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A review by abby_ace_of_books
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
4.0
"They were binary stars, trapped in each other's gravitational field and easily diminished without the other's opposing force."
I've been in a dark academia/spooky season mood recently, so I decided to reread The Atlas Six with the intention of actually getting to book 3 this time. (I'll probably get there...but I always forget that these books slow me down and I have other things to read). Did this fulfill my dark academia hunger? Not really. The genre itself is fairly hit or miss for me, so I don't know why I'm craving it...but I think this series falls somewhere in the middle in terms of the range of dark academic books I've enjoyed.
Six recruits enter, but only five will complete initiation. This is one of those books where a lot happens, but also nothing happens. The beginning is interesting, and there are a few scenes in the middle that keep the book moving before the exciting end, but most scenes are heavily character-focused, which is something I struggle to enjoy at times. There's a fair amount of "scholarly" conversations about magic that feel a bit like theoretical lectures, but I didn't mind them too much. I struggle to rate this accurately because although nothing really happened, I enjoyed the vibes, and sometimes that warrants a higher rating than I would typically give to a book with a similar plot.
I also think the reason I was willing to rate this as highly as I did is because the characters make me feel things. Callum earns the award for the most hateable POV because I despise him, and he doesn't deserve redemption. Parisa gives the vibes of an evil Nina Zenik, but I didn't mind her as much during this read as I did previously. Tristan is just kind of boring to me, and the same goes for Dalton. My favorites were Reina, Nico, and Libby. Reina is just so logical compared to everyone else, and I like that she's just along for the ride. I really just like the dynamics between Nico and Libby (which is why I still desperately want to read the novella) and the idea of being practically soulmates without actually being soulmates.
The Atlas Six is a dark academia novel focused on magic, knowledge, and what one would do in the name of their ambition.
3.75/5
I've been in a dark academia/spooky season mood recently, so I decided to reread The Atlas Six with the intention of actually getting to book 3 this time. (I'll probably get there...but I always forget that these books slow me down and I have other things to read). Did this fulfill my dark academia hunger? Not really. The genre itself is fairly hit or miss for me, so I don't know why I'm craving it...but I think this series falls somewhere in the middle in terms of the range of dark academic books I've enjoyed.
Six recruits enter, but only five will complete initiation. This is one of those books where a lot happens, but also nothing happens. The beginning is interesting, and there are a few scenes in the middle that keep the book moving before the exciting end, but most scenes are heavily character-focused, which is something I struggle to enjoy at times. There's a fair amount of "scholarly" conversations about magic that feel a bit like theoretical lectures, but I didn't mind them too much. I struggle to rate this accurately because although nothing really happened, I enjoyed the vibes, and sometimes that warrants a higher rating than I would typically give to a book with a similar plot.
I also think the reason I was willing to rate this as highly as I did is because the characters make me feel things. Callum earns the award for the most hateable POV because I despise him, and he doesn't deserve redemption. Parisa gives the vibes of an evil Nina Zenik, but I didn't mind her as much during this read as I did previously. Tristan is just kind of boring to me, and the same goes for Dalton. My favorites were Reina, Nico, and Libby. Reina is just so logical compared to everyone else, and I like that she's just along for the ride. I really just like the dynamics between Nico and Libby (which is why I still desperately want to read the novella) and the idea of being practically soulmates without actually being soulmates.
The Atlas Six is a dark academia novel focused on magic, knowledge, and what one would do in the name of their ambition.
3.75/5