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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
I'm confused, man. I'm not confused about what did happen, I'm confused about the complete lack of anything happening. I waited for about 300 pages for the story to start, then I just waited for it to be over so I could write this. I feel like my time has been wasted.
Guys, nothing happens. The first one was enjoyable enough, even though it was essentially all set-up, and this one takes everything that was established in that one and scatters it to the wind. Every chapter is just another conversation I'm expected to believe is intellectual, given the 'dark academia' intent, but it didn't matter that I couldn't follow the pontificating about Jung and atavism--because none of it mattered to the story in the slightest. Reina and Dalton have storylines that are treated as important, yet they have no bearing on the story. Parisa does nothing but float around and antagonize people, and Callum is similarly useless. Tristan and Nico take the focus, I think, other than Libby, who had the only interesting plotline.
The characters are just perplexing. It's the same ones as the last book, yet their actions are incomprehensible. The central plot of the book is Libby being stranded in the past, and whatever Atlas and Ezra are fighting about (I still don't really know what that is). 99% of the book does not move those forward. Ezra shows up periodically to whine, without ever really elaborating on his motives aside from fuck Atlas, then he just. The others, like I said, just have these filler interactions marked by an increasingly complicated and nigh incestuous web of romantic entanglements that, again, add nothing to the plot. They certainly don't add drama, because I find it hard to care about people the author has made so boring and unlikeable.
The writing is similarly confounding, particularly the chronology. Important events happen out of order, and are narrated within the present of the narration in a way that makes it difficult to discern when they happened in relation. The events of the book are supposed to take place over a year, but it feels more like a month at best--with the first one, the passage of time was more effectively communicated.
And while I'm nitpicking, there's a chapter towards the end from the perspective of a side character who, AGAIN, does seemingly nothing to the (present) narrative. What she does is go on an anticapitalist, anti-imperialist tirade that is very out of place in the book. Don't misunderstand me--I'm not complaining about 'wokeness;' I agreed with everything that was said. But the rest of the book isn't about the foils of capitalism, at least not directly. It's about petty squabbles and pseudo-intellectual debates between people of privilege. If Blake wanted this chapter to land harder, she should've leaned into the social criticism much, much more. Maybe cut out a few useless Callum or Reina chapters to make room. Don't kill off the one character who is immune to the call of the archives and cognizant of real-world problems.
Why are these books named after Atlas, anyway? Shouldn't it be called The Alexandrian Six, and so on? Because if Atlas and his harebrained scheme (which is still not clear) are supposed to be more important... I'm not seeing how.
I'm not reading the next book. I think Blake writes beautiful prose and has a great mastery of both language and the academic disciplines her characters do. But this story in particular just doesn't hold water.
Guys, nothing happens. The first one was enjoyable enough, even though it was essentially all set-up, and this one takes everything that was established in that one and scatters it to the wind. Every chapter is just another conversation I'm expected to believe is intellectual, given the 'dark academia' intent, but it didn't matter that I couldn't follow the pontificating about Jung and atavism--because none of it mattered to the story in the slightest. Reina and Dalton have storylines that are treated as important, yet they have no bearing on the story. Parisa does nothing but float around and antagonize people, and Callum is similarly useless. Tristan and Nico take the focus, I think, other than Libby, who had the only interesting plotline.
The characters are just perplexing. It's the same ones as the last book, yet their actions are incomprehensible. The central plot of the book is Libby being stranded in the past, and whatever Atlas and Ezra are fighting about (I still don't really know what that is). 99% of the book does not move those forward. Ezra shows up periodically to whine, without ever really elaborating on his motives aside from fuck Atlas, then he just
Spoiler
diesThe writing is similarly confounding, particularly the chronology. Important events happen out of order, and are narrated within the present of the narration in a way that makes it difficult to discern when they happened in relation. The events of the book are supposed to take place over a year, but it feels more like a month at best--with the first one, the passage of time was more effectively communicated.
And while I'm nitpicking, there's a chapter towards the end from the perspective of a side character who, AGAIN, does seemingly nothing to the (present) narrative. What she does is go on an anticapitalist, anti-imperialist tirade that is very out of place in the book. Don't misunderstand me--I'm not complaining about 'wokeness;' I agreed with everything that was said. But the rest of the book isn't about the foils of capitalism, at least not directly. It's about petty squabbles and pseudo-intellectual debates between people of privilege. If Blake wanted this chapter to land harder, she should've leaned into the social criticism much, much more. Maybe cut out a few useless Callum or Reina chapters to make room. Don't kill off the one character who is immune to the call of the archives and cognizant of real-world problems.
Why are these books named after Atlas, anyway? Shouldn't it be called The Alexandrian Six, and so on? Because if Atlas and his harebrained scheme (which is still not clear) are supposed to be more important... I'm not seeing how.
I'm not reading the next book. I think Blake writes beautiful prose and has a great mastery of both language and the academic disciplines her characters do. But this story in particular just doesn't hold water.
i understood about 2% of this book but i did add an extra star for nicogideon
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Everything about it is interesting except for the book itself
I like the characters but it just went on and on and on and on
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-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:
Yes
im fucking angry because i have to wait for another year to know whether nico and libby end up together
but callum was so fuckin funny in this
I love him but my man's clearly depressed
libby supremacy anyways ✊
but callum was so fuckin funny in this
I love him but my man's clearly depressed
libby supremacy anyways ✊
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I found the sequel to be tougher to get through than book one. I was frustrated about Libby’s storyline and how long it took her to return. It was still a good read that had me compelled to know what was going to happen next. I also didn’t understand the point of the short stories at the end of book 2. Feel like they should have been at the end of book 1 🤷🏻♀️
DNF @ 40%
A shame as I adored the first book, it was a 5⭐️!!
But I just can’t get into this one, I’ve tried reading and listening to it but no luck
Maybe I will try again in the future
A shame as I adored the first book, it was a 5⭐️!!
But I just can’t get into this one, I’ve tried reading and listening to it but no luck
Maybe I will try again in the future
Attempt #4 or 5. Can’t get past 15%. Tangential and lacks focus.
the first book was bit meh but ykw i'm into this one