The Atlas Six
Ratings374
Average rating3.5
Dit is zo niet wat ik had verwacht. Ik had verwacht dat het een strijd zou zijn tussen de 6 kandidaten, maar het was alles behalve dat. Ze kwamen gewoon daar en ze doen een beetje magie oefenen. Er gebeurd een keer wat, maar voorderest gebeurde er gewoon helemaal niks. Ik vond de POV's van Parisa leuk, omdat zij echt dingen ontdekte daar. Het laatste hoofdstuk van Ezra heeft een hoop duidelijk gemaakt en voor een cliffhanger gezorgd voor het volgende boek, maar ik denk niet dat ik die ga lezen...
It was going to be a solid 3.5 but that ending took me by surprise
jesus fucking christ talk about amazing. Just everything about it is intriguing and perfect. The magic system and world building is so well thought out and it always left me wanting more - much to the expense of my uni work.
The ending, oh my god the ending. I cannot wait to read more
Lo único bueno de este libro son las últimas 75 páginas, después en el resto la autora busca cualquier excusa para tener una discusión filosófica, y llegó un punto en el que me harté un poquito
What a bunch of nonsense.To be fair, when this book began, I was on board. From the very first line, The Atlas Six announces itself as absolutely up its own ass. And that's fine, that's great even, I love pretentious books about magic and libraries and borderline sociopaths. But by the time I found myself somewhere in the middle, I realized the overwritten dialogue and soulless characters had long overstayed their welcome. Six young magicians are chosen by the mysterious Alexandrian Society, the holders of the lost library of Alexandria, to spend a year proving that they are worthy of the library's secrets. At the end of the year, they must choose one of them to eliminate, and drunk with the possibility of learning the long lost secrets of magic and history, they agree, not thinking about what “elimination” might actually mean. Each of them are exceptional magicians in their particular skill sets, but four of them - Nico and Libby, the physical magicians, Reina, the naturalist, and Tristan, who has the least defined abilities but can see through illusions - find themselves caught in a game between the two psychics - Parisa, the telepath, and Callum, the empath. When it becomes clear what the stakes are, they have to choose who they are going to align themselves with - and who is going to die. Granted, it's not quite balanced as that. The group takes an immediate disliking to Callum over Parisa, probably because he can manipulate their emotions, whereas as far as they know, Parisa can only read their minds, not change them. But even if she doesn't have a magical ability to do so, that doesn't stop her from doing exactly that. She's also the certified Sexy Girl, and I would like to implore writers going forward - if you are thinking of writing a female character defined by her sex appeal, please for the love of god, reconsider. It's so, so, so boring.Probably the character I enjoyed the most was Callum. Even though his chapters probably had the most florid ruminating, at least it was fucking fun. He was doubtful that Tristan would be capable of understanding that, but the sensation of being liked was extraordinarily dull. It was the closest thing to vanilla that Callum could think of, though nothing was truly comparable. Being feared was a bit like anise, like absinthe. A strange and arousing flavor. Being admired was golden, maple-sweet. Being despised was a woodsy sulfuric aroma, smoke in his nostrils; something to choke on, when done properly. Being envied was tart, a citrusy tang, like green apple. Being desired was Callum's favorite. That was smoky, too, in a sense, but more sultry, cloaked and perfumed in precisely what it was. It smelled like tangled bedsheets. It tasted like the flicker of a candle flame. It felt like a sigh, a quiet one; concessionary and pleading. He could always feel it on his skin, sharp as a blade. Piercing, like the groan of a lover in his ear.Callum is the character that is the most in tune with himself and the most in touch with his magic. In his twisted way, he's the one that actually gives you a sense of thrill and excitement about it. In every other sense, magic is mostly seen as mundane, confusing or a nuisance. (There's something in here about attaching virtue to suffering, and how only villains are allowed to appreciate their power and enjoy themselves.) Reina resents her abilities because she is essentially a battery for plants, Libby can barely control her abilities, Nico pushes himself to the point of masochism (Nico's backstory/side plot in general is extremely overwritten, like Blake was desperately trying to make him sympathetic and interesting, and it's just really hard to keep him connected to the rest of the story), and Tristan doesn't even understand what he can do. The only exception to this is Parisa, who uses her ability well and consistently, but that gets kind of ruined because of this fucking Hot Girl Who Bones Everything In Sight absurdity. Each character though feels like they have a similar voice, a similar perspective, and that turns the rhythm of the story into a dull drone. I thought Reina might be an exception to the ethical vaccum that the rest of the characters represent, if only because she's so underutilized and the few chapters she had could have provided a reprieve. But no, she's just as callous and self-centered as the rest of them, and so when little nervous Libby suddenly tries to say, “Hey, isn't this wrong?” it feels completely meaningless.I realized something when I was thinking about the books that this reminds me of. The obvious seminal piece for this is, of course, [b:The Secret History 29044 The Secret History Donna Tartt https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451554846l/29044.SY75.jpg 221359], but the books it reminded me of more were Taherah Mafi's [b:Shatter Me 10429045 Shatter Me (Shatter Me, #1) Tahereh Mafi https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1310649047l/10429045.SY75.jpg 15333458] series. Aside from it also having a blond socipathic empath (not as novel as you might think, as The Bright Sessions does a similar thing with Damien), the Shatter Me books are characterized by over-the-top characters with over-the-top feelings and a lot of long chunks of dialogue of said characters talking about themselves, each other, and those feelings, with very little actual plot. This has a catnip-like effect on certain kinds of readers -evidenced by the extremely high ratings these books have-, who are really just looking for characters to ship in a coffee shop AU, rather than a tightly-wound story. Because what separates The Atlas Six and Shatter Me from The Secret History, a book that also has hyper-stylized hyper-real characters with rich dynamics and big feelings but is not only extremely popular but is arguably considered a modern classic, is that Donna Tartt's characters don't exist for you. They exist for the story. Henry Winter may sound like someone drawn up from a teenager's notebook, but he exists in his world, with his own secrets and motivations. He's not fan service.When Callum tells Tristan that Tristan is drawn to him because Callum reminds him of his father, yes, that's technically good character work, but you're not supposed to just say it! It's supposed to be illustrated through the story and the characters' actions. There is so much telling and so much talking in this book, that by the time it gets to the last couple of chapters, it's basically just word salad. Not to mention, the climactic reveal is mostly just confusing and overwritten in a way that makes me think that Blake didn't really figure that aspect of the plot out until the very last second, if at all.I am giving this two stars because, as stated, I like the premise and the world, but also...I got a whiff the catnip too. The meat of the relationship between Callum and Tristan is not really there - but that's not what Blake was really going for, was it? Again, it's about giving Big Feelings with Vague Circumstances, so that you can take that and run with it in your own head. Normally I would look at something like this and think - who greenlit this? But this strategy gets attention and makes money. Not a bad plan.
wow
the last part, death? amazing, incredible, wow, ezra's involvement? chef's kiss
atlas biggest villain? incredible, and the fact that we got to read what shaped him into that...wow
wished we got a closed ending but wow I need more.
also finished reading this in athena's temple while watching the sunset, which was immaculate
I'm not sure how I feel about this book; that almost never happens. I... suppose I cared about most of the characters, in that I didn't want to see any of them die, except perhaps Callum, but that was so clearly the intended reaction, it feels a little like being manipulated to go along with it - ironically. I also didn't see the twist at the end coming, or rather twists. This books feels highly intelligent, but perhaps too much so at times? The magic system was interesting, in that it felt grounded and real, but it was also a little bogged down by all the science-y-ness (yes, that's a word now) which, ironically, lessened the magical feel. In short, it feels as though this book quite possibly short-circuited my brain (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), and I'm not going to rate it until I figure out how I feel about it.
Started so so so so so so so so so good but it fell flat by the end and i simply do not care what ended up happening.
Just a massive decline that bored me to death. I really loved the start too :(((
also too much smut. Needed more chapters focused on the story. I love sex positive books but there is such thing as too much and overdoing it
I liked it and will definitely read the next one, but the book doesn't live up to the hype. The characters are a little too stagnant, and the plot a little too thin. It gave [b:The Magicians 6101718 The Magicians (The Magicians, #1) Lev Grossman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1313772941l/6101718.SY75.jpg 6278977] vibes, but none of the characters were likeable or relatable.
After coming of the high from great magical realism books, I was in the mood for some stupid high fantasy, dark academia-ish type of book. I guess I got what I wanted(?)??). Idk, it was so unbelievable pretentious at times, which made it very hard to connect to these characters. None of them are likeable (I guess that's the point), but it made the big plottwist kinda lose steam.
I did end up enjoying the book in some way, so I was on my way to puchase the sequel, But It Isn't Out Yet, which made this Worse. I didn't want to like this book, but then I ended up liking it, and I can't even hate read the sequel.
Solid 3 stars!!
3.25
At first, I devoured the 40% of the book which i started last year but then i came to a stop and couldn't find the energy to understand all that was happening from different POVs. I generally try to avoid reading books with multiple POVs as it gets confusing and exhausting. The story looked promising but then half way through, i think it all felt scattered and redundant somehow. It stopped making sense to me, or perhaps it is just not my kind of book. I have read Alone With You In The Ether by the same author and i devoured that book in matter of a day.
Besides, fantasy isn't my favorite genre to begin with, so. I didn't get the hype around this book, it's well written and you can tell the author is brilliant, but...nope.
Every decade 6 of the world's top magicians are chosen to join a secret society that has access to the Library of Alexandria. Only 5 will make it through to their second year of study.
The (small) romance portion didn't pan out the way I expected, which was nice. The most annoying part for me was there was a whole lot of plot suddenly vomited out in the last 20% (which I didn't really care about?) and ends on a cliffhanger as a set up for the next book.
Otherwise I enjoyed this one. Although the whole secret society thing as a concept seemed iffy, considering most of them are kind of bad/selfish people, and they'll go on to assume leadership positions across the world with the knowledge and skills they gain.
Random thought that I had while reading - the fact that 3 women and 3 men were chosen is great but doesn't feel realistic when you think about the gender ratios of positions of power in the world today and idk if that needed to be addressed? Or I guess magic causes a true meritocracy (but then again this is a fantasy book so maybe I shouldn't complain about realism when there's magic involved).
Originally posted at www.emgoto.com.
This was somewhere on my radar, but I prioritized reading it because Marija of chicken book fame demanded it. I'm glad she did, because I had such a fun time with this. I'm feeling very no thoughts head empty about this because I waited a MONTH to review it, but I cannot wait for the sequel! I loved the characters and their various relationships, which is absolutely where this book shines. I would definitely pick this up if you're looking for dark (magic) academia with dumbass characters who you all ship with each other. My polyamorous ass absolutely ate this up.
I was very disspointed by this book. It has been promoted so much by so many for being an amazing queer book that is amazing. And I have to disagree on both counts.
Blake just goes on and on in her writing style. It is conversations within conversations, often interluded with some sort of philosophical monologue that is really saying nothing and going nowhere. It felt like filler in the sense that it would be the same of even better without it, and removing it would make this book so much shorter and perhaps more palatable.
It waited far to long to come together and it is as if none of the characters are ever fully developed. The last act really isn't meant to describe characters, with an exception made for the surprise reliance of someone who was lying about their identity. Not to mention the book constantly underestimates the intelligence of the reading. Spelling out everything from parallels to character development. If you did it right I wouldn't need to be told you did it.
I also would not call this book lgbtq, sure some characters has some briefly mentioned gay thoughts. But it was like an afterthought. And I would definitely not identify this as a queer book. If anything it was a million times more about straight relationships.
And the ending wasn't even really and ending. It is obviously setting up for a second book but in a way that I never liked. Because now the book itself doesn't have an ending and can't sit on its own in space. It is now only the first book in a series instead of it being just a good book with a sequel.
DNF/Opgegeven op blz.206 (55%)
Dit boek klonk helemaal als spek naar mijn bek, maar kon het helaas niet waar maken.
Ik wilde zo graag van dit boek houden, maar nadat ik mezelf letterlijk doorheen de eerste helft had geploeterd, besloot ik met spijt dat ik niet verder kon lezen. Ik legde het boek aan de kant op bladzijde 206 van 375, net voor deel VI begon (±55%).
De schrijfstijl was zo frustrerend.
Het was precies een oefening in hoeveel lange woorden kan ik in één zin zetten, zonder iets beduidend bij te dragen. Het leest pretentieus en onsamenhangend. Dikwijls zat ik eindelijk eens goed in een scene, maar werd die dan bruut onderbroken voor een infodump of een gedachtekronkel van één van de personages, al dan niet tussen haakjes.
De wereldopbouw is zo goed als onbestaand.
De ganse introductie wordt overgeslagen en ik had eigenlijk geen idee wat die Alexandrijnse genootschap nu eigenlijk is en waarom onze personages er graag deel van zouden uitmaken.
Er is magie in de wereld, maar wat die is en hoe die werkt blijft ook veel te vaag.
De magie is ook heel divers, gezien elk hoofdpersonage zijn eigen specialiteit heeft. De krachten variëren tussen macht over de fysieke wereld zoals zwaartekracht, tijd en natuur, over het lezen van gedachten tot het beïnvloeden van emoties. Al deze klinken super interessant, maar het blijft onduidelijk hoe die krachten precies werken, hoe diep die zijn en of er ergens een limiet op zit. Soms wordt dan eens tussen de soep en de patatten gezegd dat iemand iets kan dat ik niet direct associeerde met bijvoorbeeld een gedachtelezer, wat ook enorm belemmerend werkte.
Ook zijn er blijkbaar andere wezens dan mensen in deze wereld aanwezig, zoals sirenes en saters, maar ook dat blijft flou. De informatie wordt even opgeworpen en is er dan gewoon, zonder enige uitleg, alsof Duh! we dat maar moeten weten.
Zowel het tempo als de plot van het boek zijn raadselachtig.
De tekst leest enorm traag en er gebeurt tegelijkertijd van alles en niks. Het verstrijken van de tijd is onduidelijk, plotseling is er een melding dat er weken zijn verstreken, maar we leren niets. Ganse gebeurtenissen worden overgeslagen en in één zin samengevat, terwijl over andere triviale zaken gepalaverd wordt dat het geen naam heeft.
De motivatie van de personages is ook één zwart gat. Waarom willen ze zo graag deel uitmaken van die wereld, want wij krijgen alleszins niet veel aantrekkelijks of duidelijks te lezen. Ze worden zowat in een huis gedumpt en trek jullie plan, zonder enige duiding of uitleg.
Gezien de plot nagenoeg onbestaande was, is duidelijk dat de auteur vooral haar personages het boek wou laten dragen. Daar zou ik mee kunnen leven als die personages ook goed waren uitgewerkt, wat naar mijn gevoel dus niet het geval was.
De personages worden nergens echt beschreven, wat auteur misschien niet nodig vond gezien er tekeningen van hen in het boek staan, maar ik heb toch meermaals moeten kijken eer ik de juiste tekening bij de goede persoon had gezet. De enige beschrijving die we soms hebben van de personages zijn een paar nogal stereotiepe woorden: Libby heeft een pony en friemelt nerveus, Reina is Japans en heeft een neusring, Tristan is Brits, Callum is een blonde Zuid-Afrikaan, Parissa is mooi en heeft grote borsten en Nico is Cubaans.
Elk personage is extreem onsympathiek of heeft niets waardoor ik geïnteresseerd ben meer over het te leren. Ze zijn pretentieus, oppervlakkig, twee dimensionaal en zo onrealistisch. Elk personage is gewoon zijn één bepalende kenmerk.
Misschien moest ik het boek helemaal uitgelezen hebben om een klik te hebben met de personages of het verhaal, maar na bijna 55% gelezen te hebben en echt helemaal niks te voelen, vind ik toch dat er iets schort aan het boek en het niet voor mij is.
Voor mij was dit overgehyped en verwarrend. Het boek probeert zo hard om zo slim en verfijnd te zijn, dat het uiteindelijk zelfingenomen en frustrerend overkomt. Erg jammer, want mijn Fairyloot editie is echt een prachtstuk :-(
3.5
I think this book built a love for the characters and potentially is more to set up the next one as honestly not a lot happened? yet i still enjoyed it
2.5 stars
Books, Coffee & Passion
Sadly, this book wasn't my favorite. I went into it expecting so much more.
Let's start with the positive. The characters were interesting. All of them were morally grey and unlikeable, and I enjoyed some of the character growth. The magic system was intriguing and the atmosphere was probably the biggest strength of the story. The Alexandrian society and the mysteries surrounding it were captivating and kept me invested in the story.
However, some things bothered me: too much telling vs showing, inconsistent pacing, the time jumps were weird (the execution was poorly done and what was happening off-page should've been on page), and there was so much info dumping about the subjects of their research. At points, it felt unbalanced. Additionally, the author clearly favored some characters and that annoyed me. I think the story has so much potential, though. I'll read the next one because I'm curious and hopeful that it'll get better.
I lasted 5%. This book is absolutely AWFUL. No, honestly, it's just so bad I'm almost impressed by the lack of skill or good taste. And the thing is, it probably already has about 99.9999% of its flaws ahead of me and I'm already over my breaking point with this absolute TRASH. Give me books about books. I want to find some novel where the characters work at a library or deal with book and knowledge. Why are they all so bad, though? This was pretty much a possibly even worse version of [b:Ink and Bone 20643052 Ink and Bone (The Great Library, #1) Rachel Caine https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1418350512l/20643052.SX50.jpg 39934787]. The first thing that hit me was the prose. Using random, big words to create the clunkiest sentences ever doesn't make you witty. It makes the book annoying to read and it becomes a chore to find what the actual point is under all the ‘coalesces' and ‘intractables'. There is nothing wrong with a wide vocabulary. There is a lot that's wrong with breaking out your pretentious thesaurus for every. Single. Sentence. A bunch of times it doesn't even make sense! How do you “ravenously avoid each other”? RAVENOUSLY? What? That's the wrong word. It doesn't add anything to the sentence, just a sense of fauxtellectual bullshit. Then again, that plays into this fad of “UWU, soooo dark academia, yaaaas”. It feels like the fans of it think smart people are like those studious cartoon characters. This plays into that idea perfectly; sassy back and forths between overachieving sadcases, everyone's inner monologue sounding the same level of analytical and “witty”. Everyone is Le Depression. I bet my ass they will all fuck each other as well, because UHHHH, nothing matters, “I just want to feel something”. Another funny thing. One of the main characters, exceptionally smart and educated Libby... thinks the Midas touch is a positive thing. I'm not sure what to think anymore. How am I supposed to buy this is a smart book for smart people about smart people by a smart person when we get THIS? HOW???? A book about books, where a part of one of history's most read books is totally misunderstood the way only semi-literate people would do. I think I'm too old for this. Apparently, this is a Tiktok sensation, which explains a lot to me. It is the “lip sync to crappy music” of novels all right. And this is coming from someone who loved [b:The Magicians 6101718 The Magicians (The Magicians, #1) Lev Grossman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1313772941l/6101718.SY75.jpg 6278977].
For more of my reviews, check out my blog.
When I originally added The Atlas Six to my TBR, I knew very little about it, other than the fact that it had been praised over and over by pretty much everyone. Then, as time went on, I saw more and more critical reviews, which lessened my enthusiasm in finally getting my hold from the library. More than once, I thought about removing my hold entirely, and just abandoning The Atlas Six altogether.
I'm glad I didn't.
While The Atlas Six isn't perfect, it is a wildly imaginative, delightfully twisty story. Nothing really happens in way that you expect it to. I saw more than a few people with this book on their One-Word Review Top Ten Tuesday posts this week — the one word I saw that sums it up best is betrayal. However, the betrayal I was dreading the most does not actually happen. I kept gearing up for it to, for something absolutely atrocious to happen by one character in particular, but it never did. Thank goodness. The reveal at the end...it had me hooked, I tell you. I WAS HOOKED.
That half star I've docked is because at the same time the book is twisty, almost nothing action-y happens for a good chunk of the book. The story is driven by the characters, and how they relate to one another. If you're looking for something that's full of battles, full of physical magical attacks, well, look elsewhere. You won't find it here. Around 70% of the way through the novel, I was a little bored. However, after a few chapters, things picked up again and it all caught my interest once more. There also isn't a whole lot about what they're doing at the Library. It's all just...almost hand-waved, or vaguely described. I wish there had been more about that, honestly.
The characters are what makes this novel as great as it is. Libby, Nico, Reina, Tristan, Parisa, and Callum are all vastly different, and they all have incredible personalities on the page. Without a doubt, Libby and Nico are my favorites. They twirl around each other, and are described as binary stars — always in orbit, one can't exist without the other. I love that.
I will absolutely pick up the next book in this series when it comes out later this year!
