Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Atlas Six: Wissen ist tödlich by Olivie Blake

13 reviews

paperbacksandsnacks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Usually when I read a book my thoughts on it are pretty clear. But with this one I had to really sit and think on it for a couple of days to decide where I stood. I think the answer is somewhere in the middle of I loved it and I wish I’d never wasted my time. 

This was my second attempt at reading this which I think is important to note. The first attempt I had to do a soft DNF because I just really couldn’t get into the story at all. So at least this time was better. But I do still think this took a while to really get my teeth into, and even then I felt like I was a bit bored until maybe the last 25%. 

Tbh it’s a very confusing book. I don’t read a lot of dark academia so maybe that’s just the genre as a whole but for me I was just like what is actually going on for a solid 40% of the book (although not necessarily all the first 40%). It was both vague and far too detailed. And you’d start to like a character or a part of the storyline and then it would just change and be from someone else’s perspective or that subplot would be forgotten. Idk. Also, I was never sure of the chronological order because it all felt a bit chaotic. That did add more mystery I guess but I’m not super convinced.

I think the series as a whole has potential. With the way this book ended I’m thinking the second book will be far more interesting. That’s not to say this one wasn’t, I just think it was a lot of build up for the series as a whole. I am super intrigued about the connection between Nico and Libby, and also Tristan. I think the characters were written well because I did have a lot of read and vivid feelings towards them like the rage I felt at Callum if I’m being very honest. 

Overall, I think this book was an okay part of a potentially promising whole. It wasn’t the best book I’ve ever read and tbh I’m not going to rush to read the second book. But it was an interesting and different read for me. If you like dark academia with magical elements then you’ll probably be super in your comfort zone with this one.

I’d sum it up by saying this is a seductive novel that challenges your thoughts and ideals. Would you betray all your morals for a chance at true power and almost infinite knowledge?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, Suicide, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Murder

monstrouscosmos's review against another edition

I really enjoyed the world building, and the exploration of each character as individuals as well as their group dynamics. the perspective taking of the chapters was also interesting, and the narrators all added nuance to their performances in ways I appreciated (especially during internal monologues). unfortunately Part 6 definitely got too trigger heavy for me, and I found the expositions started to get both much longer and much less believable. not the book for me, unfortunately! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Infidelity, Bullying, Incest, Rape, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Medical trauma, Medical content, Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Child abuse, Classism, Physical abuse, Sexism, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Violence

I put all the triggers I remembered in "moderate", though some would definitely be better described as "minor" or "graphic".

hannahcstocks's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Suicide, Stalking, Blood, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Dysphoria, Infidelity, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I thought this book was good. I found it a bit slow and dense at times making it a bit difficult to get through.

I didn’t find the plot twist super surprising but I like the way it was explained. I found Libby to oftentimes be annoying and I wasn’t a huge fan of Tristan’s audiobook narrator. I liked Nico and Parisa’s characterizations. I also liked the rivalry between Nico and Libby. 

All in all it was a bit confusing at times but I was able to catch up and get on the same page. Not a bad book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity and Death

Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Car accident, Classism, Cursing, and Gun violence

Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

kaylamoran's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

From the moment I heard that a self published book had exploded and was going to be traditionally published, I knew I had to read it.  I saw so many good reviews that it became a 5 star prediction for me.  I do think my crazy expectations did it no favours, but I loved it nonetheless.  A few things about the writing style or pacing irked me at times, but the story and the characters kept me going.  Multi POV is one of my absolute favourite fantasy tropes, so I loved that part of it as well.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Alcohol, Confinement, Kidnapping, Blood, and Death of parent

bookleafcrow's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

in the couple of days that have passed since i finished the atlas six, my rating has dropped down from a 4 to a 3.75 stars. i still enjoyed it and look forward to the sequel, but this book's divisiveness is very understandable; the plot is divided up in the perspectives of the six main characters, and if you don't like a character's POV (im looking at you, callum) then the chapters can kind of drag. also, it is an incredibly pretentious books at times. in my opinion, it could've been about 50-100 pages shorter because there were times where the author explained a concept across three pages when it really didn't need that much depth. the writing style can come off as a bit holier than thou at times?

however, it was a really enjoyable concept with an interesting take on the dark academia genre. the shock twist that

the elimination is quite literally a ritual killing

didn't feel like much of a shock because of how the book is advertised; literally, the tagline "knowledge is carnage" gives it away, so i'd forgotten that it wasn't known by the characters by the time it became relevant information. the setting was a lot of fun in terms of the low/urban fantasy world-building, and i really liked atlas in particular, especially towards the end.

nevertheless, i still enjoyed it a fair amount and will pick up the sequel when it's available in paperback. if you can stomach the writing style, definitely give this one a shot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

the characters (for the most part) are all awful to each other for most of the book so if you don't wanna read about six adults struggling to get along then skip this one lmao

clairew97's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Child death, Gaslighting, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Chronic illness

cluckieduck's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.0

The hype lead me here, but all I can say is that I think this book was trying to hard to be something grand. A lot needs to be tightened up - it just kept going in circles, filled with redundancies rather than fleshing-out the characterization or world-building that was deeply needed. That being said, it was good enough that I'll continue with the series to see where it leads.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Suicide attempt, Violence, Bullying, Cursing, Murder, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, and Stalking

Minor: Sexual content, Chronic illness, Infidelity, and Sexual harassment

librarianlayla's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

4/4.5 stars

A dark academia murder game that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat.

You know a book is written well when you can both admire and loathe the characters within. There were some areas that were a little trudgy to get through but overall the high stakes pace of the story held throughout. 

I cannot wait to see how this ends. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Child abuse

li_reading's review against another edition

5.0

Now that I’ve re-read it (twice) and catalogued all the changes, expect a video in the next couple days. 

I will say, I do think the new edition is an improvement to the original.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Suicide, Death, Toxic relationship, Murder, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Violence, Infidelity, Alcohol, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, Grief, and Blood

Minor: Misogyny and Adult/minor relationship