Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Atlas Complex

It hurts me a little bit to give this such a low rating but this was such a disappointing conclusion to a series I have genuinely enjoyed up until this point. Each of these books has been a bit difficult to follow plot-wise, but this one was painfully slow and all over the place. I think I've said this about previous books in the series, but there were times where I felt like I was too dumb to read and understand this book.

The most disappointing piece of this installment was that it felt like all of the plot elements and characters who I'd really enjoyed up to this book shifted so completely in this installment that I didn't really like any of it anymore. I'm not sure if that makes sense but I will try to give an example.

In previous books, I have really enjoyed reading the relationship between Libby and Tristan. I've loved the "will they, won't they" and the pull they feel toward one another. And in addition to that, I've always really love Libby as a character. Her anxious tendencies felt really relatable for me. This book made me hate Libby and made me absolutely not want her and Tristan together, which ultimately is what happened with the plot. But those elements I loved were lost. And characters who I LOVED (sweet golden retriever energy Nico) died seemingly out of nowhere? /spoiler>

It just did not feel the same as previous installments in the series and I finished the book feeling disappointed and super unsatisfied with the ending. It felt like literally every character got the shit end of the stick in the end. Which I guess, is enjoyable and realistic to some, but I was not a fan.

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colloreda's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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bessadams's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

3.5

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sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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pensandpicks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-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? Yes

3.5

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cha_len_novels's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.5

“Beginnings and endings, stardust and stars.”
― Olivie Blake, The Atlas Complex

It was bittersweet, profoundly so.

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bookedandbusy's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this one, but the last 77 pages felt very drawn out to me, it felt like it could’ve been wrapped up much sooner, but, I did like the ending! And the first half and middle of the book were great too, it was just the drawn out dialogue to the end that got me.

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emilywemily6's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-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? Yes

2.5

This book was so confusing to read. So much philosophy that was trying to sound smarter than it was. While all the characters were intriguing, I felt like the characters’ motivations were inconsistent and unclear, especially considering people changed their minds throughout the book. Reina was disconnected from everything else happening in the book.

Why did Libby kill Nico??? Why didn’t she kill Dalton when she realized how much power he had? She definitely labeled him as the villain. And I was bummed when Tristan chose the not change anything in the many scenarios and he let Callum die instead of choosing a different scenario where they ended up together.

There were too many perspectives throughout the book and I feel like nothing happened in this book even though it was super long. I guess I also don’t really understand the whole idea that these kind of bad people all want to both kill and have sex with every other character. The writing style is interesting and the characters are intriguing, but this book was very unsatisfying.

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