thought I’d try something different for me. The magic in this world is so complex, sometime its intriguing and other times it just washed over me as I was too tired to engage my brain and work it out. Mainly I loved it. This is definitely a very engaging story. I enjoyed each of the 6 perspectives and but I found the end very infuriating. It was like being at a party with people whose company you’re really enjoying, but just as everything starts to get exciting, someones boring boyfriend plonks down next to you and starts a 1-on-1 chat. Shame, as the build up was really very promising.

This is a hard review to write. I enjoyed it, but basically very little happens for the first 85% of the book! To call it dark academia is misleading - it’s just academia! I did enjoy the world and seeing it all play out but the characters didn’t do enough for me to like any of them much and as I said - very little happens.

That said, I loved the last 15% or so! Finally we see it play out and I did NOT see that twist coming. Th is is the part that’s going to make me pick up book two.

Character wise, I liked Libby and Nico sparring mostly, loved Nico and Gideon, and didn’t care massively about anything else. I feel Callum was a bit poorly drawn out as a bored but powerful empath too - he says he can make you do anything but it’s only demonstrated too far in to have the impact it should have. I wanted more from Raina too.

I will be reading on, but I will probably borrow from the library rather than purchase book two. We’ll see.

3 stars.

An interesting dark academia book. I can understand the hype that has surrounded this book. I liked how all the characters were chosen although it felt a bit slow in places.

This gave me strong How To Get Away With Murder vibes with the group being chosen, and any one of them potentially having the urge to murder everyone else. Libby and Nico are definitely going to be going head to head, what with their dynamic being like Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy (though nicer.)

The six are chosen to protect the Alexandrian Society, where the library of Alexandria now resides. Only five will be selected eventually and it’s a toss up on who can’t be trusted and who is going to stop at nothing to win a spot.

I adored Nico’s character as he acts like a total Slytherin, but is actually a Hufflepuff. He’s a dramatic little badger and I love the fact that he uses the wormhole to get snacks from the kitchen. I fully expect him to have a sign up that says “Nico’s wormhole, keep out.”

Parisa scares the absolute shit out of me, as it’s like being in a room with a white tiger who hasn’t been fed in a while. She has a softer side and can be quite vulnerable, but she’s also incredibly dangerous and can do some damage.

I love how fast paced everything is. The initiation on the first night of their stay was mental and the story pulls you along before you can take a breath. Everything is thrown into the story and whilst there are charming moments, this book is definitely not a fairytale and there is a darker plot underneath. The twists are absolutely fantastic and keeps you gripped, because no one is safe and you don’t know who to trust.

This is definitely one of the best fantasy books I’ve read this year and all the characters are absolutely brilliant. Any YA/fantasy fan would really enjoy this and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s picked up for a Netflix series.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Atlas Six. Perhaps BookTok was onto something with this one because this book was interesting, clever and full of compelling characters. I believe a lot of books with as many perspectives as this one suffer for it – the characters aren’t well enough developed as they simply don’t get enough page time and there is so much happening that plot threads are left unattended. This was not the case with The Atlas Six. Each character was unique and memorable, with a distinct voice and personality. They were well developed both within their own perspective and through the others’. They bounced off of each other well, in such a way that they felt all the more human and I adored their relationships, whether they were platonic, romantic or antagonistic.

I enjoyed the mystery and intrigue surrounding the Alexandrian Society and was left reeling with the twists and reveals towards the end. The magic system was also really interesting – I’m a sucker for secret magical societies – and I loved the scientific focus. The Atlas Six is an overall character driven book (which is my personal preference), but that didn’t mean that anything else was slacking. It was gripping and thought provoking, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

I absolutely loved this book from start to finish, I could not put it down!

A superb fantasy novel that I would recommend to all.

The Atlas Six follows a secret society of magical academians all bestowed with more than they can imagine. Those who are chosen to be one of the six will have one whole year where they will have to undergo tests to prove themselves and qualify for initiation as one of them will be eliminated.

The Atlas Six is very much a character driven story but it is also plot driven too. It was well paced but it did get a bit slow around the middle. It felt like a cross between ‘Only a Monster’ and ‘King of Battle and Blood’ as there’s loads of drama going on throughout the book as things begin to heat up between the characters. The style of writing is also very similar to ‘Only a Monster’ writer, Vanessa Len’s style.

There’s quite a bit of sauciness throughout and you’ll find there’s characters that you’ll come across that you’ll either love or hate. There was definitely some shocking moments as the characters was faced with corruption in the school.

Filled with morally grey characters, an array of magic and lots of twists and turns along the way. Wonderfully written and

Definitely one for fans of dark academia. A brilliant read that I found hard to put down. I can’t wait to find out what happens in the second one!

I originally read this book when it was self-published, and wanted to see the changes that had been made since being picked up by a publisher.

This book is one I didn't expect to love as much as I did. As someone who primarily reads high fantasy, this book took me by surprise with how much I enjoyed it.

Although there is not lots of plot in this novel, the characters kept me heavily invested. They all had something that kept me invested in their story arcs and the dynamics between the group were equally as interesting. Libby, Parisa and Nico were my favourite characters to read, with their chapters always being something I looked forwards to. Blake does an excellent job of balancing six different main POVs, and by the end of the novel you feel like you know the core of the motivations behind each character's actions.

The twist at the end of the story was also masterfully crafted throughout, and this was one of the main changes I remember from the original release of the novel. While nothing major has changed, there is definitely more fleshing out to this twist, and more of a look at the motivations behind certain character's actions. I would definitely recommend that if you were thinking of not reading the revised version before reading the sequel, The Atlas Paradox, that you potentially give the revised version a read, as it definitely adds a lot to the end of the story.

Overall this book was one I thoroughly enjoyed and I am very excited to read the second book in the series when it is released later this year.

There isn't a lot to say other than the hype is real; I was worried that I would be disappointed but I definitely wasn't. Can't wait for book number 2.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review

In The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake every 10 years, 6 of the world's most uniquely talented magicans are chosen to try for the Alexandrian Society initation.  These 6 have to spend a year together, and only 5 of them will be initiated.  Atlas Blakely is the one who contacts them, and is the one they have the most dealing with, but they don't feel he's telling them everything.

There is manipulation, deception, powers being used, and all that you would expect of a group of young people trying to fight for a place.

It's not a school of magic book as it's about graduates, but there are some of the tropes, like clichs.  

I enjoyed the story, and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series!

The Atlas Six was published on 3rd March 2022 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Olivie Blake on Twitter, Instagram and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Pan Macmillan.

The Atlas Six is a well-written, thought-provoking story of magic and power, and the consequences of that power. What people would do for it.

I think it had the potential to be an amazing book but it failed on one key aspefct for me. I loved the beginning and the ending, but the middle was slow, nothing big really happened. There was no deeper development of the characters, no engaging plot events.... it was boring.

The characters are all quite interesting, as morally-grey and unique as each of them is. Naturally, I disliked Callum (and also Tristan), but his chapters were particularly interesting. I liked Libby and Nico the most, and I felt that Reina's character development wasn't given as much attention as the others.

Overall, it was a unique reading experience, and like I said, I loved the ending, it was so unexpected. So I'm most definitely interested in continuing the series. I rated this book 3.5 stars.

Just from reading the premise i thought this would be a book i'd love, but it didn't live up to that. I still enjoyed it, and it was an interesting story, but overall i was slightly disappointed. The characters, while interesting, weren't very likeable, and the mystery surrounding the titular organisation wasn't all that compelling. The system of magic created was indepth but i personally found it a bit too confusing, its a very scientific based structure, so for readers who aren't well versed in that sort of thing already it can be a bit overwhelming. That being said i enjoyed the writing style and storytelling, the author certainly is talented, it was just the subject matter that i didn't find all that incredible.

I cannot get through this book. I have been reading the most inane drivel for 3 hours and I am not even 20% through. I cannot do this

I liked the premise of this book and i do enjoy dark academia in books but the academia in this book was too much for me. I read books to escape and not have to think for a while but this book hurt my brain.

This doesn't mean this wasnt a great book. I can understand why so many people rave abourt this book. I'm hoping that if i re read it will make more sense as like i said the premise is great.

Olivie Blake makes clear from the very first page of The Atlas Six that it is set in a rather... different world. The Great Library of Alexandria was, we are told, saved from destruction by a Society which has nurtured it, and its knowledge, in secret ever since, growing wise in the ways of science and of magic. That's a terrific hook for a bookworm like me!

The 21st century that results is one in which magic is freely acknowledged (the opening of the story takes place at a graduation at the New York University of the Magical Arts), but in which the Society still exists, remaining secret and holding greater powers, greater ability, than the generality of humans.

When the story begins, six talented magicians ('medeans') are about to be recruited for a gruelling selection process at the end of which five will be chosen for stardom in the Society - allowing them wealth, power and knowledge. They will live together in a remote mansion, seeking to prove themselves, and after a year, they will select one of their number to be eliminated from the process.

Like candidates in The Apprentice, then, dynamics between the six - Libby, Nico, Reina, Tristan, Callum and Parisa - will be key. More so, perhaps, than ability or accomplishment. We're introduced to each as they are recruited, with Libby and her frenemy Nico intended, I think, to be our main way in: both awesomely powerful in physical magic, Libby insecure and introverted, Nico aristocratic and arrogant.

Chapters then follow the members of the group through, largely, a process of discovery and of alignment - while the year that The Atlas Six chronicles is ostensibly one of study and development this isn't primarily a "magic school" story and the limited descriptions of "classes" are mainly hooks for philosophical and psychological clashes, a method of fleshing out the characters of the six and their likely attitudes to one another. Both we, and the other rivals, are shown strengths and weaknesses, and we see alliances form and dissolve, romantic encounters, and especially, Libby's and Nico's struggles to balance induction into a secret society with their home lives. (Libby has a rather irritating boyfriend, Ezra, who is something of a drag on her; Nico has attachments too).

There is, I would say, a great deal of setting up going on, in fact most of this book feels as though it is grounding the six - together with Atlas himself, who's more or less in charge, and Dalton, his sidekick - and their world. There are a couple of set piece events, but most space is given to these - quite complex - relationships, approached through third person narratives in the voices of the six.

The book has been widely praised, but I think this is where it may lose some and, I have to say, where it largely lost me. It just feels as though there is so much verbal fencing (and interior monologuing about the verbal fencing). Maybe this is because I mostly experienced the story as audio. The audio production is excellent, with appropriate readers for each part, but it does underline just how much talking there is here, and how little actually happens (until the end). The effect for me was rather like listening to a group of students have one of those late night conversation, perhaps assisted by some substance or other, in which the world is put in order and everyone (slightly over) shares about their own lives.

That isn't intended as criticism, I think that some readers will just love this. The book is well written and its characters powerfully and deeply realised; I really sensed by the end that I knew them, and I also knew who I liked (Libby; Reina; Tristan) and who I didn't (Callum; Parisa) and who was most interesting (Nico). But I frequently found myself wishing that things would just move on a bit.

For many, this may not be a problem - we all enjoy different things and get into books in different ways - and possibly, on the page, this would be less of an issue anyway. But for me it did underline that a book can be terrifically written and yet still not suit.

I would point lout that the story ends on a huge cliffhanger - I've tried to write the above without spoilers, and don't want to say much more about the ending, but for the sake of balance I would add that there is something going on here apart from relationship building. Blake springs a surprise which I certainly never saw coming. Oddly, I wonder if, perhaps, that had had been slightly more prefigured than it is, the story would have had more of a hold on me?

Do you like morally grey, complex, sarcastic characters you instantly fall in love with and would defend until your last breath? Yes? Read this book.

I love a multiple POV book, I know you know that I love them, but I can’t help but bring it up every.single.TIME. Sorry, not sorry. Anyways where was I? Ahh yes, this wonderful little book that gripped me by my womanly parts and refused to let me go. What I loved the most is that the Library of Alexandria is still around in this one, not gone like in our sad little lives, but still very much there and thriving, except that it’s hidden. So this is a world in which magic is very much prevalent and honestly I kind of got lost in all of that because the author actually had me convinced that it was all real.. I couldn’t, for the life of me, sort out what was reality and what was made up scientific knowledge.

The only thing I didn’t really care for was the amount of sexual activity between all of the characters, it was just unnecessary to me, this book isn’t really marketed as a romance at all and there was a LOT of it in here and I found myself skipped over those parts to get to the magic and dark academia vibes.

If you haven’t read this book yet then you need to, pretty please and thank you. Now I’ll not-so-patiently wait for my Fairyloot edition to be delivered.

This book is a bit of a mixed bag for me. I loved the scientific and theoretical concepts being explored, however I did not not like a single character and I normally love unlikeable characters. I just didn’t care what happened to any of them so the stakes were really low for me. I would still recommend this book, it’s definitely worth a read, I however won’t be reading the sequel

This followed the teen superhero assembly X men type of storyline.

There were some interesting characters but to be honest I was getting bored by some of them (Libby and Nicolas) . I was interested by Parisa It certainly perked up with the arrival of Atlas.

I got as far as a trial which was near the beginning which involved a shoot out but then didn't go any further. Sorry I guess I'm not the target audience I prefer a Garth Nix Old Kingdom book or Genevieve Cogman to this.

However it has proved very popular with our customers so that's why I give it 3 stars as I am sure that it is a special book for other readers.

This book totally took me by surprise. I didn’t think I’d love it as much as I did. I’m usually someone who prefers rigid world building and a plot driven book but this was just vibes. Olivie Blake managed to pull that off, however, through her lyrical writing and compelling characters. This book can solely be defined by its characters and they all feel uniquely complex and real. The only thing I can fault is the South African representation. Callum just doesn’t read like a rich white boy from Cape Town. South Africans are so distinct and you just don’t get that from this book. Overall, I’m excited to read the next book to see what happens!

I feel like I’ve been hearing about this dark academia fantasy novel for years and when Sarah and I came to throwing around some suggestions for the titles we’d focus on for season 2 of ‘The Dark Academicals’, ‘The Atlas Six’ went straight to the top of the list.

Following the self-published release in 2020, the book exploded on the platform so thoroughly that it was picked up by Tor and given a professional refresh and republished last Autumn with a stunning new cover, a Waterstones exclusive edition and another for the sequel that’s coming this September, ‘The Atlas Paradox’.

Secrets. Betrayal. Seduction.
Welcome to the Alexandrian Society.

When the world’s best magicians are offered an extraordinary opportunity, saying yes is easy. Each could join the secretive Alexandrian Society, whose custodians guard lost knowledge from ancient civilizations. Their members enjoy a lifetime of power and prestige. Yet each decade, only six practitioners are invited – to fill five places.

Contenders Libby Rhodes and Nico de Varona are inseparable enemies, cosmologists who can control matter with their minds. Parisa Kamali is a telepath, who sees the mind’s deepest secrets. Reina Mori is a naturalist who can perceive and understand the flow of life itself. And Callum Nova is an empath, who can manipulate the desires of others. Finally there’s Tristan Caine, whose powers mystify even himself.

Following recruitment by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they travel to the Society’s London headquarters. Here, each must study and innovate within esoteric subject areas. And if they can prove themselves, over the course of a year, they’ll survive. Most of them.

Sounds brilliant, right? But is is dark academia? That’s what we were on a mission to find out.


Regardless of whether ‘The Atlas Six’ is dark academia or not, it’s an extremely fun read. There’s a lot of wade through in the writing style, the set up and the characterisation (and I think that could have undergone a further edit and made it a far better book, but that’s another issue) so it’s rather dense and there’s not a huge amount of movement in terms of plot, but it’s endlessly compelling and the characterisation is so strong that I quickly grew to hate some of them, and love a few others.

It’s a real achievement to balance six POVs and Blake does it beautifully. Each voice is distinct and there’s none of that ‘ugh, time to suffer through this POV while I wait for the next’ - they’re well balanced and there’s heaps of intrigue.

But for us, ‘The Atlas Six’ is just not dark academia. There are elements related to dark academia: discussions of wealth and status, murder, intense academic study and a higher education setting, but these fade into the background of the mystery elements, the fantasy and world building. The atmosphere and the ~vibes~ that really make something dark academia in the definitions we’ve surmised in the podcast just weren’t there. We explore this and much more in this week’s ‘The Dark Academicals’ episode.