In a world where magic exists, six of the finest young medians with untapped potential are scouted for a position to join the Alexandrian Society - but only 5 of them will remain at the end of the end, and an elimination round. Nico and Libby, friendly enemies in constant orbit around each other are talented physicists, capable of astounding bouts of physical magic, while Reina, a naturalist, controls the life force of everything surrounding her. Callum, a cold and calculating empath capable of ripping apart other's emotions, and Parisa, a telepath able to see the darkest secrets in a mind are terrifying on another level. And then there's Tristan, running from a violent upbringing, able to see things for what they truly are yet still in the dark to the true force of his own magic.

It was fun to finally pick up this hotly talked about book, and I really didn't know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by the draw of the story from the first few chapters, and I enjoyed how a glimpse of each character in the first part of the book really began to build up the story for the reader, and introduce the main players arranging themselves on the chess board of the society.

There is something very darkly sexy about this book, and while reading it I was always aware of this chemistry just simmering away beneath every page and words spoken between all the characters. I genuinely wondered at one point if I was being a bit of creep hoping some of them would hop into bed together, but then a threesome happened and I was happy and also satisfied that I was meant to be feeling all that chemistry. I like hos sexuality also feels to very fluid within the story as well, and no one character seems to fall in line with the straight and narrow. The book itself is all sorts of shades of grey, with the characters really thinking about life, the science behind it, what makes humans human, and the dimensions of the world itself - and through all of this the actions of the characters examine what makes people behave the way they do. Does ability determine your nature, or does nature determine ability?

There were definitely some speed bumps here for me as well. Unfortunately it was not a perfect read by any means. I did find myself just wanting more of well, everything. I felt like we giving a wishy washy way of understanding this world and the magic - they have magic, they can use it, and that's about that - whereas I would have liked to know more about there what and whys of how this all worked. The same with the society - it was just this figure up above for a lot of the time, and it was hard to know what was really going on most of the time.

While I enjoyed getting to know our characters with the separate POVs, I do also wonder if we really got to know them and I don't think we did. I felt like there was a space between the reader and the characters within the POVs - the only one I feel like we truly felt everything he was going through was Tristan and that's because from the start he was so troubled, and fragile and easily led by others (which was disappointing in its own way as I really felt like he was going to be a strong one!).

The pace of the book, and the timeline was also confusing. A whole year passed in this book, yet I can't tell what happened bar a few conversations, some sex scenes and a moment when time freezes. The timeline felt fast, but the pace of the book was slow. When I'm reading a book about magic, and anything revolving around magic lessons or education, I like to be there for it all. I want to see the curriculum, the book lists, the timetable - not glimpses here and there of a conversation within a lesson (though it's a stretch calling them lessons and the society feels more like PhD level where everyone just does their own research). The reader was never aware of the passing of time until it was dropped into a paragraph in the middle of a chapter that a couple of months had passed, and I'd feel confused and disappointed we didn't get to really see those months. Some of the moments in the POVs/chapters as well felt a bit scattered, and I think the book struggled to hold everything together exactly the way the author wanted. It felt a little like there were moments in the book that needed to be organised a little bit better, mapped out properly and controlled. I'm eager to see if this is better in book two.

The ending, while not really surprising to me, was definitely intriguing if not slightly rushed. I will pick up book two out of pure curiosity for what happens next.

The Atlas Six is my first foray into reading Dark Academia, and I found the the world building and magic system really interesting. It’s philosophical, and scientific which makes it both believable and realistic. It’s a magic system that you could see sitting alongside our current lives. However I did find the physics and philosophy of the magic a little too much at points. I felt like I needed a degree to grasp some of the concepts. It’s a book that needs a lot of concentration and focus to read.

Another thing I liked about The Atlas Six was it’s morally grey characters, it’s interesting and refreshing to have a group of narrators that are all unreliable, suspicious and full of secret agendas. Although the downside of this was that I felt like I couldn’t really connect to the characters, and some of the narrators I outright disliked. However, despite all of this I did enjoy the blurred lines of good and bad, ethical and evil as it made for interesting dynamics in the group, I never really knew what I could expect to read on the next page. The characters are really diverse too with with lots of nationalities and cultures represented as well as hints of LGBTQ+ characters, and mental health issues.

There was a little touch of romance in this book, but it wasn’t a focus and I felt like it was a little lacklustre. I felt more connection from characters that were not together, than characters that were, and I was left wishing for a little bit more, especially considering this book is primarily focused on character, and relationships. To be fair it felt a little strange to me that romance was mostly absent considering this book is about a group of 20 somethings all living in the same house for a year.

To add to this I also personally felt like there was too much of a focus on character, and not enough on plot. The characters are well developed and each POV is very unique, but there wasn’t a lot of actual plot until the last quarter of the book. I found it hard to really get sucked in to the story, and it didn’t help that the pacing got very slow in the middle and I was left wondering where this was actually going for a while. There was one combat scene towards the start of the book but even that fell a little flat for me as the most interesting thing to happen in that scene actually happened off page. The last quarter did make up for it a little though, with lots of shocking twists and reveals that made me a little more eager to pick up the book and read.

As I hit the end of the book though, it did feel a little unfinished. I know there is another book The Atlas Paradox which is out this October, but it felt like we had stopped in the middle of the plot, with nothing resolved and most of the secrets still to uncover. So although I am not jumping to get a copy of the sequel, I feel like I have no choice but to read it some point in order to continue on and finish the story.

SUMMARY

All in all The Atlas Six wasn’t quite what I’d been expecting and I felt like it didn’t quite meet the hype. I know the book isn’t designed to be a light easy read, but sometimes I found it too much, a little bit pretentious even at times? And although it’s fine for a book to be character driven, this one felt like it was character driven at the expense of plot for most of the novel. However as I mentioned above I did really like the realistic magic system, and the moral-greyness of the characters. The twists and reveals at the end were intriguing too, so I do think I will read the next book at some point, out of curiosity to what will happen next. Part of me wonders (and hopes) that this is one of those books that is so carefully plotted that it will only really make sense once I have read the next book and therefore giving me a little more appreciation for this book that I have heard so much about. But at the same time I will not be rushing to grab a copy of the The Atlas Paradox when it comes out in October either.

Loved the original world Blake has created the characters are wonderful and I cannot wait for the next two

Thank you, NetGalley and publisher, for turning my skepticism of a hyped book into spectacular luck by providing me with a free copy of Olivie Blake’s The Atlas Six. Despite it being an urban fantasy, the book felt like a low-key psycho-thriller. And even though it started slowly, halfway through the convoluted plot truly ensnared me. If you’re not into purple prose, proceed with caution, but trust me when I say, that’s the kind of writing the story and setting need to create a very pleasing atmosphere.

Allow me to namedrop favorites – Nico and Gideon. Least favorite – Callum, but the story needed an obvious villain to retain its mystery. If you want a world of mind games, schemes, and backstabbing, go pick up The Atlas Six and prepare yourself for what I hope to be an even more exciting sequel – The Atlas Paradox.

The Atlas Six was an incredible book, with a dark academia theme. It was exciting and thrilling, although character driven, therefore please consider this before reading. Overall, it was an incredible book, but may not be for everyone as took a while to fully grasp the concept, and the plot was vaguely confusing.

Quick little disclaimer before we get into the review. This book wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I thought it was more of a trial competition - like the kind me see in Throne of Glass - rather than an academic style competition so, I just wanted to point that out in case anyone else had the same misconception. I don't know where I got that from to be honest but, I did find it surprising how strong the dark academia elements in this are because of it.

That seems like a good place to start. If you like dark academia style characters then I think you will like this book. The characters all display that kind of arrogance and desire to the best that is common within that genre and I think that worked really well in the context of this ruthless, secret society. Like a lot of other dark academia stories, this is also very much a character-driven story and there's really not all that much action until the latter part of the book. We have six characters in here as the main protagonists so, it does take a little while to get to grips with them all. Certain characters are also fleshed out more than others and therefore, I found that I liked some more than I liked others. My favourites were probably Libby, Nico and Tristan though I do believe that it was due to the writing style that that was the case.

The story is told through the six different perspectives of the characters and in each one we hear more about their opinions on each other than we do any personal details about themselves. This was a really interesting approach as we have essentially six pretty unreliable narrators as they're all caught up in how they feel about each other to get to the facts. They all have different agendas and purposes so it is cool to see how these interweave and clash with each other. However, as I was saying, because of this you become more attached to some characters than others. In all honesty, I think the reason that I didn't like this book as much as everyone else seems to was because I was less attached to the characters. I felt a detachment from them meaning that I thought they were okay but didn't particularly love reading about that. Because this is such a character driven story it definitely hindered my enjoyment overall.

As well as that, I found that the plot twist ending was rather lacklustre as its very obviously signposted throughout the novel. Olivie Blake tried to hint at something throughout and instead of being subtle, it's dancing right in front of your face. There were just too many instances where a certain character was talked about that it ruined the ending. It was supposed to be a plot twist but instead, fell flat. The last 50-100 pages or so lost my interest because of that. I saw it coming a mile away.

That being said, there are some interesting discussions taking place within the novel. There are some big moral questions within this book and I can't give too much detail because it goes into spoiler territory, but the line of morality and what becomes immoral is explored in a unique way. I really enjoyed that aspect of it. As well as that, there are conversations around who should hold power of knowledge and the monopoly of knowledge by one class - or society. I found these perhaps even more interesting as it really spoke to class divides and built a sense of mystery and intrigue around the society itself. It left the reader wondering about the true intentions of the society and did draw my attention.

If I was to describe this book in one word it would be....potential. I think The Atlas Six is an okay start to what could be a great series. The concept is definitely interesting and the plot does have some elements that I am intrigued about so, despite the somewhat negative aspects of this review I will continue with the series. I did like reading this book, I just didn't love it and therefore, settled on a solid three star rating.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

"The Atlas Six" has been on my radar well before I heard it was getting trad published. As soon as it became available to request on NG I was super excited. This book is a very different read to what I pick up normally, but the premise sounded so intriguing that I couldn't pass it up and it gave me the opportunity to step out of my reading comfort zone as well.

I'll be honest, I struggled with a good 60% of this book. I normally love multiple povs but I found the constant changes jarring, I didn't feel like I had the time to connect with each character and get to know them before being pulled out of their perspective and into someone else's. The plot felt very slow going as well.

The last 40% picked up for me. I started getting invested in the characters and anxious to where the plot was heading. There were some twists and turns I didn't see coming and the ending has left me intrigued for book 2!

Overall, I'm very happy I decided to give this book a go, I'll definitely be picking up book 2 and I would recommend this novel to fans of dark academia with diverse characters.

This was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I loved the dark academia setting, that each of the main six characters had their own unique magical ability and I liked the scientific approach to the magic system. However The Atlas Six suffers when it comes to plot. The plot is, most of the time, meandering apart from the final 50ish pages. The mystery that is threaded throughout the story was not enough to keep me interested and I found that I kept reading just to see what the hype was about. I'll admit the ending was quite satisfying but not worth the 300 page slog to get there.

I was eagerly awaiting THE ATLAS SIX after hearing about all the hype. It sounded right up my street: magicians competing for a place in a secret society that is protecting the lost Library of Alexandria, What could be more incredible?

Well...

The characters are interesting, though towards the end, I realised how little time we spent in Callum's POV; perhaps a deliberate choice, to distance the reader towards what is the expected finale of his arc. They're all flawed, though Libby was my favourite: her anxiety, and desire to prove herself, was the most relatable to me.

I think the biggest problem is that for the vast majority of the book, until the last 15-20%.... nothing happens. It's character work to the extreme, all internal motivations with little hint of an external plot. There is no competition, as such, apart from alliance manoeuvring, which was extremely frustrating to read. There's little depth in the knowledge available to the six, and their classes are brushed over: it felt like university posturing again. I also really disliked the way Nico and Libby are infantilised by the others, when there is only about a decade or so between them, and Callum's attitude towards her was revolting to read, no matter that being part of his character.

There is a scene between Libby, Tristan, and Parisa that was extremely uncomfortable to read, as there's heavy implications that Libby is being influenced in such a way that she can't give consent, and this is a big problem with how I feel the magic of mental manipulation and suggestion is treated in this book: there is seemingly no morals or ethics attached to it. You either protect yourself from having your thoughts read or to be manipulated into committing suicide, or you don't and it's your own fault, as the people with this magic just... can't help themselves, and aren't obliged to constrain themselves. I had these concerns from Parisa and Callum's first POV chapters and they only grew stronger as the book went on. I don't think it was handled well at all.

Overall, I'm disappointed. Two of the twists I guessed early, even if not fully, but got no satisfaction from doing so. And while I love character-driven books, the lack of external plot frustrated me, and even when things started to be revealed, I'm not sure I fully understood them. The time jumps were also extremely jarring, often happening mid-scene. Sadly, for me, THE ATLAS SIX didn't live up to its glimpses of potential. However, Olivie Blake can write, there's no question of that, and I'll be interested to see how the second book goes with an editor on board from the start.

I really did not know what to expect from this book as I'm not a huge fan of dark academia and the book was so hyped up on TikTok and Instagram that I was really nervous about diving into it but I really loved it!
This book is really complex and can be confusing with so many POVs and stories to remember but once you're immersed in this world it is so fascinating and magical. This book weirdly reminded me of a more mature version of 'magical boarding school' YA novels like Harry Potter, Vampire Academy and The House of Night series because it is filled with shenanigans and a small group of characters whose relationships are some of the most interesting parts of the book. Personally I loved Libby and Reina but there are definitely some really complex, multi-dimensional characters who you both learn to love in this book and love to hate!
I'm so intrigued as to where this story is going to go with the next book and I definitely recommend this to lovers of dark academia and magical books!

I think I read this at the wrong time and it's seriously affected my view on the book and why I dnfed it. I picked this up while I was sick as a dog with covid and I did not have the focus that's probably needed to enjoy this. It made what could have been a forgivable flaw into an insurmountable obstacle. The world-building was just so confusing. I don't understand what the library does or what the characters are meant to be studying. In parts, I wanted to know so much more about what they were learning but then half a year goes by and we've bearly seen a glimpse. But when we do see a sliver of their studies it went over my head and I had no idea what was going on. I tried sticking with it because I did love the characters and for such a large cast it did a great job in getting you to route for them all but once I got over covid I didn't come back to this and it's been sat at 80% read ever since. I probably won't finish it or read the sequel.

The Atlas Six is the type of book which as soon you begin reading you can just tell is incredibly well written. The narrative is beautiful, but not purple, complex but not complicated and has a really refined feel to it. It is, even putting the story itself aside, a real pleasure to read.

I think I expected a little more from the plot, but it was still solid. The general idea is that six individuals with unique abilities are selected for The Society by a gentleman named Atlas. The reason behind this is largely unclear, and even so it is very quickly lost in the overload of information you need to toy with in order to learn as much as you can about the abilities and backgrounds of the six individuals.

Each character eventually becomes well developed, some much sooner than others, and some of the background motives are not revealed until much later in the story than perhaps they ought to have been for our six delegates. Having said that, a large(ish) cast like this is often hard to develop, or remember for a reader, and Olivie Blake manages to pull this off with style.

The plot is very slow - it's quite typical to be honest of a Dark Academia slow burn actually - and the world building is virtually non-existent. Instead, the story is very much a character assessment, perhaps even an exploration of magic, physics and energy more so than a plot centred story in any case.

So, I enjoyed reading it, absolutely, but I think it's fair to say that it takes quite a lot more commitment than its reasonably short size might initially lead you to believe.

Thank you so much to the Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for providing me with a digital arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Every ten years the secretive Alexandrian society recruits six talented magical academic candidates to compete for initiation into the society. Six are chosen, but only five will be initiated into the society. Membership will guarantee them power and knowledge beyond their wildest dreams... but at what cost?

This book is adult fantasy and the plot is really character driven. If you like dark academia, magical realism, academic rivalry and secret societies, you need to read this.

Olivie Blake creates such rich and incredible world building. I loved the magic system. I really enjoyed this book and rated it 5 stars. I haven’t read the original self published version, so can’t comment on if it’s changed much.

I can’t wait to read the sequel.

Olivie Blake tells the story of a world where only the greatest magicians are invited to join the Alexandrian Society who guards lost knowledge from ancient civilisations. Tradition only allows six practitioners to compete for the five available places.
These include Libby Rhodes and Neo de Varona who are enemies and cosmologists, Paris Kaman is a telepath, Reina Mori is a naturalist and Callum Nova is an empath. Lastly we have Tristan Caine who is mystified by his own powers.
Atlas Blakely is their recruiter and they must fight it out to survive anything that is thrown at them.

This first book in this new fantasy series has already caught the attention of many readers. I was familiar with it going in so I sort of knew what to expect.

The story has so many twists and turns, dark and magical events occur every moment testing the abilities of the characters. There is a bigger dilemma and many secrets working against the practitioners. A lot of mystery behind the figure Atlas which always envelopes every thing that takes place.

This was addictive in that I kept on reading to try and discover what the truth is behind the strange events. The characters are unique, the reader definitely develops a love hate relationship with a few of them. The in depth history of this legacy is explored and secrets are unveiled which were kind of unpredictable, I just knew that there was something looming behind what was being insinuated.

Overall this is a jam packed fantasy story, theres a lot to take in and many things to keep note of, it keeps the reader on their toes with themes of secrets, betrayal and seduction. I am intrigued to see what happens next in this series.

Really enjoyed the premise of this boook but also felt it was lacking something
unfortunatly not for me

Rating: 3.5/5

"Knowledge is carnage. You can't have it without sacrifice."

Six of the most powerful people in the world, chosen to be part of secret society that could give them access to a knowledge no one can imagine, six people forced to work together for a year, knowing that only five will get initiated, only five will be chosen. Six people asking themselves how far they would go to have a shot at that greatness, would they be willing to lose their humanity?

With a premise like that, I really wanted to love this book. It had everything I love in a story. Multiple point of views. Morally grey characters I always end up loving. Power, love, academic rivals that might not really hate each other that much, dark pasts, mystery, friendship, a psychopath you love to hate... I could go on forever.
Unfortunately something was missing. I ended up highlighting almost every page in the book, but it wasn't enough to make me fall in love. Yes, I was invested in Libbie, Nico, Parisa, Callum, Tristan and Reina, but not as much as I was expecting (I was also comparing it constantly to Six of Crows, which admittedly didn't help because hello Kaz and gang, no one can compare to you).
The story is slow, nothing really happens, but the characters were not enough to justify 350 pages of this book on their own merit. There were also things that were not developed properly, and I don't think it was because of a conscious decision to write a second book, but more because of some plot holes not filled properly to begin with. Even with the different point of views, I felt some characters like Reina were more background noise, and it was a real pity.

I will read the second book to see where Libbie's storyline is going (and ok also because I love Nico lol). Overall I'd say a good read if you are into dark academia, magic and characters driven slow plots. Also if you can stand an almost pompous way of writing.

Dark academia book full of interesting characters and a complex magic system.
Yes, some of the language used was used for the sake of throwing in fancy words.
Yes, you lose track of some of the characters throughout.

However, this is 100% a set-up novel and I can't wait to read the next one to see these characters being fleshed out more.

A heavily hyped fantasy novel. Unfortunately, the narrative and the story failed to excite me and I struggled to finish. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

E-arc expired before I could fully emerge myself into this story but I fully plan on buying myself a copy of it to read and I can’t wait!

I went into this book expecting high things and a fantastic fantasy setting, unfortunately I was let down slightly until the last 20 pages! I am wondering where the story will go in the next book but I do think the physics textbook needs to be left on the shelf and not retold in story format