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A review by swordsandsapphics
After the Fall by E.C. Myers
3.0
I finished this book in a single night. I haven't finished a book in a single night for four years.
After the Fall is an enjoyable spin-off on the RWBY animated series, starring the one and only Team CFVY (Coffee). I fell in love with Team CFVY the moment they kicked butt in the Volume 2 finale, and I never thought they got enough screentime afterwards. So imagine my joy when I heard this book was a thing!
Speaking of the characters, they're what really sells the book. I love all of them. Some more than others, but I do love all of them. Coco, the stylish type A team leader with a reputation for breaking girls' hearts, is easily my favorite of the bunch. She has a nice platonic partnership with Fox, a blind, snarky telepath. Velvet is adorable and sympathetic, and her shyness and desire to prove herself are all too relatable. But the dark horse for me was Yatsuhashi. He seemed pretty unremarkable in the tv series, since he never said much of anything, but here he turns out to be a sweet, gentle giant with surprisingly fitting insecurities and inner conflicts. His relationship with Velvet is adorable and honestly? It has me really hoping that they'll become a couple later on (though I wouldn't be opposed to Velvet x Coco, either). They're all strong characters and they come together to also have strong chemistry as a team. It's all just super fabulous.
And it's pretty readable, too. That's why I managed to finish it in a night. The plot is fun and fast-paced, and one of the twists actually surprised me. It's also got me thinking about how the whole thing is connected to RWBY's plot at large, and now I'm excited.
That said, it's definitely not without its flaws. The writing is . . . it's pretty poor. I never expected it to be a literary masterpiece, since it's just a spin-off of an animated series, but holy heck. In the main plot, viewpoints are confined to one character, so it's pretty jarring in flashback chapters when the viewpoint is omniscient and we suddenly (and crudely) jump from one character's head to another. It left me feeling frustrated.
Because the writing is poor, it's also not accessible to people who haven't watched RWBY. RWBY's worldbuilding is terrific, and it's one of my favorite fictional universes of all time. But it works because it's been slowly built up over the course of six seasons. This book can't effectively cover all that ground in a fast-paced 300 page book. Myers tried to make it accessible to non-RWBY fans, but he just wasn't successful. After the Fall does do a good job on capitalizing on the worldbuilding that RWBY fans knew about it, though. More than anything, it's like a cherry on top for those who're already acquainted with RWBY.
This may feel like an odd complaint, but I also thought Team RWBY also had too much pagetime. Yes, they're relatively minor characters here, and yes, they only appear in flashbacks. But it also felt like they were put where they weren't needed. I adore Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang as much as the next RWBY fan, but come on. RWBY has their own tv show. Let CFVY shine in their book.
Another thing I'd like to address isn't so much a complaint as a personal disappointment. I can't pin down what made me think that Coco and Carmine had feelings for each other, but if you also come in with that expectation, don't hold your breath. Coco thinks Carmine is attractive for a second and that's it. They don't have any interactions with each other beyond that. Which is fine, the plot works well regardless. But it smells like a missed opportunity. Something tells me a deeper relationship between the two of them could have fleshed out the two women even further and raised the emotional stakes. Ah well, we can't always get what we want.
It's definitely not perfect, but After the Fall was still a fun popcorn read. It got me out of my reading slump. And sometimes, that's all you really need. Totally recommended for fellow RWBY fans.
After the Fall is an enjoyable spin-off on the RWBY animated series, starring the one and only Team CFVY (Coffee). I fell in love with Team CFVY the moment they kicked butt in the Volume 2 finale, and I never thought they got enough screentime afterwards. So imagine my joy when I heard this book was a thing!
Speaking of the characters, they're what really sells the book. I love all of them. Some more than others, but I do love all of them. Coco, the stylish type A team leader with a reputation for breaking girls' hearts, is easily my favorite of the bunch. She has a nice platonic partnership with Fox, a blind, snarky telepath. Velvet is adorable and sympathetic, and her shyness and desire to prove herself are all too relatable. But the dark horse for me was Yatsuhashi. He seemed pretty unremarkable in the tv series, since he never said much of anything, but here he turns out to be a sweet, gentle giant with surprisingly fitting insecurities and inner conflicts. His relationship with Velvet is adorable and honestly? It has me really hoping that they'll become a couple later on (though I wouldn't be opposed to Velvet x Coco, either). They're all strong characters and they come together to also have strong chemistry as a team. It's all just super fabulous.
And it's pretty readable, too. That's why I managed to finish it in a night. The plot is fun and fast-paced, and one of the twists actually surprised me. It's also got me thinking about how the whole thing is connected to RWBY's plot at large, and now I'm excited.
Spoiler
Carmine and Bertilak are totally connected to Salem's faction, aren't they? Tyrion mentions something about Jaune's semblance being powerful, Cinder at another point mentions that Pyrrha's semblance is interesting, and now Carmine and Bertilak's employer is seeking out people with abnormal/powerful semblances. Coincidence? I THINK NOT.That said, it's definitely not without its flaws. The writing is . . . it's pretty poor. I never expected it to be a literary masterpiece, since it's just a spin-off of an animated series, but holy heck. In the main plot, viewpoints are confined to one character, so it's pretty jarring in flashback chapters when the viewpoint is omniscient and we suddenly (and crudely) jump from one character's head to another. It left me feeling frustrated.
Because the writing is poor, it's also not accessible to people who haven't watched RWBY. RWBY's worldbuilding is terrific, and it's one of my favorite fictional universes of all time. But it works because it's been slowly built up over the course of six seasons. This book can't effectively cover all that ground in a fast-paced 300 page book. Myers tried to make it accessible to non-RWBY fans, but he just wasn't successful. After the Fall does do a good job on capitalizing on the worldbuilding that RWBY fans knew about it, though. More than anything, it's like a cherry on top for those who're already acquainted with RWBY.
This may feel like an odd complaint, but I also thought Team RWBY also had too much pagetime. Yes, they're relatively minor characters here, and yes, they only appear in flashbacks. But it also felt like they were put where they weren't needed. I adore Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang as much as the next RWBY fan, but come on. RWBY has their own tv show. Let CFVY shine in their book.
Another thing I'd like to address isn't so much a complaint as a personal disappointment. I can't pin down what made me think that Coco and Carmine had feelings for each other, but if you also come in with that expectation, don't hold your breath. Coco thinks Carmine is attractive for a second and that's it. They don't have any interactions with each other beyond that. Which is fine, the plot works well regardless. But it smells like a missed opportunity. Something tells me a deeper relationship between the two of them could have fleshed out the two women even further and raised the emotional stakes
Spoiler
after Carmine is revealed to be one of the villainsIt's definitely not perfect, but After the Fall was still a fun popcorn read. It got me out of my reading slump. And sometimes, that's all you really need. Totally recommended for fellow RWBY fans.