A fantasy novel in which six of the most talented magicians are offered a study fellowship within the Alexandrian Society where it's custodians guard ancient civilisations lost knowledge.
It is beautifully written with dark vibes throughout. The story s told via multiple points of view, with lots of internal musings, which initially I found irritating but once the characters were more developed found it added to the atmosphere and kept me from truly knowing who to trust.
I would have loved more on the library itself as this felt almost an afterthought, as a prop to bring the characters together. Perhaps that will come in the next book.

This is an interesting one, in the sense that Im still figuring out what I read. I am in the dark on much of it still. Oddly alot happened and yet it didnt? We have more questions than answers . (which does feel intentional; it will be a trilogy). This may be due to the ideas being explored are so expansive yet the actual plot never moves on from the basic premise which is; Six MCs are approached to join a society due to their exceptional magical abilities. But in order to be initiated they first have two years to prove they have what it takes to earn one of the 5 spots available. (We only follow their first year here) We are told the society protects knowledge from the "lost" library of Alexandria and such. But its very clear there is something more to it. However its not clear if that something is nefarious or not. Against this backdrop we have six unapologetically unlikeable characters, who have to navigate their mistrust of each other and the situation, to make it to the end. The paranoia in the pages bled in to my own psyche and though I warmed to some characters over the course of the book, I still didnt trust a single one of them, having the multiple POVs only reinforced that. It lives up to its Dark Academia credentials; the characters are far too intelligent for their own good and very self absorbed. It made for an interesting read. With characters like that you cant predict WHAT they would do next, since they follow their own moral compass.
Blake has created a place where knowledge, science, magic, power are all seamlessly intergrated that it makes it easy to buy into. I worried at the start that the prose was a bit heavy handed, but once I fully immersed into the story it flowed much better. This has felt like a great start to the series, I now have a good grasp of the world, and understand the characters better. I am intrigued to see how all the things Blake has put in motion here will play out in book 2. I think its a must read for Fantasy/Dark Academia fans and anyone who likes morally grey/outright Dark characters.

Olivie Blake is the type of author we’ll be speaking of for years to come and The Atlas Six is a literary masterpiece.

This book was absolutely exceptional. The dark academia vibes are felt throughout and it provided such a wonderfully atmospheric tone to the entire novel. The writing style was so interesting and paired perfectly with the vibes throughout, creating one of the best books of this year.

The Atlas Six is the famous TikTok sensation and must read dark Academia/ fantasy novel of the year! Perfect for fans of Ninth House & A deadly education.
I was lucky enough to read the arc and I absolutely loved it!

The Atlas Six centers around a secret society of that initiates 5 new members every 10 years or so. Six candidates with the rarest powers are chosen to compete for a spot, like a fellowship, but with a thrilling shocking twist.

The book begins when six of the uniquely talented magicians are selected to earn a place in The Alexandrian Society, the eternally powerful secret society in the world. The chosen will secure a life of power and prestige beyond their wildest dreams. But there’s a catch…

This richly imaginative story is amazing in every way but especially because of its characters. They are fantastic! Meticulously and thoroughly written, dynamic and vibrant characters that spin themselves into complex webs of relationships whilst striving for knowledge and power. This book will completely immerse you with its mesmerising, atmospheric narrative!

Why I loved it:
> An Intriguing magic system
> Fantastic Multiple character pov
> Atmospheric and immersive
> A Mysterious and gripping plot
> A sensational Character Driven story
> Sexy Vibes, Dark Academia Vibes
> An exceptional cast of Characters
> Gasping moments and all the feels of a good mystery novel

Every 10 years, the six most talented magicians (medeians) from around the world are selected to be considered for initiation nto the ancient Alexandrian Society. After a year of hard work and research, only five will be initiated. Can the latest six survive a year of the toughest comeptition they will ever face and gain access to knowledge and power beyod what anyone could imagine?

3.5/5⭐️

This was a very ambitious concept and while I did enjoy it for the most part, it didn't quite hit the mark for me. The first half of the book was a lot of unnecessary exposition on each character's back story and family history-in that every interection would cause their narrative POV to reflect on how it reminded them of how their dad treated them as a child etc. It just felt clunky in places and slowed down the pace of the narrative, I spent the first half to two thirds of the book waiting for what I could see it was building towards to actually materialise on the page. Even when it finally did, it felt somewhat rushed, a bit anti-climactic.
That said, there were definitely elements that I enjoyed. Blake's writing is really beautiful and I see so much potential for it to grow and flourish in future books. The magic system in this world was very interesting, and quite complex (I would have liked to have seen more time dedicated to exploring it, but hopefully in the sequel). Each character's individual powers essentially worked like its own magic system, with its own rules and quirks-there is so much to explore there.
As someone who enjoys a good character driven story, backstory infodumps aside, I did enjoy the exploration of each of these characters, their interactions with each other and with people outside the six. Again though, similarly to the magic systems, it was almost too ambitious a goal. Certain characters fell to the wayside to be hastily brought back when the story required it.

Ultimately I think it is probably just a book that is not going to be to everyone's taste. It is heavy on the dark academia vibes, with a cast of characters suffering through personal, academic, and existential crises. To me, it felt like a very long prelude to a bigger story, the final action almost rushed into the end to make it feel like a complete book in a series rather than the first act in a larger book.
I enjoyed the concept and a number of the characters have piqued my interest enough to want to pick up the sequel, and I would definitly like to see more from Blake's writing to see how it may grow in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for my e-arc of this title, received in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited about this book. I added it to my wishlist quite some time ago, when it was still available as a self-pub book and I really hated that I didn't get it before it was take offline to be published regularly. I was therefore really happy when I found out that it was gonna be a Fairyloot book and I was even happier when the publisher granted me an arc for this book via Netgalley. So, last Monday I got started and I couldn't wait to meet the characters and to discover the story.

Maybe those high expectations were partly the reason I didn't enjoy the book as much as I hoped. Objectively I can see that this book is brilliant. The characters are interesting, layered and complicated. The science is very well done and thought out and it blends effortlessly with the magic, smudging the line between the two of them. At the end of the book all the missing pieces of the puzzle click nicely and a lot of questions are answered.

The book just didn't really touch me. If you're the kind of reader reading a book to just meet interesting characters and to get a clever story, you will most likely love this book. If you're more like me and really want to feel something while reading, you might end up slightly disappointed just like me. It's hard to pinpoint why I didn't really feel the story, why I couldn't really connect with these characters. I think it's because those people are so scientific that their emotions are clouded a little.

There was a lot of inner monologue in this book and I loved how all these characters dared to ask themselves questions, dared to wonder, dared to doubt and search. But none of that inner monologue was really about what they were feeling and the emotions they were having didn't really reach my heart and soul. Just like I was slightly disappointed that the setting of the story isn't really explored. We never get to see the library in action, it never felt like I set foot into the library.

It's without a doubt a brilliant and clever book and I'm pretty sure loads of people will love it. It just wasn't the kind of book I currently prefer.

Firstly a huge thank you to Tor Books, MacMillan Publishing and NetGalley for the e-arc for The Atlas Six…I was a bit dubious about this book having heard mixed reviews, but started it with a clear mind. Talk about dark academia fantasy, I definitely picked up The Raven Boys and Ninth House vibes, which I believe other readers have too.
The writing itself is droll, with a dry humour that serves to reinforce the whole dark academia vibe, and delivers a clear introduction to the magical system that is key to the world building and the overall plot. I actually enjoyed the pace of the book, time was taken to introduce the key protagonists, there are of course the six candidates, Atlas Blake and Dalton (I never actually picked up his surname!) plus others, all of whom are well introduced including details of their backstories and relevance.
The plot itself is brilliantly summarised in the book synopsis – The Alexandrian Society has recruited six of the world’s most powerful medeians (magicians,) to join their society through a secret training ritual for one year, after which only five will be initiated into the society itself. The students are recruited to study magic, further develop their skills and abilities and ultimately unite for the benefit of the society.
As I said, I enjoyed the slow developmental pace, it allowed the characters to grow and develop alongside each other through the calendar year, gradually revealing deeper facets of personality, skill and magical potential across all the candidates. However, this book definitely delivers more than this and there are some key plot twists that had me ‘shooketh’! In particular, the twist at the end that definitely lays out an even more exciting premise for book two.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this book, I enjoyed it as a read and must admit to holding a real soft spot for Gideon…I can’t wait and really, really hope to hear more from him in book two!

Did I think this was going to be amazing? Yes. Was it painful to read and very much disappointing? Also, yes.

This book is pretty but lacks substance and depth. I think I see what the author was going for but the characters simply ended up pretentious and the style was a bit obnoxious overall. I hate to say that because it's clear that this is a story dear to the hearts of a lot of people, but I just can't force myself to say I liked this at all. The first chapter left me intrigued but then it just felt too much like a performance that had absolutely no meaning. On top of it all, none of the characters even like each other (in a good way), so tell me why I should care?

This is a great counter example of "show, don't tell." I see this being super successful, and I'm usually the first to say "this just wasn't my cup of tea" but the more I think about it and the more I'm convinced it's a universal waste of time.

Where to start with The Atlas Six? First a little history – having started off life as a self-published novel, it has become a ‘TikTok fantasy phenomenon’, before being picked up by Tor Books and Pan Macmillan and published this March.

I think I’ll start by giving you a little insight into the first plot point which really summed up the entirety of my reading experience. Don’t worry - there’s nothing too spoiler-y here. We start by meeting the six most powerful magicians who have been chosen to become caretakers for the Lost Library of Alexandria. We are told it’s a competition, with only 5 places being offered at the end of the year. The first task is to create some magical wards to defend the library from invaders. The candidates spend ages having a long-winded debate and measuring contest about how they don’t want to work together, and then that night, people break in and they have to work together to defeat the intruders. Now this in itself is quite interesting, and I finished that chapter wondering what wards they were going to put up, whether they’d see what previous teams had done, what secrets they’d discover about the library or if other attempts would be made to break in. I was also left excited in thinking that if this was the ‘first task’, what other trials would they be asked to do, what else would they be learning? Then, all of a sudden, we time-jump to a few weeks later and there are a few mentions to all those wards they’d spent ages creating but we are then left in limbo and it isn’t really mentioned again.

Herein lies one of my (many) issues with this book, whenever something interesting is on the verge of happening, we suddenly get a flash-forward to a few weeks later when all the meat of the topic has already been sorted out. There is no competition, no tasks to complete and no learning going on that’s expanded to the reader. All the candidates seem to do all day is read, or occasionally try out some experiments but without any reason or stakes this becomes confusing and dull. Don’t get me wrong, I love to read and will do so any chance I get, but I am aware that it is very much not a spectator sport. At the end of the book, it becomes very much about what the characters would sacrifice to be a part of the Society, but to me there’s very little draw, and all the candidates saying they’d do anything to read a couple of books all day felt unrealistic, even for me!

The characters should have been interesting; there’s an empath, a telepath, a naturalist and two physical magic creators, plus someone whose magic is frustratingly vague even until the end. However, they are written in such a flat and cliched manner you lost all sympathy for them. Callum and Tristan are written so similarly I had issues remembering who was who throughout the book. Rhodes and Nico are the epitome of the classic school playground crush – pretending to hate each other but actually caring deeply. Most of their dialogue had me rolling my eyes uncontrollably. Reina is the only interesting character but seems to be completely side-lined and Parisa seems to just be an excuse to write in a few spicy scenes – she has some kind of hidden agenda but we are never let in to what this is.

The whole book suffers from a ‘tell you, not show you’ philosophy which makes for a very dull read. There are entire chapters dedicated to repetitive conversations that go round and round to nowhere. When the end twist is revealed it is just a ‘here’s what you missed’ chapter just catching you up on all of the information that you wouldn’t have been able to guess or is even hinted at throughout the rest of the book. Past the first third it just became a major slog, devoid of action and full of boring dialogue trying to sound more intelligent that it was. The setting of the library of Alexandria should have been really interesting, but it was so poorly sketched I struggled the picture it accurately at all.

Overall, The Atlas Six still feels very much like a self-published novel and should have been subjected to a lot more editing and re-drafting before being published. I can’t blame Tor for picking up a title that had a large social media following but I personally can’t see the hype and certainly will not be picking up the next instalment. Thank you to NetGalley & Pan Macmillan – Tor for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for a (very) honest review.

Yes... I gave into the hype. The Atlas Six was a book I was incredibly wary to pick up, it turns out for semi-valid reasons, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be definitely picking up the sequel. Unless you've lived under a rock for the past few months then you will have already heard about this book so I'll make this a quick overview. 6 people picked by the Alexandrian Society for their skills, told they have one year to qualify for initiation when they will have the full wealth of knowledge the library holds open to them. The catch? Only 5 will make it. What follows is a story filled with vivid characters and a not too well built magic system, but a story that I loved nonetheless.

The strength of this book most definitely comes from it's characters. We spend a lot of time learning about their pasts and presents, what types of magics they have, how they came to be selected by the society. Libby, Nico, Tristan, Callum, Reina & Parisa are all selected because they have skills that no one else possesses, they are the elite in their own specific magical skill set's but personality wise, they couldn't be more different. Some characters I instantly bonded with, others took a little time and some I just never warmed too at all but they are all morally grey, some slightly darker than others, and they have all joined the society to further their own goals, for their own personal reasons. If Blake does one thing incredibly well it's write vivid & complicated characters that absolutely jump off the page, which is good because they absolutely save the book.

The magic system was... under-developed to say the least. We almost get chucked in at the deep end, there's no easing into the world, or magic and while I understood and enjoyed reading about most of the characters using their powers, there were some that I just couldn't get my head round. There's also a whole bunch of unanswered questions. Where does the magic come from? How come only certain people can access it? I should say that, even though we lacked a lot of information it never quite annoyed me enough to stop reading and, thanks to the strength of the characters, I found it near impossible to put down.

The writing style was a little too descriptive in parts and there was a whole bunch of introspection that just wasn't needed, didn't further the plot and could have easily been cut. So I guess I'm saying this book could be a whole bunch shorter and I would have enjoyed it more. It takes a big portion of the book before we get to anything really 'interesting,' and I do think that the fact one of the characters has to die should have been kept a secret because it just didn't pack the emotional punch I think it was meant to when it was revealed. That being said, towards the end of the book we get an additional POV that adds a spanner into the works and ensures that you and the characters question everything you've been told so far. This definitely made an impact on whether I would want to pick up the second book & made sure I raced through the last few chapters.

The romance was messy, as you would imagine with a bunch of young people being stuck together for a year. It got a little steamy in parts, but there was only really one romance arc that had any true impact on the story. I've seen a few people's pairings and some of them I get, some of them I don't at all, so I'm intrigued to see where the authors going to take them in the second book.

For a book that lacked in pacing and could have done will significantly more development in parts I genuinely enjoyed it & gave it 3.5 stars. If you, like me, enjoy character focused reads then this is definitely the book for you. However, if you prefer a more plot focused approach, you might want to give this one a miss. I'm excited for book two, especially seeing as it's out later this year and will definitely be picking it up.

As is my usual way, I went into this book with very few expectations. I knew this was dark academia-ish and that TikTok had loved it and that was about it.
I will kick this review off by saying I can see why people would like this book, and I'm not disparaging those for whom this was a favourite, but for me this was an incredibly slow story where I didn't feel like any of the characters had a particularly unique voice beyond distinct swear words, an issue which led to everything feeling like a collection of indistinguishable people using very long words to seem smart - and I did my time at Oxford I didn't necessarily need to experience that again.
There were some scenes that I thought worked really well - particularly the dream sequences, and the ideas behind some elements of the plot were certainly interesting. The execution of this however felt too drawn out and I wonder if a tighter edit might have made this book sing slightly more?
This is also more of a personal thing but I feel like while this leans into the aesthetic of Dark Academia I'm not sure that it captures the ideas of the genre, in the sense of critiquing academia? Yes the characters are learning and things are not exactly light but it didn't quite hit home in the way other works have. If you're here for the aesthetic then that's 100% valid and totally fine but I found myself wanting more.
I do have hopes for the second book, and it's undeniable that this series has a solid fanbase so there are people who love it and to them I say 'fantastic'. For me I shall wait and see what the second book holds but I won't be dashing out to order 47 special editions....
I received a free digital review copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

The Atlas Six is full of suspense, intrigue and magic... You literally won't be able to turn the pages fast enough to find out what happens next.

Bringing together the dark academia vibes with a touch of magic, it's no wonder this book is a reader's favourite. It's got a very intense situation, a host of characters that may or may not be willing to murder one another, and more misdirection than I was prepared for which made for quite the surprise. While I think it's fair to say that not a great deal of action happens, it's definitely a tale about character interaction and dynamics more than it is about what's happening around them (I sense this is more to come in book two).

So, we have six budding students, selected by a mysterious man named Atlas, to try and pass an initiation year to join the Library of Alexandria and go on to be the world's best medeians. The issue is, only five can survive. So, who to remove from the group? Perhaps Nico or Libby, physicists by nature and competitive to the end. There's Tristan, son to a more criminal medeian whose own power is the most untapped. Maybe Reina who has more use as a battery than for her actual power and affinity to plant life. Or Callum or Parisa - both prepared to do what it takes, especially when they can manipulate your thoughts.

Everything about this read is fast paced, the plot points taking the read in surprising directions and the overall theming just unsettling enough to keep you going back for more. I think Nico and Libby are my favourites at the moment, but it's still difficult to choose as the others bring so much to the group. Parisa is definitely the risk taker and I'm intrigued to what lengths she'll go to to uncover the truth. Particularly given the last portion of the novel - there's a LOT to find out going forward...

My only complaint is how long it took to get going; I appreciate there's a fair amount of set up to get the characters together into the same room, but I did wonder what was even happening for a good portion of the book. However, with that all out of the way, the plot progressed quickly and will certainly benefit from that going forward.

I'm definitely intrigued to see where this story goes next and whether the plan will actually succeed. Blake's taken on quite an ambitious plot line - one to keep an eye on.

This book has a great premise and interesting ideas, and I enjoyed reading it, but it was a bit of a slog occasionally when the pacing dipped. The language was sometimes convoluted but all in all there was enough atmosphere and intrigue to hold my attention.

I had seen The Atlas Six knocking around socials for a while so requested it because it sounded like the kind of book I would enjoy. Sadly, and I seem to be in the minority here, I didn’t like it at all. I found it to be a lot of telling but without very much showing, and I couldn’t get on with the characters at all.

The Atlas Six is a complex read whose plot is woven together like a spiders web. So much is happening, all of the time, that you really need to concentrate to ensure you follow the story. There were occasions where the science and magic were baffling and I felt that I just didn’t understand it, however that also felt like part of the charm and it certainly didn’t prevent me from enjoying the book.

There are a group of characters to follow and we get the story from numerous (possibly 9) points of view, and whilst this could be considered confusing, it never felt that way. In fact seeing the story unfold from each perspective added to the overall storytelling and allowed the reader to see things they wouldn’t normally have seen if it only had one or two POVs. The characters were well written, diverse and complicated. They each brought something different to the story but they weren’t necessarily likeable. In fact some were horrible! I definitely had my favourites!

Normally I would say the pacing of this book was a little on the slow side, however as I mentioned earlier, there was so much happening that it didn’t feel too slow or like it was dragging. It felt like the pacing was right for such a complicated subject matter.

There were so many twists and turns in this book, some I saw coming and others I did not. It felt like true dark academia and had just the right amount of sexiness and spice to keep my interest. It also poses a number of moral dilemmas which definitely make you think about what you would do in that situation.

Overall it was well worth the read and I’m looking forward to book two.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher (Pan Macmillan) for providing a copy of the book for review. All opinions are my own and provided willingly.

This was unfortunately not quite what I expected for a book that has been hyped up as much as it has. The concept sounds fantastic, but the way it was executed did not do much for me. Some of these the characters' powers are interesting, and I love a story with multiple pov's which probably set me with up with too high expectations from the start, but I didn't connect with the characters themselves and some of their personal storylines were too predictable.

The Atlas Six is already a big success, and I think a lot of readers will really enjoy this dark academia fantasy. It has interesting world building and a great premise, but didn't hit the mark for me. Unfortunately a book with great potential that didn't quite live up to the hype.

If you like dark academia and are more in it for the vibes I recommend giving it a go!

Wow wow wow! I absolutely ADORED this book and can see why the hype behind it was so huge on TikTok! The world building was phenomenal, as were the characters and this whole book just had me gripped from the start and wanting MORE MORE MORE!

There were some truly brilliant things about this book. I adored the magical theory and specialisms, the experimentation, and a fair few of the characters. I liked the society and the intrigue and the elimination plot a great deal.

But despite it being seemingly right up my street, it was a bit slow in places and I wasn’t totally gripped. It certainly wasn’t one of those books where I had to stay up past midnight desperate to read it. And I felt like the end reveal was quite rushed. And the Ezra stuff came out of nowhere.

A good book, and an interesting book, but not a spectacular book. I’ll read the sequel, but I’m not beside myself desperate for it to come out.

Firstly thank you so much to Netgalley for the e-arc!! 🥰❤️

The Atlas Six follows six highly exceptional medians that are picked by a super secretive group to almost form an X-Men type Uber cool library dwelling group. There’s sexual tension wherever you look in the book (I really loved it 😏😏) and they can’t really tell who’s more powerful than who which makes the inner power struggle within the six even really interesting.

I absolutely adore the layout of the book - the characters take turns having chapters allowing us to see things from their perspective, this allows you to completely engulf yourself into each characters psyche at that time in the book. We get a feel for them and of what they were doing before the six meet as well which sets the book up brilliantly.

This book is absolutely exceptional. I went in with really high expectations knowing that lots of people had really enjoyed it 🥰🥰 it’s already one of my favourite books of 2022 and it is only February!! Please pick it up, it’s brilliant 😍😍

LIKES
☀️ All the characters had very distinct personalities and traits specific to them, which made it much easier to remember who was who, even with six POVs.
☀️ It gave me The Umbrella Academy vibes which I’m a big fan of.
☀️ Each of their powers were really interesting to read about.
☀️ It intrigued me enough to make me want to read the next instalment of the series.
☀️ Olivie’s writing is beautifully vivid. I truly felt as though I’d been transported into The Atlas Six world.

DISLIKES
🌙 I’d have liked to have known about the purpose of the group all being brought together. I know it’s likely to be covered in book two, but I felt I needed it now in order to feel fully invested.
🌙 The pacing was very slow. I definitely could have used more action, or less pages.