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A review by lit_laugh_luv
The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake
1.0
Never in a million years did I anticipate the conclusion of this series being this terrible - I am so disappointed given this one was such an anticipated release for me.
This desperately needed editing - it is so overwritten and the page count is so bloated from filler. The first book in this series was a solid 5 star for me, with the sequel being alright, but everything good about the series absolutely devolved here. At a sentence structure, this books comes across as hard to understand, flowery, and needlessly detailed in a way that complete detracted from my enjoyment.
The banter between characters also took a noticeably different direction in this iteration relative to the previous books, to the point where it was totally jarring and ruined the immersion. After these characters spend 2 years together, they still interact the same way they did on day 1 - it makes no sense. Libby has a somewhat interesting character arc but both Nico and Reina are noticeably missing intrigue and development throughout the series. Side characters felt needlessly included and offered virtually nothing to the story - why am I reading from all of these perspectives suddenly? Despite all of this, I really didn't understand the core motivation or intrinsic interest of the titular six characters towards the end.
Rather than implementing meaningful plotlines or character arcs, Blake throws in a bunch of scientific terminology and meaningless perspectives that add virtually nothing to the story. There's lots of philosophical tangents which are interesting, but don't particularly relate to the events of the story. We are still following the central conflict introduced in the first book, and so much of book 2 and 3 was circular dialogue and interactions between characters that didn't further the plot at all. All of it culminates into a rushed and bizarre ending which lacks any sense of finality or satisfaction for the reader. There's also odd interludes that break the fourth wall and have a weird tonal shift from the previous books - it feels really weird to take the final book in a series in such a wildly different direction than its predecessors.
I was a pretty vehement defender of the first book because it did a good job establishing the six characters and their purposes, but the second and third book in this series offer absolutely nothing beyond that. You can really tell this was a duology stretched out into a trilogy and there is simply not enough content within this series to warrant its length. Olivie Blake really fumbled with this release - I can't tell if it was rushed or just completely phoned in, but it was a really disappointing and frustrating conclusion to what could have been one of my favourite series ever.
This desperately needed editing - it is so overwritten and the page count is so bloated from filler. The first book in this series was a solid 5 star for me, with the sequel being alright, but everything good about the series absolutely devolved here. At a sentence structure, this books comes across as hard to understand, flowery, and needlessly detailed in a way that complete detracted from my enjoyment.
The banter between characters also took a noticeably different direction in this iteration relative to the previous books, to the point where it was totally jarring and ruined the immersion. After these characters spend 2 years together, they still interact the same way they did on day 1 - it makes no sense. Libby has a somewhat interesting character arc but both Nico and Reina are noticeably missing intrigue and development throughout the series. Side characters felt needlessly included and offered virtually nothing to the story - why am I reading from all of these perspectives suddenly? Despite all of this, I really didn't understand the core motivation or intrinsic interest of the titular six characters towards the end.
Rather than implementing meaningful plotlines or character arcs, Blake throws in a bunch of scientific terminology and meaningless perspectives that add virtually nothing to the story. There's lots of philosophical tangents which are interesting, but don't particularly relate to the events of the story. We are still following the central conflict introduced in the first book, and so much of book 2 and 3 was circular dialogue and interactions between characters that didn't further the plot at all. All of it culminates into a rushed and bizarre ending which lacks any sense of finality or satisfaction for the reader. There's also odd interludes that break the fourth wall and have a weird tonal shift from the previous books - it feels really weird to take the final book in a series in such a wildly different direction than its predecessors.
I was a pretty vehement defender of the first book because it did a good job establishing the six characters and their purposes, but the second and third book in this series offer absolutely nothing beyond that. You can really tell this was a duology stretched out into a trilogy and there is simply not enough content within this series to warrant its length. Olivie Blake really fumbled with this release - I can't tell if it was rushed or just completely phoned in, but it was a really disappointing and frustrating conclusion to what could have been one of my favourite series ever.