stands now it's really a disappointment.

[Kazza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll be honest, I do not read books that are 900+ pages. I do not like dystopian books, although I watch dystopian movies. I do not like books with rape. I don’t like mans’ inhumanity to man. Yet here I was reading this freaking long-arsed, gruesome book about characters that are not warm and fuzzy – cannibalism, rape, constant drug use, general inhumanity, torture, lies and manipulation form part of all the leading character's daily lives. Everything I said I don't like I got into here.

Fallocaust absolutely sucked me in. It shouldn’t have. It is not a perfect book. It is too long, the editing needed more help, and I was saying “NO!” way too often. I fought with parts of the book and the characters. But I loved these mega-flawed and fucked-up people, particularly Reaver and Killian - and Reno, and Greyson and Leo. Oh, lord, and Perish.

Let’s be clear on the fact that this book is savage, stark and very brutal - the way people are treated in general, killed, tortured, raped etc. It is in your face and not off page. It is detailed. Also, the fact that the word rape is casually tossed around as a threat or fear can be problematic, if not a trigger, for a number of people. Please bear this in mind and it is reader beware. This book is not for the faint of heart. They also use terms for people that are not PC, but I blurred the lines with the greywastes when I went on in.

These are dark times with people living in a nasty post-apocalyptic world where zombie-esque/wendigo-like creatures and legionaries are wandering around the dismal grey landscape, the greywaste. They're ready to rip your face off and rip out your innards while you are alive, sell you off to a factory where they use your body for meat, by-products, or maybe as a cicaro – whore. The blocks or towns these people live in are harsh, think Mad Max/Escape From New York and LA.

Do not read the spoiler if you have sexual triggers or are sensitive.

How do you like…

…a main character who is sociopathic including duct taping a baby’s mouth and thinking throwing it out the fourth floor window is only wrong because it will draw attention to his location when he is ordered to sniper someone. Who is in love with the newest boy in Aras, but won’t talk to him, and likes to follow him and sit outside his bedroom window in a tree. Who holds the legs of legionaries while his best friend rapes them.


Perhaps I could rape them like they raped Killian.

I shut my eyes momentarily. I knew I couldn't do that. No way I could get hard. I would have to settle at raping them with my combat knife.

Yes...that was a must.

…the other main character who came from another town near the city and used to be naïve, happy and sweet prior to coming to Aras, his parents contracting trideath (a communicable infection) and being killed and eaten. Who now cries a heck of a lot, is needy, and finds that manipulating his boyfriend works well. Is also so anxiety/panic attack driven that it doesn’t take a lot to get him upset. But he does some things that would make your hair stand on end. Yet he can be so sweet and deeply and weirdly empathetic.

….people who think nothing about burning their neighbours and family alive at the stake, then gutting them, stuffing them with vegetables, sewing them back up and basting them for a town BBQ. When one of the young sentries is mauled to death by ravers he is referred to as Mickey Burgers as they eat him. And when part of a family is killed for having acquired trideath,they can say their goodbyes to their baby sister in a pie.

I realized now why they called him the Teufel, the Scourge of the Wastelands. I realized more than ever, why people feared him. Not only could he murder seven men without a trial or so much as a testimony, he could get the entire block to light the torches to do it.

…a psychotically-manic mad scientist who makes abominations out of humans and animals, a la Human Centipede/Dr Moreau, and that is the least of his issues. It is detailed in the book.

…lying quasi-fathers who keep something so important and intrinsic from the son they raised, who is a sociopath, that it threatens his life and that of his lover and the town they are mayors of.

…a sick mind-fuck of a king who is amoral and immortal and has manufactured the Fallocaust and this world for his own welfare, and no one else’s – although he loves cats, go figure…

The list goes on and these are mild quotes.

I got lost in their world and their lives. I loved diving in there and spending days in Aras with Reaver and Killian, one of my favourite couples now, and I want more.

If you are looking for sweet, if you don’t like a very dark, cruel world, if you don’t like a rambling kind of storyline, but one that is undeniably readable and engaging, and you want this structured, stylistically concise book, with alpha heroes who conform to a lot of the commercial fiction/MM ideals, you probably won’t be into Fallocaust. If you don't like the blurring of the lines with who is good and bad, you will struggle. Me? I loved the world building, the line blurring, and unusual people and characterisations that popped - for good or for bad - and these characters pushed all the right buttons for me.

Bring on the next book. Bring on Reaver and Killian.

Full review with warnings (please heed them) but no spoilers

[Xing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 stars

Reading Fallocaust was definitely an interesting experience. I really like it and will definitely follow up with the sequel when it's released. But because I really like it, and see the potential that's there, it makes its flaws more apparent to my mind's eyes and pisses me off more than it should.

What I really love about this book is that it does NOT pull its punches. It's gory. Very, very gory. After all, we are talking about a dystopian society where the act of eating other humans is considered normal and even necessary. Quil doesn't skimp on the details of that oh-so chewy piece of ass meat, or the the process of gutting a human and stuffing it with some veggies to roast. There's also violence and the presence of a sociopathic main character (Reaver).

Which leads to a rare opportunity in the M/M world of fiction: to be able to sink into the mindset of a very depraved/blood thirsty main character. I absolutely love being able to sink my teeth and experience a ruthlessness in characters that aren't quelled (completely) by that magic stick we call “love.” Nope, Reaver is a sociopath/murderer with an arrogance that is earned from the ability to shoot a kid point blank in the face and wonder how the meat's gonna taste. Does that mean his characterization is linear and doesn't change throughout the book? Not at all. He undergoes his own transformation through his relationship with Killian, but stays true to his foundation.

The world building is also nicely done – where information is understood through the characters' experiences rather than an info dump. Sure, this makes it confusing in the beginning, but is definitely a better way to learn of this radiation induced apocalypse. The cast of characters, while small at first, begins to expand throughout the book. I didn't know how to feel about this, as I like the focus to be on the main characters. Luckily, it didn't distract too much and hope the author doesn't feel the need to include too much head hopping (most of the head hopping was between Killian and Reaver, with the inclusion of a few other characters here-and-there).

Is the plot and world completely believable? Absolutely not. If you're the kind of person who psycho-analyzes the characters' behavior, the world's history, and the outcome of events that happen, then you'll probably roll your eyes throughout the story. (Hell, as a person who works in a pharmacy, I will tell you there is no way in hell meds are still good after sitting on the shelves for over two hundred years. There is something called an expiration date.) Does that mean the world of Fallocaust is too over-the-top and not enjoyable? Once again: absolutely not. You just have to go into the mindset of “going with the flow” is all I'm saying (after all, this is also considered a science fiction story).

Despite all the good things about Fallocaust, there were some BAD things as well. And I'm going to be very blunt here:

1) Someone get this book a fucking (new) editor. My goodness, I'm not talking about the occasional misspelled word here. I'm talking about misspelling the same word continuously, repeated words, incorrect words, and even a couple sentences that made absolutely not sense to me no matter how slowly I reread them. I've read longer fanfiction that had fewer mistakes compared to this book with the assistance of beta-readers. The reason why I'm making such a big deal here is the mention that the edition I bought was “professionally” edited. Warning to grammar Nazis and people expecting a well proofread experience: you're in for some pain. While not grammatically incorrect (I don't think anyways), I get annoyed when authors feel the need to use inconsistent punctuation. For instance, using one exclamation mark in a sentence, followed by another sentence with three-five exclamation marks (!!!!). Or the need to format whole sentences IN ALL CAPS.

2) I fucking hate Killian. He actually makes the top three list of most unlikeable character in M/M history. Seriously, I lost count of how many times he cried after about twenty-five. It got to the point where I was the one who wanted to cry, but then devolved into laughing my ass off with how pathetic he was (just like Reaver does sometimes). He cries and whimpers multiple times in every chapter featuring his POV. His other behaviors (giggling, jumping up and down, and I think there was a scene where he's skipping) gives me the impression of a eleven year old kid instead of a 17 year old boy/man who underwent some traumatizing experiences. It was very difficult for me to imagine an adult, because his whimpering/giggling behavior made me shave a few inches and a handful of years from his character. He's also supposed to be an intellectual, yet thinks with the vocabulary of a middle schooler. Oh, and let's not forget he's almost always the one fucking up and causing problems that end up hurting others unnecessarily. And when things do go wrong, what does he do? He cries, calls himself useless, and cries some more. In all honesty, I feel like he single handedly made my reading experience drop significantly. He was such a waste of word count in my opinion.

So over all, I did enjoy Fallocast. Sure, the writing felt amateurish at times (yet oddly elegant in others), with a very unlikeable love interest (in my opinion), and could use some tightening up with certain scenes that dragged or felt unnecessary. But the book manages to explore territory that many authors don't dare touch or even dare think of. And for that, I will have to say this author definitely has some balls. And you know what else? He does a good job in creating an overall compelling story with a suspenseful ending that makes me definitely want to pick up the sequel whenever it comes.

[Lila · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, this book ruled my life for few weeks.
I didn't know anything about it before I start reading.I saw it's tagged as dystopian mm, read the blurb, decided to try sample and this happened:

"I saw him smile a few times, and perhaps that’s what got me started with the second glances.
What he was so happy about I don’t know, didn’t care really, but the prospect that this kid was sunny enough to flash the scissors was fascinating to me...Like all things though, his happiness wasn’t meant to be, and the reality of living in hell caught up with Killian.
Everything changed for him, when we ate his parents."

If you stumbled, backpaddled and thought 'say what?!', you pretty much had the same reaction as I did. The reason I am mentioning this here is because at this point you are either interested or you want to get the hell out of it- the author is showing you immediately what you're in for and he's not holding back at all.

Needless to say, I was intrigued and decided to give it a try.
Best decision ever made.

Ok, some info about the world-building- Fallocaust is a term referred to the event when a huge radiation wave decimated human population. Fallocaust was not a mistake or random- it was deliberate move by one man who declared himself king and who settled on an island named Skyfall with a chunk of people he deemed worth keeping around. Everything out of Skyfall was destroyed- people, flora & fauna, even electronics. So, what do you do when you are a sociopath and have a clean-slate world to rule over? You create new one purely to your liking, needs or whims.
Decades later, Skyfall is a place where King Silas reside with his genetically engineered adversaries (chimeras) and perfect creations, and rest of people (arians) are given an anti-radiation chip and showed out, into Greywastes.
In one such greywaster city, we encounter a boy and a psychopath who falls in love with him.

So, let's talk first about thing that may be a potential trigger to some- cannibalism. Yup, they eat each other. They have nothing else to eat. And it's not subdued or fade-in-the-background described-it's a matter of fact and once you get over it, you just accept it as part of these characters' reality. Once I started reading, I actually found it easy to accept because this new world author imagined is fucked up beyond recognition; "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here" kind of fucked up. Imagine Mad Max cut-the-throat wasteland + 28 Days Later and then amplify it by 10. No water, creatures that are vicious product of radiation and evolution, rape, viral diseases and no up-to-date medications to treat them, no resources just what you managed to scavenge. And then add to that King Silas. Seriously, I think the thing that makes it scary the most is the fact that it is a different,fantasy world, but it's similar just enough to one we know to make us uncomfortable. Yeah, just ask yourself would people really live like that or turn into that in those circumstances (lack of food, mainly). :shudder:

The story is told alternating pov from two main characters, Reaver and Killian. Killian is not unlike characters you met in some other novels- he is too young, too innocent, too lost when his parents died and completely unprepared. This is rather simple, but not really fair description of Killian because of all characters he is the one who developed with story the most.From the oblivious little shit you want to strangle few times, he grew to be a complex character you respect the hell of. What he went through, it was strange he has any working ganglia left;I expected him to snap and fry like battery. Killian, version 2.0, is a badass you really don't know what to expect from. Finishing this novel, I speculate he is the wild card; I think he will surprise in next novel.;)

Anyway, when we meet Killian he is doomed; he just doesn't have skills to survive in harsh greywastes. If not for the fact he attracted the attention of Reaver, sentry who took up to himself to keep him safe, he would die.
Now, being protected by Reaver is like being protected by rabid tiger who pisses circles around you and throws bloody animals at you as a token of affection. Reaver is my favorite character and he is a psychopath. I am not telling this just for fun- we are in his head long enough to realize just what Reaver truly is. He is simply wired the other way, he has difficulties reasoning as a normal person. He knows he is expected to behave in certain way, so he does it when he wants to (mostly for Killian), but it's not because he has empathy. He can be mean as hell and he does so many questionable and despicable things that cannot be explained or justified and I don't even want to. He is what he is and I liked him just like that. If anyone wants me to say he is later changed, power of love and all that crap(thank God for that, I hate this plot device), I have to disappoint you- he is Reaver and he is the most adorable psychopath ever. Trust me you wouldn't want him to change. There is a whole story revolving around him, but to reveal anything is to spoil it.

The plot is effing crazy- There is so many things going on and you don't even have time to process one thing before characters are thrown into another situation.With such a long read, you are never bored. Seriously, this was like a crack; I couldn't put it down. It's fastpaced, action-packed turmoil that left me emotionally drained. Few times, I was able to guess where is story going, but the biggest plot twist surprised me.

Beside these two, there's whole array of other characters who are equally interesting and whose fate you want to know:
Another favorite, Reno, is Reaver's best friend. He is awesome and funny as hell- I want Reno to have weekly Aras podcast.;D He is the only one who did everything right, imo.
Leo and Grayson, Perish, Asher- every one of them lunatics! (because Fallocaust just doesn't do good characters), I liked them and wanted to bang their heads in equal measures. Gah, they made some moves that made me scream at my reader. (Note here: Killian and Reaver were also stubborn little shits you want to throttle few times, but they are 17 and 19,so I gave them leeway- they are allowed to make mistakes).

I won't say this novel is flawless- it is not. It's definitely in a need of proofreading, typos, editing mistakes not to mention irredeemable mcs, cannibalism, blood and gore, internal screaming... surely things that can be deal-breakers.
But guess what, I didn't care at all when I finished. It's dark and disturbing, but there is also this hope in a very fiber of this story and I was so damn attracted to it! The fact that two boys found each other in this ugly and hopeless place is so beautiful and tragic at the same time and it left me hungry for more. This is me when I hit the end:



Ruined! :D

Of course, I bought already Breaking Jade and I am eager to start it since I really want to see some Skyfall and learn more about chimeras.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been wanting to read this series for years, but I’ve always been scared because I knew it would be all consuming, intense, and the characters would be put through the wringer.

One the one hand this was completely different from what I expected. What I liked more was the fact that this world is not filled with completely bad people (like I thought it would be). I mean, everyone eats humans flesh, I thought everyone would be killing everyone, but that was not the case.

Most of these people actually had morals, and while some definitely were more of the sociopath/psychopath kind, they were not all bad.

19 year old Reaver enjoys killing and torturing people and it seems he has no empathy whatsoever. That is until he starts following Killian, a shy, blond 17 year old boy, who feels very deeply and cries about every single thing.

When Killian gets kidnapped Reaver snaps and does everything in his power to get Killian back.

I really loved how devoted Reaver and Killian were to each other. I know it is mentioned that this is not a romance but horror. But still this felt like a romance. Mostly because Reaver and Killian really love each other and would do anything to protect the other. There is no cheating or anything of that sort.

And because the love these guys share I really want to see them happy. But of course lots of things happen to them. And while I absolutely loved this book and was on the edge of my seat the entire time, I think I’m going to take a break.

I just found out that the series isn’t done yet, so there is no HEA at the end of this very dark tunnel.

This book deserves all the 5 stars I’m giving, but I do admit that I’m quite exhausted now. I would have read all the books back to back if I knew there was something to look forward to (any kind of HEA would be appreciated). So I think I’m going to have to wait until this series is finished. It could be years, but we’ll see….

Just know that, yes this is a dark series, but it’s not without any romance, and even thought it’s not a conventional relationship, I think these guys are made for each other.

[Lars · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75⭐️

Holyyyyyyy fuuuuuuccccckkkkk

I’m at a loss for words tbh. I’ve never read something that made me feel so many emotions before. I fucking hate these characters, but I also can’t help but love them so much. So many scenes in this book are engraved in my brain. I’m terrified but also excited to continue on with this series.

[Mare SLiTsReaD Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never ever been so mind fucked in my life.
And
I will never get this feeling back ever again.
And
Fuck

I think I smoked half a carton of cigs, 10 pots of coffee, endless supply of Pepsi in the 5 days it took me to devour this book.

My nervous system is a mess.

For a while I thought I was gonna have a heart attack from sheer nerves and adrenaline that was coursing through my veins.

The images, the feelings, the crazy fucked up, fucked up, OMG so fucked up world Quil Carter builds.
Its seered now into my very essence.

How the fuck do I move on?????

I can't even describe... I won't... because if you like DARK and DIFFERENT and FUCKED UP and UNPUTDOWNABLE. READ THIS FUCKING BOOK

BIG SHOUT OUT TO KRISTIE FOR NOT EVEN KNOWING THAT WE WERE GOING TO END UP BUDDY READING THIS AND FOR HOLDING MY HAND VIA TWITTER, GR AND FACEBOOK. WHEN YOU REACH THE END GIRL, I'M HERE FOR YOU READY TO JUMP RIGHT INTO TO JADE

Review to come after I have read Jade.

These are just my thoughts

Mare~SLitsread

[Giulio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.4 stars

This was the fucking greywastes, not a Disney movie. People got raped, people got hit, and people got eaten.

And this is only a small part of the lifestyle in the Greywastes. One of the darkest book I ever read. Set in a dystopian future, the few survivors of the Fallocaust, a big sestic (?) radiation wave which destroyed almost every living creature, struggle to survive in a world dominated by mutant dogs, ravers and other horrible creatures, while the elite lives an apparent luxury existence on a faraway island ruled by the beautiful and evil King Silas.

It’s a book full of graphic violence and gore. Eating human flesh is common as eating pizza with friends on a Friday evening. There are even recipes in case you’d like to change your eating habits.
There’s rape, non-con sex and lots of drugs (ab)use

Pros: The plot is compelling (if you like gay psychopaths as much as I do) and full of twists that keep the attention high all through this never ending 900 pages. Reaver is a very interesting MC, dark and twisted, with a secret past and and an epic fate waiting for him in the future. The side carachters are amazing too.

Cons: Poor editing, writing not always good, and the most obnoxious love interest I ever met (Killian, who unfortunately doesn’t get eaten). Huge cliffhanger at the end. At times it seemed like the dorky brother of Evenfall serie.

For a more insight review read here.

Since food is a major issue in this book I'd like to introduce you to Simone Rugiati, a very good Italian chef. Isn't he cute? I'd eat him right now.

[Rina Pride · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 STARS SÓ PARA LEITORES COM MENTALIDADE DE AÇO ( PASSEI NO TESTE)

Escrever discurso sobre tudo de errado que esse livro apresenta é bem fácil, mas farei diferente porque foi uma das histórias de mundo pós-apocalíptico mais intensas que já li!! Eu simplesmente não conseguia parar de ler toda loucura que tinha nessa história, uma coisa tão chocantemente desenvolvida, tão absurdamente escrita que eu não conseguia parar de acompanhar. Podem me chamar de distorcida por ter gostado de um livro onde canibalismo e drogas pairam nos personagens como beber água... Temos um cenário distópico escuro onde a humanidade perdeu sua humanidade. Um rei louco que tacou radiação em boa parte do mundo e devastou um mundo já devastado. Com isso o ser humano teve de se virar, canibalismo virou algo normal como tomar um copo de água, eles não vivem na nossa realidade, eles vivem numa realidade 250 anos depois de um Apocalipse radiação causado por um rei cruel que deixou os humanos se foder, um rei que fodeu tudo e todos moldando às coisas como sua vontade. Então...no meio disso tudo temos Reaver, Reaver é um protagonista totalmente fora da caixinha, foi o personagem mais chocante que conheci! Eu não sei nem o que escrever sobre toda complexidade desse personagem, teria que ficar aqui escrevendo por horas e horas, mas prefiro usar só algumas palavras... Reaver é um personagem genialmente chocante!! Eu não conseguia parar de querer saber até onde iria Reaver, desdo o início sabia que ele era único naquela aras, sabia que acompanhar esse personagem seria uma das coisas mais alucinantes desse livro. Reaver é uma tempestade e killiam é como um sol no meio da tempestade, é como sol tentando pairar raios de luz nas nuvens cinzentas. Quando killian foi pego pelos legionários,eu surtei como o Reaver, tive uma crise de choro enquanto lia e desde então percebi que não conseguiria deixar de ler Fallocaust. Tinha que acompanhar até onde iria Reaver e killian no meio de um enredo tão louco que só me faria chocar e chocar. É um livro bizarro, tão bizarro que é bom. O lance do enredo em volta de rei sillas e suas quimeras é uma curiosidade que vai crescendo e crescendo até você conseguir entender o que tá acontecendo na história. Todo esse livro foi chocante, foi o mais chocante que li esse ano, tirou o posto de distorted. Senti tudo aqui, senti ódio, nojo, medo, ansiedade ao extremo. Estou sem dormir desde que comecei nessa leitura, hoje vou dormir e descansar minha mente, vou preparar minha mente para o próximo livro. Eu realmente detesto drogas, mas acho que Quil não quis incentivar ninguém ao uso, quem lê um livro desses já é maior de idade e sabe cuidar da própria mentalidade. Pessoas com gatilhos não conseguiram chegar nas primeiras páginas disso. Ler esse livro não mudou meus valores em nada, isso é saber diferenciar ficção da realidade. Poderia dizer mais coisa aqui, só vou dizer que os momentos finais do livro foi o lance mais tenso que li na vida, minha mente explodiu com Perish e Asher.. Não esperava por aquilo, foi muito bem bolado. Sou muito boa em descobrir coisas antes de ser reveladas mas aqui foi genial e só consegui chocar. Chocantemente bom!!

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have ever read! I don't even know how to put my thoughts about this book into coherent sentences, so excuse the rambling mess this review is likely to be! I will say I am so, so happy this was the book that hit my reading goal for the year, and it was as amazing as I hoped it would be.

I fucking love Reaver. Just love him. Definitely one of my favourite characters I have ever read and I honestly cannot wait to see how the rest of this series plays out.

I loved the world building - post-apocalyptic, DARK, gruesome.... This was so detailed that I could clearly picture everything that was happening and I am officially obsessed. Quil Carter is a genius to me.

This series is definitely not for everyone, and it's a massive time investment, but I'm choosing to look at it in the sense that every book equates to binging one season of a really good, really complex TV show. SO MUCH happens, there is so much detail, so much going on... I really don't know how to describe how much I loved reading this 😂

There are a bucket load of triggers so be warned! I actually didn't read them because I wanted to go in pretty blind, but I did know some elements of the story from seeing so many recommendations for this book over the past few years. If you're squeamish, easily offended, or need your MCs to be in a sweet and loving relationship then this is not the book for you.

There are a lot of grey areas, a lot of gruesome violence, a lot of situations that would definitely not be socially acceptable if it were set in the current time....but honestly all of that is what really appealed to me about this series, and I can't wait to read more - although I will be reading a few lighter books between just to break it up a bit 😂😂

I'm not going to say anything else though because I really think this is a book best read without really knowing what's coming!

[ttg]

DNF at 50% or at around 450 pages or so.

I’m not stopping because I dislike this mammoth post-apocalyptic/dystopia m/m novel, but I am stopping because I think it’s too dark for me. Supposedly it’s to be a trilogy, and I decided that if things in this first half were too dark (and very unpredictable), and since usually the process for these things, like trilogies, is to get much-much worse, rather than better and more fluffier, than I should hop off now, so I did. (After flipping to the end to confirm that yes, the ending is a cliffhanger.)

What we have here: Fallocaust is vol. 1 and over 800 pages, and it very much feels like a winding, episodic serial online fiction. (That’s not necessarily a bad thing--I loved the 600+ page beast Close Protection and am digging that author’s more recent novel-in-progress Control.)

But I definitely feel the unwieldy length of this, and some heartless editing would probably have been a good thing to tighten things up along this dark, grim journey. (As well as another copy-edit.)

We follow our two MCs--sociopathic Reaver, who protects his “block”/village with his adopted fathers and the rest of their ragtag, surviving community, and young, book-loving, innocent Killian, a newer resident who catches Reaver’s attention, even though Reaver doesn’t understand yet why he can’t get Killian out of his mind.

It’s 200+ years after some terrible events that radiated a good portion of the world, and things are not pleasant. An accepted part of survival is cannibalism, and it’s no big deal to eat those in your community who have passed away. (It’s actually a waste, unless their “meat” is diseased.) There is also factory-produced “meat”, in various forms, although this is rationalized that it came from convicts (people who went against the system) or “rats”, subhuman creatures that are also farmed, bred, and slaughtered in Reaver’s community, and also the ambiguous cans of “Good Boy” which could be...honestly anything human, possibly some poor schmoes that got caught by the army and illegally sold to the factories.

We actually see into one of these factories for a gruesome rescue section, and let me tell you, eating foie gras after this seems much less appealing after seeing the process for foie gras humans. (A delicacy!)

There is some dark things in here. Including torture/mutilation, rape, and brutal attacks by demented animals. Most of these dark things happen to side-characters, or else I would have been out of there faster. But there are definitely some sections I DO NOT want to ponder.

Like another indie book, The Foxhole Court, Fallocaust also boasts an erratic unpredictability that makes it both very addicting (what will happen next????) and also scarier/stressful since seriously, anything bad can really happen. When one character says, “Don’t go past that door without me,” and you’re all “uh-oh, what’s in THERE?” in your head, and then you later find out what’s behind the door...

I am also confused about race. I like that the story doesn’t spell things out—the narrative follows the POVs of both Reaver and Killian, and a lot of what they see is accepted and understood (to them). I started thinking of it as “casual cannibalism” and “everyday atrocity”, the way everyone was so blasé about their canned meat or eating people, or about the process of feeding the live “rats” to their terrible dogs they were breeding, or how Reaver was fine if his buddy would rape a captive, but he himself would lose his shit if someone tries anything against Killian.

The “rats” confused me. I think they are a subhuman or mutated human species created from the fallout of the terrible events. At one point, it is described that they are full grown at three years, which makes me think they’re separate from humans.

But they’re also described as black, which could be their skin from the mutation. They also sound like they’re human-ish in other ways, from the brief descriptions of them.

My confusion was compounded because the humans surviving are called “arians”, which could be based on the Arianism, but also made me ponder aryanism (e.g. European whites.) The MCs are white, and race isn't really spelled out otherwise.

So, part of me was pondering if rats were human, but not-white, and thus seen by society as “not as human” as the arians, or if the rats were actually mutations and “subhumans” and thus seen as akin to cattle even though they are not that different from humans.

I don’t think we were supposed to be comfortable with how blasé people are about slaughtering/canning the rats, but it did make me wonder what was going on, and was the society being even more racist as it was eating itself? I don’t know. I found it very confusing as I pondered how race fit into this really terrible world.

Technology survives! My old Gameboy did not last a decade, so I had a really hard time believing Nintendo game systems would last 200 years. I started to let these head-scratchers go, but it did bother me the amount of tech that survived, although there aren’t companies existing that make them since the disaster.

For Dystopia Fans: For those who like grim, dark-dark dystopian stories, especially with m/m (and there is a sweet love story in there, even if one of the MCs is a sociopath--he just really cares about one person), I think this long-ass story will be like candy. It is VERY readable, and lots of CRAZY things happen, so you’re easily pulled along to find out how our hero/antihero duo will survive and be together.

I think I’m just too much of a delicate flower for this one, especially if things get worse. I’d rather not ponder what’s behind that door at night, or face the gruesome reality once you see it. Props for creating a visceral experience! But I’m off to go find something fluffier. Maybe a reread of The Road will cheer me up.

(Doubtful.)

[Kristie · Rating 5 out of 5]

New Edit: September 9, 2014

Having read this for a second time, I can honestly say it was so much better than the first. I love everything about this book. Even knowing what was happening, what was to come... it was better. I was able to wrap myself around the characters, bring them in and keep them in a way I was unable to do before. They are now a part of me, and I'm never letting them go.

*********************************************************************



Edited this morning seeing is how I'm now able to think more clearly and actually see the screen... And thank you Mare. Thank you for being there for me while I read this. Having you by my side through all my anxiety helped a lot.

I can't with this book. I can't even. I'm in too much shock. Read Shelley's review. Mare's. Anyone else who loves this. Combine them all and add 739336528% more love on top of that.

I can't. Just, fuck. Quil, you evil mastermind, I love your brain and imagination. Thank you for this journey. It's horrific and beautiful.

[nark · Rating 5 out of 5]

reading this book made me really fucking mentally exhausted but i couldn’t stop reading

[TH0TP0CKETS · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Fallocaust' by Quil Carter is a dark, erotic and absolutely f*cking THRILLING read. I did not put it down once I started it. I ended up falling head over heels in love with the two MC's, Reaver and Killian. I think we all hope for that intense connection with a little bit of a protector fetish attached. At least I do. Anyway, I can't say enough good things...I honestly ended this book and felt that feeling of "OMG I finished this book, I need more, I love these characters, and now I feel completely lost and empty inside because book two isn't out yet" kind of feeling. If you love intense darkness, eroticism and "first-time" as well as dystopian novels, I recommend 100 percent.

[Vishakha ~ ReadingSpren ~ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hi, I am Reaver. I am the super hot brooding anti-hero of this series called "Fallocaust". Atleast I live up to my title of anti-hero because I revel in killing and murdering and eating people. Oh, and I help my best friend, Reno, rape enemy guards by holding up the fuckers' legs. I don't do it myself of course. Whatever I am, I am not a rapist. Nuh uh. I draw a line somewhere so that my love-to-be can save my soul.

Meet my boyfriend Killian. I am sure you will not find a character more irritating than him in the history of English literature and fiction. I am talking Bella Swan and Anatasia Steele. Like he is such a Twihard that he fell in love with me because I was stalking him like a mofo and I fell in love with him for no apparent reason except that "he seemed different". He is blonde, beautiful and full of love. He has a heart big enough to love a demon like me. 300 pages of this book is dedicated to him crying his eyes out. Such a cutie. Check out my tar black heart beating for this angle.


Fallocaust is officially the most fucked-up story I have read. Its post-apocalypse and cannibalism is the only way to survive. Morality is a luxury you can't afford in the greywastes. The story is ridiculously dark and violent and our main protagonist Reaver is truly and magnificently fucked up. And I love fucked up. A lot of characters are sold as anti-heroes but they never really do anything truly morally questionable. But Reaver is all about the questionable. I was not really comfortable with him helping Reno rape legionaries anti-hero or not. I find it easier to forgive murder and brutality but not rape. Never rape. Reaver was a character I would have definitely respected if not for this. But that's just me. He is fiercely loyal and very protective of the few people he cares about. He knows he is bad but doesn't wallow in self-pity and guilt. He really loves Killian. And he is capable. I like characters who are capable, who get things done.

(Reaver)This was the fucking greywastes, not a Disney movie. People got raped, people got hit, and people got eaten. He should deal with it.

(Reaver)“Probably,” I said instead. I wondered where their graves were. I wouldn’t mind adding Mrs. Massey’s skull to my collection. She could watch the detestable Reaver fuck her son.

(Jade)The slums had taught him only one thing: be prepared for the worst, because it will happen.

(Killian)I hoped Asher would die in his sleep. We could eat Asher steaks. Now that is someone I would enjoy eating. Or maybe I’d feed him to the deacons just to prove how worthless he was.
I guess Reaver was rubbing off on me.

In terms of depravity, this book was a success. Everything else, uh, not so much.

The writing was terrible. It was not well edited. And both Reaver and Killian got on my nerves. Not in a "oh-them-characters-are-so-frustrating-but-I-wanna-hug-them-to-death-and-wish-for-their-HEA-muah-muah-muah" way. It was more "oh-you-fucking-bitches-fuck-the-villain-I-will-kill-you-myself-fuckyou-fuckyou-fuckyou-DIE". The world-building was inconsistent and awkward. The overall story was interesting but the writing ruined it.

And there were only 5 female characters in the whole book. And all of them so minor that if somebody made a movie out of this they won't even be credited with anything more than "Girl 1/2/3/4" and "Killian's Mom". I know the radiation and what not in this post-apocalyptic world is supposed to purge the female population but I was kind of bored without any women. Atleast it was occasionally funny. The humor and fucked-up-ness were the only two redeeming qualities Fallocaust possessed.

The first 100 pages were BORING. The next 600 pages were boring and annoying but halfway through you will probably get hooked even if you are not liking it. By the time you reach the end you can't turn back. Because the author left the book on a fucking cliffhanger. And even though you fucking hated the book you would read the next one BECAUSE WHATHAPPENSNEXT!! AAaRRrrgghh!

PS:- I am changing the rating to one. Two is too much.

[alittlelifeofmel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a lot to say about this book.

Firstly, I want to say how much I loved this book. This book did everything right for me and it was so good and entertaining and shocking. I'm rating this 5 stars because I was addicted to it, I loved the world, I love the characters, I care about everyone with my entire heart. Well like, the "good" characters.

However, I also want to get really brutally honest in this review, so the rest of this review is going to be negative and reasons why, although this book did it for me, it likely won't do it for other people.

So firstly, the thing about me is, I'm actually really good at "ignoring" things. I studied the Holocaust in school, and minored in Serial Killers (technically History with a minor in Psych but whatever). I am not a stranger to death, torture, and suffering. This book has those by the absolute truckload. This book has a main plot of rape and cannibalism. They talk about cannibalism like it's the weather, and there are many many graphic rape and torture scenes. I've seen crime scene photos of horrendous things and I don't bat an eye, but scenes in this book actually caused me to have to put the book down for a moment. That's the first time I've had to do that in my life, but that's how brutal this book is. This made A Little Life seem cheerful.

There's also aspects of the world that people will find bothersome. Again, I didn't, but just because I am able to ignore these things and take the world at face value. I was given this book and this is the world Quil Carter wrote, so that's the world I will accept.

Also everyone in this book is pretty much a piece of shit and does terrible things and like they are all psychopaths (except Killian) but they are MY psychopaths and I love them. But I honestly don't think many could.

So I guess you could say I meant to sway people away from this book? And honestly I mean there isn't a scene in here that isn't rape, cannibalism, murder, torture, or drugs. God don't even get me started on how many drugs these people do...


SO YEAH tldr: if you like fucked up shit and it doesn't bother you, this is the book for you. If you have any trigger in the entire world, stay away, so far away.

[Literatures Movies]

My choice of books might sometimes be demented, or I might like to read really twisted storylines. But cannibalism is where I cut the line.








Blog : Click here for more of my reviews

[Mug]

dnf @ 3% -

21 pages in:

He kept us segregated in three groups. Rats, who were dark-skinned from the radiation, dirty sub-humans that we farmed as food. Ravers, who looked more like us, but had never been chipped or, if they had been, had lost them, so the radiation had driven them crazy to the point where they were dangerous and usually shot on sight. Then there was the arians, the normal human race. Arians were well, all of us, the sane ones.

um…..what the fuck is this…..no thank u and also wtf!!!!! oh and did i mention wtf!!!!!

[Y.D. Mar · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOLY SH*T

This 800+ page book is a debut novel? I DON'T BELIEVE IT

I was reading this book while watching the walking dead for the first time. I'm on season 5 of the walking dead now and I still firmly believe this book is so much better.

For those who know me and for those who follow my reviews, you know how dark I like my stuff. This book did not disappoint.

It starts out a little slow because of the world-building. It takes you a bit to get into it, into the feel of the hopelessness and the feel of the world having gone to complete annihilation and almost starting back at zero. Life is not what it used to be, it can't be. Things must be done in order to survive.

Enter our main man Reaver. Again, for those who know me...you know the kind of guys I like. Reaver has my heart.

The story starts to unravel, introducing us to the main group of characters that is currently living in Aras. A small town in a way. There is a king who rules over everything.

Reaver and Killian find each other drawn together. Oh, but this relationship will have more than ups and downs. This relationship will be PUT THROUGH THE WRINGER. [I absolutely adore these two and ALL THEIR FLAWS]

Despite the darkness that surrounds everything in this new life, most of the story follows our main couple. My goodness, their love is FIERCE. How far would you go in the name of love? Through BLOOD, SWEAT, and TEARS this couple will be put to the test time and time again. At some points, I almost thought some of the characters were going to break mentally.

The author has a talent for depicting the descent into madness, making the reader feel like they're going mad too. And how I do so LOVE books like that!

WE'RE ALL MAD HERE.

embrace the crazy. embrace the darkness. this is going to be one wild ride.

The end literally...ends with a bang.

*5 stars. I rank this book a comfortable pitch black*

[Tami · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 amazingly f*@%ed up stars!

I'll start by saying nothing about this book is my usual read. I don't read dystopian and there's cannibalism involved, which equals hell no!! Btw, that wasn't a spoiler as it's in the blurb.

"Dark" is too bright a word to describe this book: It's brutal, bloody, sadistic, very painful to read and most definitely not for everyone. Disturbingly enough, and despite all that, I loved it.

I loved it from a storytelling aspect obviously. The imagination it took to create the environment, along with the plot twists, near constant action and yes, even "romance" kept my interest and I constantly wanted to know what happened next. No easy feat for an 800-page book. Of course then I wished I didn't find out! (I used The Hunger Games movies as my backdrop for this book)

I'm not going to get into the story, because that's what reading the book is for, but I do think the author should put a graphic everything warning at the end of the blurb because seriously, it was a difficult read.

I'd also love a glossary! lol.

[Julia (bookish.jka) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a seriously freaky book - like, really dark, dystopian, cannibalism and rape type freaky. Definitely NOT for the faint hearted and so many triggers it’s scary.

But amongst all of that, there’s a really good story and great world building and hugely flawed, but strangely endearing characters and a love story to break your heart.

Somehow the psychopathic (or is he?) Reaver and his partner Killian (not the weak little thing he first appeared) have got under my skin, and I need to read more...if I can stomach it 🤷🏼‍♀️🥺😷

[⚣ Marco ⚣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Ezra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Currently doing my 3rd read - December 2025.

2nd Read Jan 2025
This was my second read of Fallocaust. I gave it 4.5 stars the first time, and 5 stars this time.
What do I say about this book! Brilliant! All the hype about it is real.

1st read Sept 2024
Quil Carter's clever, irreverent and satirically dark style of story telling was, for an 800+ page book, a surprisingly effortless read! For me, Fallocaust has many reasons for 5 stars, but above all else is Quil's talent for world building and his creation of Reaver, the ultimate anti-hero.

This book has post-apocalyptic drama, action, angst, romance, horror, laughs, you name it, it's all there! Don't get me wrong, there is no trigger spared in this book, it is pitch black, with dark themes, and there were times where I couldn't eat reading some scenes haha but it's also a crazy fun ride!

Main MCs, Reaver and Killian are your fun loving "psycho-unhinged-at times toxic but I loved them" black cat and golden retriever couple, going about the wastelands, with their family and friends (extra special mentions to Reno, Greyson and Leo, Biff and Deek-dog haha) escaping dangers, trying to not get eaten, and avoiding the attention of evil King Silas and his multiple lethal chimeras.

This book is an epic journey with multiple parts or acts within it so get comfy! And especially because this series has approx.10+ books in it!

It was so well written with great characters. It has many twists so avoid spoilers and just enjoy the journey. Off to read Breaking Jade soon.

[Karla Slusher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh shit. Oh holy fucking shit man!!!!!! YOU CAN'T JUST STOP THERE!!!!!! Gah!


Ok ok... panic attack aside.. this book was AMAZING AWESOMNESS!! I loved every page of it's sadistic psychotic story, it rocked my socks. Reaver is such a deep character, he was portrayed perfectly. And killian? Oh he was this little hellcat hidden in an angel suit wasn't he!? I mean for real, he was just as damn crazy as reaver. But you know what? I read all 900+ pages of this book... and not once was I not entertained or engrossed completely. I recommend this book 100%, it deserves like 10 stars!

[Gaby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was frustrated with the fact that it took me ages to finish this book.. Work kept getting in the way and so did other stuff and it was murder to have to put the book down to get up and teach a class... Especially because it was difficult to concentrate with what I had just read so fresh in my head.

This is by far one of the darkest books I've read. Yes, there is what we could call romance but it's definitely not your typical"aww" they live happily ever after romance, at least not in THIS installment and I find it difficult to believe that it will ever be, and frankly, I'm perfectly fine with that, because I loved this book and the characters in it just the way they were. The few "aww" moments in this book come in the strangest times and from the oddest lines, most of the times, anyway. I was surprised at myself when I realized that even though the book is dark and very sick, for some reason I didn't feel as sickened as I think I should have felt. I think it's because the author did a brilliant job painting a world so fucked up that you get in some way sucked into it. *Thank lord that is just a fictional thing, i'd be scared shitless to live in a world like this one*

This is a post apocalyptical dystopian book. After a nuclear war the world became a very shitty place to live in, practically any sign of life disappeared and only some survived, there is illness spreading and killing those who are ill is part of daily life. The world in this book is dark, but is so well plotted, so well thought and written that the "reality" in it makes it border in horror. There's murder, cannibalism, rape, and these things don't really happen off page, so beware of that before picking up this book; you might want to reconsider. I loved it, but I know this book isn't for everyone.

I have always known that I'm attracted to characters with sociopathic/psycopathic tendencies, and I have no idea why that is.. Well, this book introduced me to one of the most fascinating sociopaths I've ever read. Reaver is a cold bastard that enjoys inflicting pain. He shows no compassion. He's been raised by Leo and Greyson, his semi dads as he calls them. One of the most fascinating things about Reaver is that he sort of breaks the mold. He has all this sociopathic traits but in the end he knows the difference between good and evil and he shows remorse... in some cases, and despite his mean self he is very, very loyal and he actually shows signs of justice. His nature should not allow him that, and yet there it is. Most of his showing empathy comes from his relationship with Killian, another fascinating character. Killian is the boy next door (almost literally). He's a couple of years younger than Reaver and he became an orphan when his parents were murdered after they got very sick. Reaver started following him and taking care of him and when he least thought he was already sort of in love with the boy.
At first sight Killian and Reaver seem like total opposites. You either think "Killian is going to save Reaver and make him good and blah blah blah" or "Reaver is going to fuck up Killian so much and blah blah blah", but in the end they find their balance in each other, as fucked up as it sounds. And it's damn brilliant.

The secondary characters are just as amazing. Sometimes you find it difficult to like secondary characters because they seem to be there just to mark transitions in the plot or whatever and in some cases they doesn't seem to have any depth. You'll be happy to know that THIS is NOT the case. I loved the secondary characters and I loved that each one of them was as well defined and important to the plot as the MC were.

Leo and Greyson have been together for 20 years. Their dynamic is incredible and their part in the story is really important.
Reno is Reaver's best friend. He's gone through tough shit which in return makes him do shit... I had a couple of WTF, man? moments with him, but then I found myself going "awww"... It was pretty confusing... but then again, most characters gave me those emotions, which in my opinion is proof of how well were they written.
One of the characters that surprised me the most was Perish. Man, from the moment he appeared I had mixed feelings about him. On one side I hated him, I hated what he was doing to Reaver, especially Reaver, but on the other side I couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy, to feel some empathy for him. I imagine that's how Killian felt. The guy is incredibly fucked up but at some point you realize why... and, in my case, I just could not help but feeling like he needed to be saved... talk about irony.
Asher. That little mother fucker. How I fucking hated him from the beginning. There was just something off about him, from the moment he appear in the plot you just kind of see there's something wrong. From the start you see that he's as dark and fucked up as Reaver is, so I could understand why Reaver felt so drawn to him, and it irked me, but then you realize there is a huge difference between them, and that difference can save Reaver. From the moment Asher appeared I wanted the guy to disappear and never fucking come back. Killian saw through Asher's mask but Reaver wouldn't listen... :(. And it was here where again Killian proved he could be tough as hell and Reaver proved he could be empathetic and that in spite of his nature, he could love.

The ending crushed me, but not because I was super sad or anything (though I might have been a bit), but because I wanted more. I have big hopes for the next installment. I'd love to see how Killian handles this new and unexpected situation, and I would also love to see where he gets the help he's surely going to need.

I really have no complaints about this, except that I think it needs a bit of editing. Some things are repetitive and while I enjoyed them I don't think it's absolutely necessary to repeat the same stuff.

I absolutely recommend this book, just beware of those topics that might be triggers for some people.

PS. Thanks to my lovely Jen for convincing me to read this book!.