Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

27 reviews

frantically's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.75

This book is just: "You don't know anything about physics? Sucks to be you 🖤" for almost 400 pages.

I had no clue what this was about going in and I was pleasantly surprised! Usually I'm not the biggest fan of urban fantasy but this one was so well done, it just all felt really natural (and it gave me hardcore WINX-Vibes, if anyone else understands that lol). 

BookTok has made me really apprehensive about a lot of the books recommended there — morally gray characters are just lazy Kaz copies, enemies to lovers is just straight up abuse, etc., but this book actually had interesting, multifaceted morally gray characters and I enjoyed that so much.

For much of the book, there isn't a clear villain, a clear force that has to be fought again and that offered a lot of space for characters development and introspection, which fantasy books often don't have enough time for but I absolutely adore it.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book! I hope it won't be just a duology, as there were so many possible storylines mentioned in this one and I hope they all get their space to be properly explored.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual content, Violence, Death, and Infidelity

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Terminal illness, Child death, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

lynnannwalsh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Murder

Minor: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Adult/minor relationship

neverlandangel's review

dark mysterious tense 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Murder and Sexual content

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Child death

kayladaila's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Blood

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Bullying, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gore, Death of parent, Murder, Mass/school shootings, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, and Classism

omfgeleanor's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Terminal illness

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Child abuse, and Child death

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

tahsintries's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Car accident, Sexual content, and Adult/minor relationship

dosymedia's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-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

4.25

I. Loved. This. It was super addictive and had (for me) the right balance between relationships and everything else, which I think it manages primarily by being so about intergroup politics/backstabbing & personal drama.

- do you love pretentious intelligentsia & academicians with murderous bents? imo, if you liked the prose and the narration in the Red Rising series or in Micah Nemerever's These Violent Delights, specifically for the broad inclusion of the social sciences and philosophy, this might intrigue you
- the magic is wishy-washy, v. soft, but worked for me tonally
- everybody queer, yay!
- romantic relationships develop out of nowhere, i was most convinced by preexisting romances.
- most characters had shallow arcs, but i loved the characters as written, there wasn't a dull combination to read on-page
- highly recommend the audiobook! it's a full cast 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Classism, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Death

Minor: Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Incest, Sexual content, Gun violence, and Blood

parkerknoll's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

The concept is wildly entertaining; the execution falls short. Up until the last two or three chapters it was a struggle to care about the plot. Such a great opportunity to build huge suspense and it didn’t deliver on that throughout the book. Legit the last 50 pages were great- should have had that pacing and intensity the whole time. The build was too slow, I didn’t care to read in one sitting. The character development was iffy and felt like character choices were constantly repeated to propel their actions but it didn’t. it all seemed like filler? Especially if the last 50 pages were the true mystery, what was the point of diving into such small details for pages and pages. Not everything seemed intentional I guess. I don’t know, felt like this really great concept fell short. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Terminal illness, and Violence

allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective 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

3.0

Academic rivals are a trope that I typically take only minor interest in. School was more often a collaborative than competitive affair for me, so it clashes with my experience, leaving me baffled at who has the energy for it. This book had me convinced within the first chapter. YES Libby, Nico is clearly the worst. Continue with your banter. Shoot to emotionally maim. Not only was I convinced, but I was having a great time. 

In fact, all six POVs quickly brought me under their thrall by eliciting strong reactions with their voices. I could give an itemized summary of how I feel about any of them and why because each character is so carefully formed and fills a specific role in the group. The sometimes vicious competition among them adds another layer, as I came to support certain alliances while wishing other liaisons a swift death for the threat they posed to themselves or others through their choices. I found myself irrevocably interested in all the characters' sharp edges, their darkest thoughts, their jangling worries at odds with their lofty ambitions. I admired the unexpected pathways the characters followed, the twisty growth to their relationships, and the queer (pan representation at minimum--most of the characters seem fairly fluid in terms of sexuality) and BIPOC representation (Black, Japanese, Persian, and Cuban protagonists). 

I did get stuck on a couple points. For one, my initial investment in the characters was a bit frayed by the end. This was partially due to choices made in the quest for power and partially related to the way the cast would fixate on each other's perceived weaknesses, amplifying them for the reader. A related concern is that I'm not sure there was a single relationship I wouldn't ultimately categorize as toxic and/or unbalanced. It's not glorified, which I appreciate, but I personally need at least one strong, supportive bond to hold onto in a story. It's what keeps me motivated and excited to come along for the darker bits. 

In terms of world-building, the magic system isn't necessarily revolutionary, but the periods of academic contemplation regarding different abilities and talents left me in the dust as a matter of both mental fortitude and attention span. I may be a science teacher, but honestly, ew physics. 

I liked that the story seems to be winding up for some intriguing commentary on power and institutions, on knowledge and ambition. Already, there were some fun asides and acute observations that I highlighted as fuel for my dark, cynical worldview that Tristan would surely appreciate. Dark academia fans will especially find a lot in these pages to live up to the hype. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Sexual content, Suicide, Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug use, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Abandonment