Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Atlas Six

You want to believe that your hesitation makes you good, makes you better? It doesn't. Every single one of us is missing something. We are all too powerful, too extraordinary, and don't you see it's because we're riddled with vacancies? We are empty and trying to fill, lighting ourselves on fire just to prove that we are normal - that we are ordinary. That we, like anything, can burn.

Every decade, six medeians are invited to compete for a place in the Alexandrian Society. They are the best of the best, masters of their craft. They must study, train and fight under the same roof for a year, five will go on to study for a second year, one will not. It is up to them to decide who is eliminated.

I do not have the words to describe how this book made me feel. The story was so different from anything I could have imagined, but Olivie Blake really delivered when it comes to the characters and the atmosphere. The latter was mainly as a result of her beautifully crafted prose, which really reflected the elitist academic setting and transported the reader right into the centre of all the action and tension within the Library of Alexandria.

When it comes to the prior, I think the author must have worked some sort of magic of her own. All of the characters were so deeply flawed and quite a number of them were undeniably twisted, but she somehow managed to make me care for all of them. Most of all, to my surprise, I found myself adoring the most depraved character in this book - Callum Nova. I don't know why I cared for him so much, but I loved his power and I loved the way he observed other characters from afar without much care for their opinion of him. I have never read from a character like him before, which - considering the number of dark academia literature published every year - is quite an achievement!

The reason I emphasise the characters in this novel is that they are truly the foundation for what Blake has crafted here. The novel has a plot, but it gently simmers in the background as the characters and their dynamics (not to mention all their discussions about physics, psychology and human morality) take centre stage. The plot really only picks up right at the end, but that is exactly I type of book that I enjoy, so I can't complain. I absolutely adored this and cannot wait to see where the author takes this story next! (I just hope that we get to see a little more of Callum!)

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bookishgoob's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

I went into this with high hopes, and in the beginning i was worried those hopes were too high. I felt like I had hyped myself up too much to enjoy what was in front of me. However, after some time with it I realized I hadn’t necessarily hyped myself up too much, I was just far too impatient to let the story unfold. The way that the characters each had their own perspective added so much depth and life to the story. The fact that I could hate and love these characters added an element of me being there with them. I loved that these characters weren’t two dimensional what so ever, even the side characters had dimension and purpose. The way that the story unfolded and came together at the end was a perfect mystery answered with a slight cliffhanger for what’s to come. I enjoyed every moment of this book, from the dark academia aesthetic, to the moral ambiguity each character had. I felt like I related so much to libby and reina, and loved parisa and nico. I couldn’t stand callum the whole time but his character still added so much to the story. The questions my mind was going over of “Is he wrong because I think he’s wrong or is he actually morally wrong?” was a constant on the forefront of my mind. People say that they hated the “pretentious” language used, like it wasn’t the entire point. It’s a secret society. Of course it’s pretentious. Anyway, I am so excited for book 2 and I am finding myself feeling so impatient for it! I highly recommend this book if you’re in the mood for secret society, rivals to lovers, and hot people.

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jfield351's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Right off the bat I was really drawn to the characters. They are very original, very well written and very interesting. Especially their backgrounds and motivations. The drawings in this edition were also insanely good! The book was quite dense with so much happening on each page and i wasn’t really pulled to this book, but it was still interesting. The way time was written - it kind of jumped a bit - was a little confusing, as was the constantly switching perspectives. I was a bit confused about who was who at the start but i could tell it would be a good read! I LOVED the bluntness of it, how topics were not skated over but given in just enough detail. I think though, some parts were a little too confusing to read when tired as there was a lot of process. The last 100 pages

were a whirlwind of ‘oh this person is dead! Oh not actually now this person is dead! Oh wait that’s not right either! The whole issue with Ezra was very neatly done, I really enjoyed that. The ending was definitely unexpected for me , I had an idea Ezra would be involved but did not expect that.

solid!!

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claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

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daisy54321's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-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

4.0

interesting characters

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oliviafendrich's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book was quite interesting. The characters' interpersonal relations largely drive the narrative but are skillfully easy to keep track of. Get ready for lots of dialogue! This book could almost be described as a long string of conversations. It's well-written, though repetitive on occasion. I'd recommend this book to anyone who's a bit afraid of fantasy, as it's not overcomplicated. Some good romance, and well-paced. Hoping to check out the rest of this series, and Blake's other works.

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vonny3492's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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lainiereads's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Okay, this book is confusing. But, in a good way, I think? Like I really enjoyed reading it, and I can't wait for the second one, but man I had no idea what was going on the whole time. The writing has the perfect dark academia fanciness, which created a large amount of confusion- but it's also what made me still enjoy reading even when I was completely lost. Olivie Blake's writing makes it so easy for the readers to feel like they are also in some mysterious private "school" and are learning about some crazy complicated magic.
Speaking about magic, that was also very hard for me to understand- but once again, in an enjoyable way. It felt a lot like reading about philosophy, but instead of being all theoretical, it was about the magical abilities that they had. It was very interesting to learn about, although I absolutely understood none of it (like actual philosophy). If anyone enjoys that kind of abstract thinking, then this book is 100% for you. If you don't like that kind of thing though, don't worry, it's still enjoyable when you don't understand it.
Now for the best part of the book: the characters! They were all so complex! And their dynamic with each other?? Also complex! It was so hard to figure out what was going to happen next because there were so many layers to each person. It felt like every chapter, my perception of each character was completely changed! My personal favorites would probably be Nico and Libby, who I can't wait to see more of in the next book (psssst Olivie Blake, please give me more Libby and Nick content in the next one, that's all I want). They both try to be morally good but find themselves struggling with doing the right thing at times. Libby especially questions her beliefs a lot, which made me connect to her a lot more than others who just did crazy things for fun (though I also love those characters too).
This book includes many morally gray characters, fancy dark academia vibes, and a complex storyline- what's not to like? Everyone go read it so we can all discuss the ending and wait patiently for the next one :)

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