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philosofreaky's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
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
3.75
I enjoyed this book but struggled to read it. (In the end, I think I just needed to be in the right mood/headspace to tackle it.) It's slow-paced, but I found the subject matter and character thoughts/conversations intriguing, until the last 5th of the book when it moves fast and exciting and couldn't put it down. That left me feeling quite content in the background and understanding I had of all the players moving forward.
I neither loved or hated anyone in particular, instead, did a good job of everyone having a purpose and being an intricate, ensemble cast. I will read the next one for sure, knowing that some parts might be dry but inevitably not? Somehow? I don't know. I still enjoyed the story AND the writing even though it didn't feel like a page turner. It made my brain happy.
Also, the bits in the short story included, Sacred Hospitality, did in fact make me chortle.
I neither loved or hated anyone in particular, instead, did a good job of everyone having a purpose and being an intricate, ensemble cast. I will read the next one for sure, knowing that some parts might be dry but inevitably not? Somehow? I don't know. I still enjoyed the story AND the writing even though it didn't feel like a page turner. It made my brain happy.
Also, the bits in the short story included, Sacred Hospitality, did in fact make me chortle.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content, Blood, Violence, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Drug use, Death, Bullying, Alcohol, and Murder
thimi_time's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
3.25
I had high expectations for this book and went into it expecting to really enjoy, however found that I got quite bored when it dragged on the middle. It did pick up at the end though, and I wasn’t expecting the ending either, which was good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Kidnapping and Suicide
Minor: Terminal illness
cecinamo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.0
Great read! The story was so intricately written, with loads of mysteries and interesting subplots. All the characters were so unique and facetted. They were so well written! The magic was a little confusing sometimes, I think I only understood towards the end of the book what ‘wards’ were. Sometimes the book also dragged a bit, but I didn’t mind that. I definitely look forward to the next book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Suicide, Blood, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Addiction, Abandonment, and Terminal illness
I really loved Nicos and Libbys relationship, it was so funny xD. (I hope it goes the enemies to friends route) Secondly quick appreciation for all the women in the book 💗 (Except Eilif, leave Gideon alone ò-ó, he just wants to be happy with Nico.) Libby was amazing! Parisa too, she was epic!!! I also loved Reina, I just wish she had more chapters ;-;. Her povs were always so interesting. It was always just so cool to read about what was going on in their minds, because the are so insanely smart. >u< (Also Parisas povs could tell us what other people were thinking too xD)thestarsaresad's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
I BREEZED through this book. This is the first book in a long time that I haven't wanted to put down and that I've thought about when I had to do other things. I love the author's writing - all the detail, all the reflection - honestly, how do people even come up with stories like this?!?! The plot twists were crazy! Initially, I was skeptical about there being multiple POVs, but I really did grow to enjoy seeing things through each character's eyes. I definitely need to get the second book NOW.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Death
Moderate: Terminal illness, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Kidnapping
jadorelecafe's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Death, Murder, and Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, and Murder
Minor: Car accident, Child death, Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, and Addiction
nikogatts's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Infuriating and disappointing. There are interesting ideas in this book, but they're undercut by the story, which is constructed like a Jenga tower with half of the pieces missing. I lost track of how many times a character knew a secret without being told or did something with no motivation other than a need to move the story forward.
Likewise, there are interesting characters and arcs to be explored -- particularly in the case of Reina, who resents her immense magical power and sees it as a way for both nature and society to take advantage of her -- but these are sacrificed in favor of chapter after chapter of Callum, the Wish.com version of Patrick Bateman, toying with sad boy Tristan.
The most painful of this book's failures was the worldbuilding, which led me to create this non-comprehensive list of things that went un- or underexplained, in ascending order of how angry I get when I think about it:
-General story bits that weren't described well and/or weren't believable.A sample: How exactly do two twenty-somethings (one fighting one-handed due to an injured arm) take out half a dozen trained and armed military operatives? Atlas's plan is...what exactly? How is it that no one over the centuries managed to figure out how to magically stop time or magically create a wormhole, but this specific group of people manages these feats on their first attempts?
-How magic and magical people interact with and impact the rest of the world.In the book's alternate Earth, magic users are a minority (about 5 million people out of 10 billion), but they have massive economic power, own international tech and finance companies, and hold high-ranking government positions. There are wealthy magical families and universities specifically for magical study. Magical items are commodities and "mortals" can buy everything from magically enhanced weapons to appearance-changing illusions to contraception charms.
There is no information given on non-magical people, even though they're 99.9995 percent of the world. One of the book's (attempted) themes is the exclusivity of information and whether world-changing (albeit dangerous) knowledge should be kept siloed instead of available to populations who could benefit from it. This theme would have been much more powerful if there had been any perspective from the have-nots of this world. (I think it was a missed opportunity to not have Ezra, Libby's boyfriend, be non-magical, or to have a more prominent presence from the Forum, the magical-info-for-all organization.)
Oh, and magical creatures exist, but they're only mentioned in relation to one character, so they're barely relevant.
-How the magic system works.The main characters each have a specialty, but the story also mentions summoning charms and illusions. Around page 250, curses and hexes are introduced and then barely mentioned again. Specialties range from very straightforward, like telepathy and animation, to concepts that could have used more explaining. Two characters are "physicists," meaning they can affect matter around them by manipulating the laws of physics. This is a tremendously broad skill and its limitations aren't ever discussed, nor is there a primer on which laws are being used. (Heat transfer and gravity are easy ones to guess, but what law deals with earthquakes?) It feels like the author just wanted these characters to be able to do a bunch of cool things, like create fire and increase the force of a punch, and the easiest way to do that was through vague physics powers.
I'm not even going to bother getting into Callum's empath powers, which often transcend sensing emotion and go straight into full mind-reading. Commander Deanna Troi >>>>>> this asshole, always and forever.
There are also overlaps in "rare" types of magic and casual magic that is done with little fanfare. One example is when two characters use physics magic to create a wormhole (for the first time ever, apparently) that can be used to teleport across physical space. But throughout the book, the characters travel internationally via magical portal, and the difference (if any) between this and the wormhole is never explained.
-Anything about the library.The author had the opportunity to imagine a modern-day Library of Alexandria -- both the physical structure and its contents. This was a chance to go all-out with imagination, to take inspiration from legends and history and architecture and fiction, to create a place that justifies the characters being willing to kill for continued access to it.
And what do the readers get? About a paragraph and a half about a big room with some pneumatic tubes, and some scattered references to ancient texts. That's it. That's fucking it.
New rule I'm setting for myself: If a book sounds interesting but got a lot of hype on certain social media sites with consistently poor track records, I get it from the library.
Likewise, there are interesting characters and arcs to be explored -- particularly in the case of Reina, who resents her immense magical power and sees it as a way for both nature and society to take advantage of her -- but these are sacrificed in favor of chapter after chapter of Callum, the Wish.com version of Patrick Bateman, toying with sad boy Tristan.
The most painful of this book's failures was the worldbuilding, which led me to create this non-comprehensive list of things that went un- or underexplained, in ascending order of how angry I get when I think about it:
-General story bits that weren't described well and/or weren't believable.
-How magic and magical people interact with and impact the rest of the world.
There is no information given on non-magical people, even though they're 99.9995 percent of the world. One of the book's (attempted) themes is the exclusivity of information and whether world-changing (albeit dangerous) knowledge should be kept siloed instead of available to populations who could benefit from it. This theme would have been much more powerful if there had been any perspective from the have-nots of this world. (I think it was a missed opportunity to not have Ezra, Libby's boyfriend, be non-magical, or to have a more prominent presence from the Forum, the magical-info-for-all organization.)
Oh, and magical creatures exist, but they're only mentioned in relation to one character, so they're barely relevant.
-How the magic system works.
I'm not even going to bother getting into Callum's empath powers, which often transcend sensing emotion and go straight into full mind-reading. Commander Deanna Troi >>>>>> this asshole, always and forever.
There are also overlaps in "rare" types of magic and casual magic that is done with little fanfare. One example is when two characters use physics magic to create a wormhole (for the first time ever, apparently) that can be used to teleport across physical space. But throughout the book, the characters travel internationally via magical portal, and the difference (if any) between this and the wormhole is never explained.
-Anything about the library.
And what do the readers get? About a paragraph and a half about a big room with some pneumatic tubes, and some scattered references to ancient texts. That's it. That's fucking it.
New rule I'm setting for myself: If a book sounds interesting but got a lot of hype on certain social media sites with consistently poor track records, I get it from the library.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Suicide
Moderate: Blood and Murder
Minor: Colonisation, Terminal illness, Death, and Classism
themiscyra_anna's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Gaslighting, and Classism
Moderate: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Bullying, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
anastasia_raf's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-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
3.0
In The Atlas six by Olivie Blake, we follow six characters, each one has their own agenda but all of them must walk through the doors of the Alexandrian society in order to gain access to means necessary to succeed their personal goals. How far are you willing to go to get what you want? Are you ready to sacrifice your morals? To sacrifice your soul? Would you sacrifice another’s soul?
I still cannot decide if I liked the book or disliked it, or just didn’t care for it. It took me too long to become interested in the story; It started getting intriguing after 200 pages. I believe it’s a bit predictable… I guessed almost everything. It is a unique story, but the characters seemed mediocre to me. The author was so concerned in convincing us of everyone’s “gray morality” that I couldn’t distinguish any personalities within them. It felt like I read everything from the same POV but with just different “magical” abilities each time. Although I have a feeling that it’s going to be improved in the next books. Maybe I just need more time with them! I think I need to see how they behave outside of the society, how they are without one another, what they become on their own.
I liked the writing. The dialogue was pleasing as well! But I’m not sure if it’s enough for me to continue with the second book…
''A flaw of humanity,( said Parisa) the compulsion to be unique, which is at war with the desire to belong to a single identifiable sameness.''
I still cannot decide if I liked the book or disliked it, or just didn’t care for it. It took me too long to become interested in the story; It started getting intriguing after 200 pages. I believe it’s a bit predictable… I guessed almost everything. It is a unique story, but the characters seemed mediocre to me. The author was so concerned in convincing us of everyone’s “gray morality” that I couldn’t distinguish any personalities within them. It felt like I read everything from the same POV but with just different “magical” abilities each time. Although I have a feeling that it’s going to be improved in the next books. Maybe I just need more time with them! I think I need to see how they behave outside of the society, how they are without one another, what they become on their own.
I liked the writing. The dialogue was pleasing as well! But I’m not sure if it’s enough for me to continue with the second book…
''A flaw of humanity,( said Parisa) the compulsion to be unique, which is at war with the desire to belong to a single identifiable sameness.''
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Murder, Terminal illness, Violence, Death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
zarhara's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Cancer, Terminal illness, Infidelity, and Sexual content
remaininlullaby's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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? No
5.0
SO GOOD. whatever you think you're getting into, it's more. complex relationships, well thought out character development and challenging magic system.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness and Death of parent
Minor: Suicide, Murder, Drug use, and Car accident