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A review by nhnabass
The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake
3.0
3 stars, cool concept, poor execution, lots of blue balling as a result.
I must admit, I am a little disappointed finishing this highly anticipated sequel, given how ravenously I tore through the first book. Perhaps that was a matter of poor expectation setting, but by about half-way through I knew this was not going to live up to the first.
The same changes in perspective from character to character that I loved in the first book felt chaotic this time, rather than providing important insight to the story from another angle. As the book went on, it felt more and more scattered, and not in an intentional "my characters are spiraling so now as the reader, so are you" way but more of a "what the fuck is going on there's twelve different stories that I pray line up somehow at the end of all this" (and spoiler, they don't).
This book felt like a waiting game with no payoff whatsoever. The pieces of the paradox were introduced so nicely, and woven through the story well enough that I found myself tugging on the threads, excited to put the puzzle together all for it to lead....pretty much nowhere. The ideas were all there, but it felt almost rushed(?), in a way that it was just not fleshed out enough to make it worth all of the hype the story was leading up for.
Looking back, this story should have either 1) been way shorter, her point could have been made way earlier on or 2) should have had *way* more substance. We learn so much more about all the characters and yet, nothing at the same time? So many different branches of study, especially for Reina, that seemingly go nowhere. I am particularly upset because the characters grow further apart this time, they spend more time alone researching for their independent studies and seem to have their own super secret ulterior motives (that do really sound interesting). Because of this, the characters don't work together at all and that costs us a lot of the chemistry and tension from the first book. So all that said, you would hope, as the reader, that at the very least we get to see the fruits of all this secretive research and the reason for all the isolating. Nope. Not for a single one of them!
We learn so many *incredibly* interesting things in our one-on-ones with each character, but all for what? We don't really get to see them use any of their newly discovered potential or how any of their research is relevant to anything, and I really hope it was not an intentional ploy to set up for a third book because what a waste of 400+ pages and my time.
I must admit, I am a little disappointed finishing this highly anticipated sequel, given how ravenously I tore through the first book. Perhaps that was a matter of poor expectation setting, but by about half-way through I knew this was not going to live up to the first.
The same changes in perspective from character to character that I loved in the first book felt chaotic this time, rather than providing important insight to the story from another angle. As the book went on, it felt more and more scattered, and not in an intentional "my characters are spiraling so now as the reader, so are you" way but more of a "what the fuck is going on there's twelve different stories that I pray line up somehow at the end of all this" (and spoiler, they don't).
This book felt like a waiting game with no payoff whatsoever. The pieces of the paradox were introduced so nicely, and woven through the story well enough that I found myself tugging on the threads, excited to put the puzzle together all for it to lead....pretty much nowhere. The ideas were all there, but it felt almost rushed(?), in a way that it was just not fleshed out enough to make it worth all of the hype the story was leading up for.
Looking back, this story should have either 1) been way shorter, her point could have been made way earlier on or 2) should have had *way* more substance. We learn so much more about all the characters and yet, nothing at the same time? So many different branches of study, especially for Reina, that seemingly go nowhere. I am particularly upset because the characters grow further apart this time, they spend more time alone researching for their independent studies and seem to have their own super secret ulterior motives (that do really sound interesting). Because of this, the characters don't work together at all and that costs us a lot of the chemistry and tension from the first book. So all that said, you would hope, as the reader, that at the very least we get to see the fruits of all this secretive research and the reason for all the isolating. Nope. Not for a single one of them!
We learn so many *incredibly* interesting things in our one-on-ones with each character, but all for what? We don't really get to see them use any of their newly discovered potential or how any of their research is relevant to anything, and I really hope it was not an intentional ploy to set up for a third book because what a waste of 400+ pages and my time.