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sophie1_xox's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Summary:
This book truly gave me mixed feelings. I absolutely adored the Atlas Six - the characters that you love to hate, the clever plot, the uniqueness of the setting. Dark academia vibes all the way! Just, something about this one didn't hit. It may be that I was reading it whilst starting full time work and therefore couldn't sink into it (I read half of the Atlas Six in one day whereas this took me 18 days). It may also be that I had not reread the Atlas Six beforehand and therefore was thrown off by essentially catching myself up throughout the first half. I don't know. At the minute, it's sitting at 3 stars for me. When the final book comes out, The Atlas Complex, comes out early 2024, I will do a reread and see if my review improves (it's unlikely to hit 5 stars though).
This book truly gave me mixed feelings. I absolutely adored the Atlas Six - the characters that you love to hate, the clever plot, the uniqueness of the setting. Dark academia vibes all the way! Just, something about this one didn't hit. It may be that I was reading it whilst starting full time work and therefore couldn't sink into it (I read half of the Atlas Six in one day whereas this took me 18 days). It may also be that I had not reread the Atlas Six beforehand and therefore was thrown off by essentially catching myself up throughout the first half. I don't know. At the minute, it's sitting at 3 stars for me. When the final book comes out, The Atlas Complex, comes out early 2024, I will do a reread and see if my review improves (it's unlikely to hit 5 stars though).
Characters:
Where to even start with the characters. I guess we should tackle them each one by one.
First, Libby. She is the one that I most related to in the Atlas Six and I feel like her character development was severely stunted in this one.It felt like it meant to be a gradual turn, however suddenly seemed to do a complete 180 at the last second which felt really jarring.
Parisa didn't really have any development in this book which was super disappointing. Her character in the first one really caused me to challenge my views on female sexuality and how she is not a worse person for how she chooses to exert power over others, compared with the rest of the initiates.
Reina had negative development. She spent the entire book,since the first initiation task, angry at Nico without ever talking to him and if there's one thing I hate more than an unnecessary pregnancy trope, it's miscommunication.
Callum I really enjoyed in this book. The events of the first one really seemed to catch up with him and I love his self-awareness and witty sarcasm. He was probably one of the only things that kept me reading this book.
Nico was fine. Pretty confusing but his relationship with Tristan was fun and I love theending that he got with Gideon (about damn time!) although I don't know if there's supposed to be love towards Libby? Maybe that's the point and readers are supposed to be as confused as he is with regards to his feelings.
Lastly is Tristan and I enjoyed his character arc. Learning more about his specialty, as well as touching on some family issues and his feelings towards the other initiates was really fascinating to watch.
Atlas. WTF man. I don't even know how to feel about him.
Dalton was interesting but I have to say, I was super confused about everything that happened to him. Hopefully the next one gives some clarity on that.
Plot:
So I'm just generally confused as to what the plot is supposed to be. It feels like not much happened in 400 pages. Was the whole point just to watch Libby get back to her timeline? Gideon's plot was interesting and there's the whole thing where they're basically gods but not?
I was super confused and honestly felt like I was reading just for vibes.
Overall:
This book was fine. I'm going to read the next one to see if it clears up any confusion. The character development in some places was great and in others it felt like it stagnated or reversed. The plot was very similar to the characters in that the last book set up Atlas as a bad guy but that isvery incoherent with the ending of this one. Honestly, this felt like a trip and I'm hoping the next one doesn't drop me off a cliff for a come-down.
Where to even start with the characters. I guess we should tackle them each one by one.
First, Libby. She is the one that I most related to in the Atlas Six and I feel like her character development was severely stunted in this one.
Parisa didn't really have any development in this book which was super disappointing.
Reina had negative development. She spent the entire book,
Callum I really enjoyed in this book. The events of the first one really seemed to catch up with him and I love his self-awareness and witty sarcasm. He was probably one of the only things that kept me reading this book.
Nico was fine. Pretty confusing but his relationship with Tristan was fun and I love the
Lastly is Tristan and I enjoyed his character arc. Learning more about his specialty, as well as touching on some family issues and his feelings towards the other initiates was really fascinating to watch.
Atlas. WTF man. I don't even know how to feel about him.
Dalton was interesting but I have to say, I was super confused about everything that happened to him. Hopefully the next one gives some clarity on that.
Plot:
So I'm just generally confused as to what the plot is supposed to be. It feels like not much happened in 400 pages.
I was super confused and honestly felt like I was reading just for vibes.
Overall:
This book was fine. I'm going to read the next one to see if it clears up any confusion. The character development in some places was great and in others it felt like it stagnated or reversed. The plot was very similar to the characters in that the last book set up Atlas as a bad guy but that is
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
dododenise's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
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
4.5
Oh my god?!?
I enjoyed reading the first book more but holy shit I still loved this one so much.
I mostly was less convinced by all the philosophising this time. That was the part that really got me into the first book. But now I got into the character dynamics and the chaos of it all. I also actually like some of the characters now and considering they're all designed to be assholes that's an accomplishment. And I was rewarded in my favourite shipping!! I didn't dare to hope for it because so many characters are set up to potentially have some romantic and/or sexual relationship.
Honestly, their relationship dynamics were all over the place and I was here for it.
I enjoyed reading the first book more but holy shit I still loved this one so much.
I mostly was less convinced by all the philosophising this time. That was the part that really got me into the first book. But now I got into the character dynamics and the chaos of it all. I also actually like some of the characters now and considering they're all designed to be assholes that's an accomplishment. And I was rewarded in my favourite shipping!! I didn't dare to hope for it because so many characters are set up to potentially have some romantic and/or sexual relationship.
Honestly, their relationship dynamics were all over the place and I was here for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Confinement, Alcoholism, and Cursing
Moderate: Racism, Misogyny, Violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Sexual content, Colonisation, and Death
jgeter's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-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
While I raced through this book, it wasn’t nearly as fast-paced as the first book. This book expanded upon each of the character’s personalities, motivations, and associated trauma but somehow just missed the spark that kept me racing through the first book
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Alcoholism
Minor: Violence
kimtazo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Sexual content
taryn_g's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Death of parent and Child death
sydapel's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-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? It's complicated
2.0
Look, I'm not here to be a hater. Olive Blake clearly has talent and I'm happy to continue reading her books. But this was a slog to get through. The first half was alright, once I got used to Blake's writing style (reads very like fanfic, which makes sense), but when you get to the second half and barely anything has actually happened?? While I'm not going to pretend I don't love the aesthetic and the character dynamics she employs, the lack of on page action and stagnant characters (only two of them actually get to do something in this book) is really really frustrating. She also has so many different plot threads going that I used to think she knows how to tie up, but I'm not so sure anymore. Here's hoping for a robust editor in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
Moderate: Murder, Death, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Physical abuse and Misogyny
lozziereads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
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
5.0
to the untrained eye, i am sitting in my bed with this book shut next to me after finishing it, but if you look really closely, i am actually rioting and screaming at a pitch unavailable to human ears (positive) . please finish this trilogy olivie blake my life… depends on it.
like i have some other things to say but i’m going mad rn so i’m going to keep them inside for right now.
like i have some other things to say but i’m going mad rn so i’m going to keep them inside for right now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Violence, Addiction, and Confinement
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Panic attacks/disorders
lokes's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Gore, Sexism, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Misogyny, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Violence
itsheyfay's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, and Murder
Moderate: Classism, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Ableism, Abandonment, and Toxic relationship
abbypeekreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
I enjoyed this installment of The Atlas series so much more than the first book! Not to say that the first book was necessarily bad, but I felt like I had no idea what was going on in the first book, while I had a much easier time following the plot in this one. It helped that I knew what I was getting into this time and chose to slow down and take my time with the story. Can't wait to see what happens in the next book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Violence and Sexual content