The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Atlas Six is one of those books that got so hyped up that it made me avoid it. I can’t recall precisely when the time period was, but I couldn’t go anywhere in the bookish social media world without having it pop up consistently.
Then, as happens many, many times with me, the cover got me. I’ll admit it. I wanted to own it because of the redesigned cover released by Tor. It’s stunning.
I finally decided to read it when a group I am a part of here on Goodreads chose it as a book of the month selection. I’m happy to finally know what all the fuss is about and I gotta say, this was wayyyyy better than I expected.
Since this is so hyped, and I think I am one of the last people left to read it, I won’t bother going too far into what it’s about. As a general description, I would say that it’s got the whole dark academia, secret society, magic-wielding multi-perspective thing down pat.
I was into this from the very start. The first two characters we meet, Libby and Nico, actually ended up being my two favorites of the entire book.
They’re academic rivals, which is something I tend to adore. Additionally, their backgrounds, plus the low-simmering constant vein of animosity running between them was giving me the Hermione-Draco fanfic vibes of my dreams.
We follow them as they are recruited by the mysterious, Atlas Blakely, to potentially join the ranks of the Alexandrian Society, a secret society composed of the most powerful magical academicians in the world.
I loved following along with Libby and Nico as they met the other recruits and began to learn more about what their participation with the process would actually entail.
Meeting the other individuals involved, Tristan, Parisa, Reina and Callum, was equally as fascinating and the dynamic amongst the group was ripe with tension.
This did remind me a lot of The Magicians. They share similar elements and I can’t say if this book handled those ideas any better or worse than that book did.
I sort of feel the same about them. I enjoyed it very much when I was reading it, but I’m not sure how long all the details are going to stick around in my brain.
There were some sections that were very dialogue heavy amongst the characters, as they waxed and waned about their powers and the overall magic system. I’ll admit to my eyes glazing over a bit during some of those sections.
For example, they would discuss in great lengths the parameters of their magic, what they would choose to do with it, the morality of certain choices, etc.
Personally, I just wanted to return to the action, but I can understand why those discussions may be important to the long-term growth of the story.
With this being said, the majority of this was intriguing. I found particular scenes, especially towards the end quite exciting and revealing. I absolutely will be continuing on with this series.
Overall, I’m so glad I finally took the time to read this one. I think this is a great base for the continuation of a series. I’m looking forward to it!