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clairew97's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
takarakei's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
You gotta go into this knowing it is really about the characters and their interpersonal relationships. I enjoyed this a lot while I was reading it, but after finishing it and thinking about it more, there are definitely a lot of questions and potential plot holes I am not sure about (I say potential because there is a third book yet to come out and it is possible that they could be answered).
This second book in the series is a lot more science fiction leaning than the first. Although they do a fairly good job of explaining some of the physics concepts, as someone without a scientific background, it did feel a bit above my head at parts. I chose to just again, focus on the relationships and personalities. There's some character development - a few characters def go more towards the morally gray side. Still at the end you don't really know who can be trusted.
HOWEVER I WAS SCREAMING during Belen's whole chapter and also GIDEON AND NICO AHHHHH! <3
I do look forward to the conclusion of this series, and I'll def be re-reading the first two books before that comes.
This second book in the series is a lot more science fiction leaning than the first. Although they do a fairly good job of explaining some of the physics concepts, as someone without a scientific background, it did feel a bit above my head at parts. I chose to just again, focus on the relationships and personalities. There's some character development - a few characters def go more towards the morally gray side. Still at the end you don't really know who can be trusted.
I do look forward to the conclusion of this series, and I'll def be re-reading the first two books before that comes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Minor: Grief
lilifane's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
3.0
At around 50% of the book, I realized that 1. Nothing was happening, 2. More and more questions were coming up, and 3. No questions were answered at all. So I wondered where the story was actually going and how it would be wrapped up in 200 pages. When a new cool topic was introduced quite late in the second half of the book, I was confused because there clearly wasn't enough time to explore it and actually wrap the story up. At 85% it dawned on me that this probably wasn't a duology as I had expected. -_-
Sigh. I was looking forward to this book because I had enjoyed the first one despite the story being so vague. But at least the characters were interesting and most of them fun to be in the head of. And I was curious about the library and what this whole plot was all about.
So imagine my disappointment when I didn't get answers at all, but even more questions. Plus, the characters were more annoying than before. Don't get me wrong, the ones I loved, I loved with all my heart. But I didn't care for the rest. In the first book, I at least found them intriguing or hated them. But this time I didn't feel anything for the majority of them. And I missed the fun banter from book one.
Plus, despite spending 2 full books in the heads of these characters, their actions are not very understandable to me. Lashing out for no reason at all, every single one of them. I don't understand the motivations of like 80% of the characters.
The biggest weakness is the absence of a plot, though. There were several strands of plot that lead nowhere, which was frustrating because why even write it when you drop it and never pick it up again? And that one story line that actually felt like the center of the book... ended very abruptly. I was so intrigued by the paradox, and I was hoping to explore it more. But nope, things just happened off page and then the book was over. Literally.
Despite the weaknesses I still enjoyed the reading experience for some weird reason, the audiobook was fun to listen to and there were things that kept me going till the very end. I mean, the last page was definitely worth it for me. I just feel we could have gotten there much, much quicker.
Yes, I will read the third book. Maybe there was a reason for all the unnecessary stuff in this book after all, who knows.
Sigh. I was looking forward to this book because I had enjoyed the first one despite the story being so vague. But at least the characters were interesting and most of them fun to be in the head of. And I was curious about the library and what this whole plot was all about.
So imagine my disappointment when I didn't get answers at all, but even more questions. Plus, the characters were more annoying than before. Don't get me wrong, the ones I loved, I loved with all my heart. But I didn't care for the rest. In the first book, I at least found them intriguing or hated them. But this time I didn't feel anything for the majority of them. And I missed the fun banter from book one.
Plus, despite spending 2 full books in the heads of these characters, their actions are not very understandable to me. Lashing out for no reason at all, every single one of them. I don't understand the motivations of like 80% of the characters.
The biggest weakness is the absence of a plot, though. There were several strands of plot that lead nowhere, which was frustrating because why even write it when you drop it and never pick it up again? And that one story line that actually felt like the center of the book... ended very abruptly. I was so intrigued by the paradox, and I was hoping to explore it more. But nope, things just happened off page and then the book was over. Literally.
Despite the weaknesses I still enjoyed the reading experience for some weird reason, the audiobook was fun to listen to and there were things that kept me going till the very end. I mean, the last page was definitely worth it for me. I just feel we could have gotten there much, much quicker.
Yes, I will read the third book. Maybe there was a reason for all the unnecessary stuff in this book after all, who knows.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Murder
gabbadabbadoo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Misogyny, Blood, and Murder
soniajoy98's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Confinement, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
queenie_ofthe_void's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Ultimately not impressed. I just finished 10 minutes ago and feel extremely disappointed. The first book left off with big implications for the second, but it feels like nothing really happened. There was too much internal monologue, too much 'miscommunication' trope, and too much emphasis on POVs that ultimately weren't necessary or interesting. The character alliances in the first book were thrown out on a flimsy plot point just to further the miscommunication between the group, which is the only fuel for plot progression. All of this I could have let pass (solely because I love the characters) if I felt it led to a pay-off, which it didn't. The narrative of Tristan-Nico-Libby focuses on trying to get Libby back. It is Tristan's singular motivator of the book. And Nico's torment over her absence is obvious but his focus on Gideon helps his character progress. We get a glimpse of Libby and Tristan reuniting in Scotland. But in the end there's no climactic reunion between Libby and Tristan OR Libby and Nico. This was their entire plotline of the book and it was left open-ended. And not like a cliff-hanger, but in a way that I feel there was no climax at all. Part of this, again, is time spent on relationships which prove fruitless, like Belen-Libby, Ezra-Atlas. These POVs are not our main characters, and its just time spent away. There's too many characters and plotlines to juggle, and they are disproportionately balanced. For me, what started out as a story with intriguing morally-grey characters, suspense and intrigue, eventually turned out to just be tedious and disappointing. Might read the next book for the reunion scenes mentioned in the spoilers. Might just Google it. And maybe I just forget.
Edit 5 minutes after finishing the review: I just read my review of the first book and forgot to mention the increased amount of pseudointellectual bullshit in the internal monlogues. Way too much freshman 101 class theories and not enough character interaction to make up for the increased use of the miscommunication trope to keep the plot going. Honestly I had high hopes for this book...
Edit 5 minutes after finishing the review: I just read my review of the first book and forgot to mention the increased amount of pseudointellectual bullshit in the internal monlogues. Way too much freshman 101 class theories and not enough character interaction to make up for the increased use of the miscommunication trope to keep the plot going. Honestly I had high hopes for this book...
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
risemini's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Alcohol
kassidyreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Classism
deliriah's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
stephbakerbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
I didn’t love this sequel as much as I enjoyed the first book, but it still kept me hooked and man that ending…I need book three yesterday.
Much like the first book, this story moves slowly as we jump around from POVs. I absolutely love getting the different POVs (there’s six main ones), especially with the audiobook because they each have a different voice actor and y’all, these narrators are SO good. I honestly don’t think I’d like this story as much if I’d read the physical copy. The audio just makes it come alive and I never wanted to stop listening.
I’m pretty sure the plot moved even slower in this one than it did in the first one and I did get frustrated a few times when it felt like the characters were just talking themselves in circles. But then the characters would make me laugh or smile or they would be vulnerable and I would just forgive them. Read these books for the characters!
The magic in this world remains interesting and unique and I’m definitely looking forward to where it’s going. If you liked The Atlas Six, you’ll also enjoy this sequel!
Much like the first book, this story moves slowly as we jump around from POVs. I absolutely love getting the different POVs (there’s six main ones), especially with the audiobook because they each have a different voice actor and y’all, these narrators are SO good. I honestly don’t think I’d like this story as much if I’d read the physical copy. The audio just makes it come alive and I never wanted to stop listening.
I’m pretty sure the plot moved even slower in this one than it did in the first one and I did get frustrated a few times when it felt like the characters were just talking themselves in circles. But then the characters would make me laugh or smile or they would be vulnerable and I would just forgive them. Read these books for the characters!
The magic in this world remains interesting and unique and I’m definitely looking forward to where it’s going. If you liked The Atlas Six, you’ll also enjoy this sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, and Violence
Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, and Sexual content