Reviews with content warning for Cursing - The Atlas Six

I had to force myself to finish this and I am exhausted. There is just so much without anything at the same time. The sentences are wordy and over the top in a way that is heavy and clunky. Instead of saying “she was shocked by his reply”, the text is that “she was aghast at the perversion of the transaction.” Just… why? Everything simple that should be easy and flows is so over the top that it falls flat beneath the weight of its self.

There is no immersion into this world. My eyes kept jumping forward begging it to be over with faster. I would reread sentences several times and still be confused in the next paragraph.

Interesting characters were largely ignored and the uninteresting characters were heavily focused on. The artwork, though beautiful, strangely did not match the characters each section was named for, which didn’t make sense to me.

It felt like whole chapters were missing and the ones that were there dragged on forever and a day. Anything interesting was just simply dropped the next page in infuriating regularity. The last two chapters of the book seemed like they were written for another work entirely, in that they were interesting and actually held my attention.

To go from talking in tiring detail about the complexities of stopping time to calling someone a useless fuckboi just because they could in the next sentence was jarring and not in a way to bring humor or relief from the vast complexities the text tried and failed to reach.

The concept was super cool and I wanted to love this book, but unfortunately, I did not.

Content Warnings

jessieslibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I liked this book bc the characters and plot were rly interesting. i don’t think it was executed great and felt like nothing rly happened in the book like i could not tell u what i read bc it feels like nothing happened BUT if u get the physical copy it has rly cool art every couple of chapters

Content Warnings

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

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challenging 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

5.0

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sunsetcity's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative 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

Content Warnings

lizgriffinwords's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

Thank you Libro.FM for the ALC of The Atlas Six, read by a full cast, a Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books! Whoever decided to cast Steve West as Callum deserves a raise.

For those like me who were living under a rock and hadn’t picked this one up, here’s the pitch: every ten years, the society that guards the lost library of Alexandria archives selects six of the most promising and powerful magicians of their generation as candidates for a year-long fellowship. Five are selected. One is eliminated.

I haven’t read a lot of dark academia, and even less “new adult” (since it was picked up and published by Tor, it is ADULT, just to be clear), so I don’t have much to compare it to. But if you liked Ninth House and/or Umbrella Academy, this is right up that alley.

I loved the setting and the overall “vibes”… but I was less of a fan of the writing style and all of the characters. I’ve had seasons of my life where I was too similar to Libby — naive, teacher’s pet sort of person — and having all the other characters mock and gang up on her was tiring as a reader.

Content warnings: cursing, su*cidal thoughts and attempts, gaslighting and bullying, sexual content (though honestly not as much as I thought there would be, given its TikTok fame)

Content Warnings

cozylifewithabby's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

First off, I like the premise of this book. Secret Magic Society with secrets and a group of people who must deal with what they uncover. There were so many parts that were long, boring, or irrelevant. The twist at the end was good, but it has a chapter that foreshadowed it that should have been removed for the shock factor. I don't think I'll read book two. The characters were unlikable and the story/magic system wasn't fleshed out enough. I see why others like it though.

Content Warnings

chelsearose's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

3.75

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