Scan barcode
thecourtofreading's review against another edition
adventurous
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
5.0
"we are the gods of our own universes, aren't we? destructive ones."
this book. this BOOK. i honestly have so many thoughts about this book i literally cannot condense them into a review. reading the atlas six felt like i was in a university in england, where it's raining and i'm reading in my dormitory in the semi-darkness with candles, studying an english literature degree with history of art. that's what this book feels like.
"our fragile morality. the inevitability that we will descend into chaos and dust."
the part that made me give this book 5 stars instead of 4.75 was not only the ending but the characters. they are literally some of the most flawed, troubled and tortured characters that they feel physically real. i find it hard to explain this it seems like but olivie blake took every flaw of every human being, some that you don't want to see and instead push them under a carpet, and brought them to light. the characters were ruthless, unforgivable and cunning. they are human, and i guess that's what makes them dangerous because in the right circumstances, people are capable of things that you otherwise wouldn't think you were capable of.
"we fight it, trying to starve well or starve cleverly, but it comes to us eventually. we all have different reasons for wanting, but inevitably it comes."
in short, read this book. it's brutal and it's probably going to show you a part of yourself that you don't want to come to terms with, but this is one of my favourites
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Suicide
Moderate: Violence and Blood
Minor: Cursing, Gun violence, and Alcohol
foxcrofty's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I first encountered this book on a table at Barnes and Noble and was intrigued. Then after finally hunting down a copy and a few months off reading, I jumped into it.
The over all premise is six of the worlds most power medeians (magic users) have been offered a chance to join the premiere and secretive Alexandrian Society, however after a year of study together only five will be initiated into the society and one will be eliminated and it is up to the group to decide which member they will eliminate.
My dark academia/Warehouse 13/The Librarians loving self was all over this concept.
Now I will say, this book is dense. The rules of magic are deeply rooted in the rules of physics and there were several times I was struggling to keep up. But I am not a science girl.
The only other reason I'm giving this book a 4.5 rather than a 5 is because the opening section was difficult to get through. Initially I found some of the characters more irritating than interesting but the further I got into the book the more my opinion changed. I thought this was going to be a plot driven book but it sort of bait and switches in the middle and becomes almost entirely about the characters. By the end I was deeply attached to all of them, even Callum, though he certainly scares me the most.
I am also very glad that this isn't a stand alone because final act left me very confused and wanting more.
The over all premise is six of the worlds most power medeians (magic users) have been offered a chance to join the premiere and secretive Alexandrian Society, however after a year of study together only five will be initiated into the society and one will be eliminated and it is up to the group to decide which member they will eliminate.
My dark academia/Warehouse 13/The Librarians loving self was all over this concept.
Now I will say, this book is dense. The rules of magic are deeply rooted in the rules of physics and there were several times I was struggling to keep up. But I am not a science girl.
The only other reason I'm giving this book a 4.5 rather than a 5 is because the opening section was difficult to get through. Initially I found some of the characters more irritating than interesting but the further I got into the book the more my opinion changed. I thought this was going to be a plot driven book but it sort of bait and switches in the middle and becomes almost entirely about the characters. By the end I was deeply attached to all of them, even Callum, though he certainly scares me the most.
I am also very glad that this isn't a stand alone because final act left me very confused and wanting more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, and Murder
Minor: Chronic illness, Incest, and Colonisation
fromlindenmere's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
tinyelfarcanist's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
I didn't hesitate to get this book after reading the synopsis. It is heavily character-centered, just the kind that I love. I expected a fun and quick read but found myself quickly immersed in the intricate characters and their motivations.
I was disappointed to see some of my favorite characters put aside when the central pieces for the overarching scheme became evident.
I anticipated some cliché characters and drama but was pleasantly surprised. I can't wait for the next installment.
I was disappointed to see some of my favorite characters put aside when the central pieces for the overarching scheme became evident.
I anticipated some cliché characters and drama but was pleasantly surprised. I can't wait for the next installment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Drug use, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
lessthelonely's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
4.5
OK, this one was a long time coming. Thanks BookTok for the recomendation.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was skeptical of it - and you might think it's because the book is self-published, but nope! -, mostly because the chapters weren't tagged in the contents of the eBook, somehow, so I assumed that the book only had 8 chapters. I was delightly surprised it wasn't true.
I actually went beyond wanting to read this book to actually reading it only because many people raved about it being MLM, WLW and also having heterossexual relationships. I get why that was said, but I was highly dissappointed to know that the LGBTQ+ content was mostly a sex scene and an I love you scene that was really intense but felt kind of flat for me: I believed this book was going to go a very certain way, it being with 3 pairs of closed emotional and romantic relationships but with added openness, as in... polyamory.
I was all in for that, and the thing is I was sort of right? There are very defined relationships here, but I don't think any of them actually reached what I was hoping, which is fine, if the sequel takes it from here. I guess I was just hoping to feel highly depressed about these 6 blaring attractive characters that were painfully my type (Nico de Varona, I'm specially looking at you, you little shit; Callum, you're second) just be happy, because their flaws could make me feel loveable, which is something I haven't been feeling a lot.
This book is PACKED with text. And I'm usually awfully skeptical of books who go for the mysticism and pretty words, but this book does it right. It's a lot of information and a lot of wandering, but it's always beautiful. One thing I noticed is that many chapters happened to follow a certain technique: we start at a point B, and right at the beginning the character focuses on something that happened before B, so A, after which they go back to point B and finish that little thread. I noticed it being used quite a few times, but it never deterred from the experience.
Other thing I feel like I must say is that even though I loved all these characters, there were some that felt a bit lacking at times, namely Reina, whose flaws weren't as explored as, for example, Libby's, Parisa's, Nico's or even Tristan's. Secondly, Tristan's problems seemed highly convoluted, and there's a scene that basically leaves him totally bare. I suspect that this was done to tell us there's more to him than this. If that's not the case, I'm going to be extremely sad.
Finally... Callum. I really liked Callum but he caused me severe emotional distress because No way you're that cynical without it having some real toll on you. I'm expecting that Book 2 will go into his actual flaws, because I didn't seem like we saw any flaws or vulnerability from him this book: what I got from what he's been through is that he's a victim and product of his own environment which... ouch, that hits close to home, but at the same time, I was always on constant edge reading his thoughts and feelings. It was highly distressed because it seemed like he's always on the verge of letting himself feel and be a bit truer to his own humanity, but that didn't really happen, not in this book.
Either way, that's the only reason I won't give this book 5 stars. Read it. It's dark, it's mystic, it's absolutely fantastic and it deserves the hype that follows it. Ms. Olivie Blake, thank you for your service.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was skeptical of it - and you might think it's because the book is self-published, but nope! -, mostly because the chapters weren't tagged in the contents of the eBook, somehow, so I assumed that the book only had 8 chapters. I was delightly surprised it wasn't true.
I actually went beyond wanting to read this book to actually reading it only because many people raved about it being MLM, WLW and also having heterossexual relationships. I get why that was said, but I was highly dissappointed to know that the LGBTQ+ content was mostly a sex scene and an I love you scene that was really intense but felt kind of flat for me: I believed this book was going to go a very certain way, it being with 3 pairs of closed emotional and romantic relationships but with added openness, as in... polyamory.
I was all in for that, and the thing is I was sort of right? There are very defined relationships here, but I don't think any of them actually reached what I was hoping, which is fine, if the sequel takes it from here. I guess I was just hoping to feel highly depressed about these 6 blaring attractive characters that were painfully my type (Nico de Varona, I'm specially looking at you, you little shit; Callum, you're second) just be happy, because their flaws could make me feel loveable, which is something I haven't been feeling a lot.
This book is PACKED with text. And I'm usually awfully skeptical of books who go for the mysticism and pretty words, but this book does it right. It's a lot of information and a lot of wandering, but it's always beautiful. One thing I noticed is that many chapters happened to follow a certain technique: we start at a point B, and right at the beginning the character focuses on something that happened before B, so A, after which they go back to point B and finish that little thread. I noticed it being used quite a few times, but it never deterred from the experience.
Other thing I feel like I must say is that even though I loved all these characters, there were some that felt a bit lacking at times, namely Reina, whose flaws weren't as explored as, for example, Libby's, Parisa's, Nico's or even Tristan's. Secondly, Tristan's problems seemed highly convoluted, and there's a scene that basically leaves him totally bare. I suspect that this was done to tell us there's more to him than this. If that's not the case, I'm going to be extremely sad.
Finally... Callum. I really liked Callum but he caused me severe emotional distress because No way you're that cynical without it having some real toll on you. I'm expecting that Book 2 will go into his actual flaws, because I didn't seem like we saw any flaws or vulnerability from him this book: what I got from what he's been through is that he's a victim and product of his own environment which... ouch, that hits close to home, but at the same time, I was always on constant edge reading his thoughts and feelings. It was highly distressed because it seemed like he's always on the verge of letting himself feel and be a bit truer to his own humanity, but that didn't really happen, not in this book.
Either way, that's the only reason I won't give this book 5 stars. Read it. It's dark, it's mystic, it's absolutely fantastic and it deserves the hype that follows it. Ms. Olivie Blake, thank you for your service.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent
librarianmage's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
wow
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Blood
More...