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dragonantlers's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Emotional abuse
Minor: Child death
damianwayne's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Emotional abuse
yoursbia's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I just finished this book, and now i can say with certainty that about 70% of it was just random rambling.
Yes, the way the author writes is beautiful, and I love the way she conjures up her sentences on paper, but that's the only good thing going on for this book (and as it might be important to mention, i read the self-published version). The problem is that this book was, possibly, 200 pages too long. There was no plot, and the whole thing felt like it was just a collection of beautiful sentences put together in order to fill up this book, saying everything and nothing at the same time.
More than halfway through this book, nothing had been explained. There are magicians—medeians, as they call them—, there are magic-less people, secret societies, elemental powers, mind-reading, and whatnot. But at no point in the book are these explained. We don't know how the magic system works, we don't know why some people have it, we don't know what they do with it or its impact on the world, we don't know why this is important.
Six people—the most powerful that exist—are invited to join this secret society, where they are promised access to all the knowledge in the world. I would say this is a pretty cool idea for a book, especially with magic involved. Academic secret societies and magic? Yes, please! This book had so much potential, but it was so boring to read because nothing ever happens! All we get to see is them researching some random philosophical topic that doesn't get explained properly, hating on each other, or the vague mention of them having sex.
If you're looking for a found family trope, this is also not the place to be. In the one year these six people had to live and study together, they didn't form any significant relationships with each other. All their conversations started and ended the same way: vague, poetic, and philosophical, with no character development or conclusion whatsoever.
This book was purely just vibes, pretty sentences, and a weird, undeniable sexual tension between all of the characters (and yes, I mean all of them!). Which would honestly not be a problem with me if it wasn't 400 pages! The only time something interesting starts to happen is at the end, when you're too tired to keep reading it. And I admit that I was confused most of the time while doing so.
And i don't mean to be too harsh on the author, especially since i haven't read the traditionally published version. There were definitely things i enjoyed reading too. I loved the ambiguity of the characters, not knowing whether their intentions were good or bad. I loved getting mad at them for their shit actions. I loved Parisa. And i would even say i started to like Callum towards the end, even with him being a literal psychopath (or at least portraying himself to the others as such). I loved Nico and Libby's relationship (which was pre-existent). And i honestly loved the tiny bits of actual plot that we got to see, especially near the end. But as i said, all of this went flat because of the lack of development and exploration of these characters.
Overall, I strongly believe that this book would've been an amazing read if it wasn't so long, possibly even 4 or 5 stars. And i wish i could know what happens next without having to go through another 400 tiring pages to read the next book (which i most likely won't).
Yes, the way the author writes is beautiful, and I love the way she conjures up her sentences on paper, but that's the only good thing going on for this book (and as it might be important to mention, i read the self-published version). The problem is that this book was, possibly, 200 pages too long. There was no plot, and the whole thing felt like it was just a collection of beautiful sentences put together in order to fill up this book, saying everything and nothing at the same time.
More than halfway through this book, nothing had been explained. There are magicians—medeians, as they call them—, there are magic-less people, secret societies, elemental powers, mind-reading, and whatnot. But at no point in the book are these explained. We don't know how the magic system works, we don't know why some people have it, we don't know what they do with it or its impact on the world, we don't know why this is important.
Six people—the most powerful that exist—are invited to join this secret society, where they are promised access to all the knowledge in the world. I would say this is a pretty cool idea for a book, especially with magic involved. Academic secret societies and magic? Yes, please! This book had so much potential, but it was so boring to read because nothing ever happens! All we get to see is them researching some random philosophical topic that doesn't get explained properly, hating on each other, or the vague mention of them having sex.
If you're looking for a found family trope, this is also not the place to be. In the one year these six people had to live and study together, they didn't form any significant relationships with each other. All their conversations started and ended the same way: vague, poetic, and philosophical, with no character development or conclusion whatsoever.
This book was purely just vibes, pretty sentences, and a weird, undeniable sexual tension between all of the characters (and yes, I mean all of them!). Which would honestly not be a problem with me if it wasn't 400 pages! The only time something interesting starts to happen is at the end, when you're too tired to keep reading it. And I admit that I was confused most of the time while doing so.
And i don't mean to be too harsh on the author, especially since i haven't read the traditionally published version. There were definitely things i enjoyed reading too. I loved the ambiguity of the characters, not knowing whether their intentions were good or bad. I loved getting mad at them for their shit actions. I loved Parisa. And i would even say i started to like Callum towards the end, even with him being a literal psychopath (or at least portraying himself to the others as such). I loved Nico and Libby's relationship (which was pre-existent). And i honestly loved the tiny bits of actual plot that we got to see, especially near the end. But as i said, all of this went flat because of the lack of development and exploration of these characters.
Overall, I strongly believe that this book would've been an amazing read if it wasn't so long, possibly even 4 or 5 stars. And i wish i could know what happens next without having to go through another 400 tiring pages to read the next book (which i most likely won't).
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide attempt and Death
tomas_lw's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.5
Fun premise, exceptional characters, pretty good execution.
The plot is simple and fun. Six magicians with exceptionally powerful specialities are selected to join a secret society. But only five can actually join at the end. Cue intrigue, sex, betrayal, magic weirdness, love, hate, death and other fun things.
Over all the book was a great read.
I do have som complaints though.
First of all the author seemed to almost forgot entierly about Reina for almost the entire book which was disapointing since her opening chapter made me really attached to her. I really hope she gets more to do in the next book.
And the ending of the book is very out of left field and exposition heavy. It felt like the author at the last time decided to turn the book into a trilogy and rewrote the ending to set up the sequels. It's a bit heavy handed and not entirely satifying. So lets hope it pays of in the next books!
Also, the book could have had a bit more things happening as most of the book is either characters talking with or thinking about the other characters. Don't get me wrong, I love all these characters and the talking and plotting is terrific, but the pacing of the book could probably have been better with some more action in the middle.
Overall, a great read as I said above and I'm definitely getting the rest of the series ASAP.
The plot is simple and fun. Six magicians with exceptionally powerful specialities are selected to join a secret society. But only five can actually join at the end. Cue intrigue, sex, betrayal, magic weirdness, love, hate, death and other fun things.
Over all the book was a great read.
I do have som complaints though.
First of all the author seemed to almost forgot entierly about Reina for almost the entire book which was disapointing since her opening chapter made me really attached to her. I really hope she gets more to do in the next book.
And the ending of the book is very out of left field and exposition heavy. It felt like the author at the last time decided to turn the book into a trilogy and rewrote the ending to set up the sequels. It's a bit heavy handed and not entirely satifying. So lets hope it pays of in the next books!
Also, the book could have had a bit more things happening as most of the book is either characters talking with or thinking about the other characters. Don't get me wrong, I love all these characters and the talking and plotting is terrific, but the pacing of the book could probably have been better with some more action in the middle.
Overall, a great read as I said above and I'm definitely getting the rest of the series ASAP.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol and Death
Minor: Pedophilia
danaegg's review against another edition
dark
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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Sexual content, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence
Moderate: Alcohol and Emotional abuse
bergha1998's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I just didn’t like it. The plot wasn’t very interesting and most of the main characters were insufferable. I’m okay with Libby and like 1/2 the time with Tristan and Nico. Also, the whole question of if knowledge should be kept or shared is utter bullshit, of course it should be shared.
Dark Academia, Secret Society, Magic, 1 🔥
“A uniquely upsetting curse, really, how little he knew how to exist when she wasn’t there.”
Dark Academia, Secret Society, Magic, 1 🔥
“A uniquely upsetting curse, really, how little he knew how to exist when she wasn’t there.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Child death, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Violence
evebananas's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
The concept of this book had a lot of promise. The characters were very unlikable at the beginning and showed some growth and I ended up liking most of the main characters. The ending was extremely unsatisfying, and I find myself frustrated that I read nearly 400 pages of this without any closure at all.
Most unsatisfying was the complete lack of plot. The book constantly talks about how the characters are so important to one another and the whole overall "plan" but nothing ever happens. There's some drama, and some sex, and some more philosophizing about nothing. Nothing actually happens in this book. The characters don't actually form any important relationships with each other, and it's very clear that the author has some favorite characters. Reina has no importance, and might as well not exist. The writing is pretentious for no reason, and says nothing of importance while taking up pages and pages for a single conversation. I don't need to hear Callum wax poetic for the hundredth time with Tristan shrugging the whole time. There is no purpose to the conversations they have.
We also never really get answers about the magic system. Why do people have certain specialties but can apparently do other magic too? One character in particular is said to have a certain power that he hasn't even demonstrated in the scenes that the reveal references, and that power is never important despite being supposedly very rare.Why does the Society set up this elaborate way to gain more magical power by killing one of these initiates when they could just kill regular medeians? What's the difference between a medeian and a witch?
Overall, I would NOT recommend this book. There are far too many dark academia/fantasy books with interesting themes to waste time on Atlas Six.
Most unsatisfying was the complete lack of plot. The book constantly talks about how the characters are so important to one another and the whole overall "plan" but nothing ever happens. There's some drama, and some sex, and some more philosophizing about nothing. Nothing actually happens in this book. The characters don't actually form any important relationships with each other, and it's very clear that the author has some favorite characters. Reina has no importance, and might as well not exist. The writing is pretentious for no reason, and says nothing of importance while taking up pages and pages for a single conversation. I don't need to hear Callum wax poetic for the hundredth time with Tristan shrugging the whole time. There is no purpose to the conversations they have.
We also never really get answers about the magic system. Why do people have certain specialties but can apparently do other magic too? One character in particular is said to have a certain power that he hasn't even demonstrated in the scenes that the reveal references, and that power is never important despite being supposedly very rare.
Overall, I would NOT recommend this book. There are far too many dark academia/fantasy books with interesting themes to waste time on Atlas Six.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Murder, Sexual content, Child death, Kidnapping, Suicide, and Violence
yananhai's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
this book was truly a mystery for me. I didn't understand what was happening 90% of the time, and I really hoped that getting to the end would give me some answers, but it ends with only more questions to be (hopefully) answered in the next book.
I do understand why some people dislike the characters, there is almost zero development they go through (except maybe Tristan, but even that's a stretch). there is much more focus on building the plot and basis of the magic, and even that wasn't explained well.
this book did not do a good job in making me want to read the next one. so, I won't for now. maybe in the future, when I'm more in the mood.
I do understand why some people dislike the characters, there is almost zero development they go through (except maybe Tristan, but even that's a stretch). there is much more focus on building the plot and basis of the magic, and even that wasn't explained well.
this book did not do a good job in making me want to read the next one. so, I won't for now. maybe in the future, when I'm more in the mood.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Classism, Drug use, Kidnapping, and Misogyny
staceyinthesticks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Infidelity, Murder, Kidnapping, Cursing, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Violence
katconig's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Death
Minor: Death of parent and Mass/school shootings