I will begin this review by saying that I probably shouldn't have requested the ARC based on how little I enjoyed The Atlas Six, but I was intrigued by the ending and wanted to know more. This was a mistake. I'm breaking this review down into categories based on thoughts I had while reading this book.

0.48% "my arc is missing every third “th” this is infuriating"
My camera roll is full of screenshots of sentences that are fully unreadable because the letters are missing which killed the mood of some of the more serious discussions in the book. I wanted to put down the book the second that I noticed the mistake wasn't a one-off, but I stuck with it and suffered through every page. However, this wasn't even the biggest reason why the book was such a struggle to read.

12.0% "this feels like a philosophy lecture and not in a fun way"
One thing I loved about The Atlas Six is that the discussions of magic were understandable and I felt as if I was learning about the extent of powers alongside the characters. However, the discussions of magic in The Atlas Paradox have left the realm of being something that I can make sense of. I get that this book is dark academia and being academic is an element of the genre, but this book left me feeling like I was reading a dissertation on astrophysics with the lights turned off, and some parts of it read like the author was feeling the same way. It's like she's trying to confuse the reader to the point where they can't call her out on her nonsense ramblings. Over half of this book is full of these musings on how magic works and I don't think we ever came anywhere close to reaching a conclusion. We barely even see the powers being used and any usage that is there is very vague.

35.0% "hoping that ezra’s chapters don’t contain anything too important because i do not care about him enough to read them fully"
I was expecting to enjoy Ezra's chapters as the final chapter of The Atlas Six is the only thing that pulled me into reading this book, but I simply did not. He feels like a caricature villain when I'm half sure that he's meant to be some kind of hero. I have no idea what's going on with his character anymore.

46.0% "unfortunately callum continues to be the most unlikeable yet most interesting character of this series"
I say 'unfortunately' because I loved Callum's character in the first book but he felt blander in this one, yet still more exciting than the rest of the cast. All of the cast became very one-dimensional characters in this book and a majority of their thoughts and behaviour didn't align with their characterisation in the first book. Even the ones that I did love at one point became archetypes - many of them being the same archetype - rather than fleshed-out people. The one character that I do still have some amount of fondness for is Gideon. He has slightly more importance in this book than in the first but still nowhere near enough page time or development of what his magic actually is for me to be satisfied. But at least I'm interested.

72.0% "this is a lot easier to read than atlas og but god it’s boring. months have allegedly passed in the timeline and Nothing has happened" and 81.0% "so it turns out an entire year has passed and it seems like everything interesting either happened off-page or in a memory"
These two notes were pretty much the same so they can go together. The timeline and what happened on the page is also an issue I had with The Atlas Six, feeling as if everything important happened in the background to developing character relationships that went nowhere. The five main characters are just existing, and one of them put it into words: they've got nothing to do for the year so they're just idling as if Blake doesn't know what she wants to talk about anymore. There is no sense of danger. There is no looming threat of having to murder each other. There are no stakes left. None of the five have any aspirations or goals and wants which makes for very dull reading. I think that the author tries to spice up the story by creating new character dynamics between people who didn't interact much in the last book, but they didn't interact for a reason: they have no common interests outside of the society and no chemistry. The relationships and new alliances mean nothing outside of the specific scene they were invented for.

93.0% "i feel like none of the events have had a lasting impact and we’re just at the same place we were at the end of the last book"
This book is the embodiment of the middle book blues to me. It feels like this series was originally meant to be a duology but then got turned into a trilogy which might explain why it comes across as filler content to me: it's just a bridge to get to the third book. But that should never be an excuse for a bad book (in my opinion).

That is all I have to say about this book. Hopefully, I have the strength to stay away from the next book.

After the events of The Atlas Six I was dying to read The Atlas Paradox and I can say I wasn't disappointed, really enjoyed continuing this and with the ending I'm super excited to read book 3!

There are several points of view like the first book but I was able to follow easily and remembered all the characters well from book 1!

Definitely recommend these books, I do find they can be difficult to retain your attention on but there are many moments when I felt I must continue and was gripped on the story!

I absolutely loved The Atlas Six, so I know I will love The Atlas Paradox. I was ecstatic to receive an e-arc of the book, however there were some formatting errors in the copy I was offered to download, which made it difficult to read. If a sentence began with a word beginning in 'Th', then it would be missing. Making this not easy to read. So unfortunately, I failed to complete the book. I tried to redownload the story again but it seems the Netgalley file is the issue. I don't expect an e-arc to be publication ready but this issue caused the novel to be extremely difficult to read and enjoy.

I've received the novel now and I'm looking forward to reading it, where I will be reviewing it on Goodreads and other social media. I'm still really looking forward. THE ILLUMICRATE EDITIONS ARE STUNNING.

This book did not disappoint! The book follows the characters from the previous books and we get to see their relationships develop with a lot of banter between them. The writing was amazing, and the pacing was great. I could not put the book down. I am excited to see what Olivie Blake brings with the third book! Thank you Netgalley for a copy of the ARC for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the pubblisher fot the eArc!

The Atlas six was a real surprese to me. I appreciated the focus on the characters and the dark academia vibes, so I was really curious to read the sequel The Atlas Paradox.

Despite a rather slow first part I have not been disappointed. The reading was compelling, I was once again passionate about its characters and the relationships that develop between them.
However, I did not appreciate the excessive focus on the minds of our protagonists and not on events and the world around them. I find that a lot of the things that worked in The Atlas Six, here have started to go out of tune or rather not give their best.

However, the story is taking some interesting developments and I am sure that with the right indications the next volume could reveal some nice surprises.

3,5/5

The Atlas Paradox is a phenomenal sequel to The Atlas Six. It follows the same amazing characters. This book was one of my most anticipated of the year and it was amazing!! All of the character dynamics change and it really continues the series very well (I am so excited for the next book). The writing is absolutely fantastic and the plot was *chefs kiss* I am really intrigued as to how it is carried on in the next (and final 😭) book!!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟(5 STARS)

A dreary Monday asks for Dark Academia!
There is no better feeling than curling up with a book featuring a dark school setting during the fall.🤩
ICYMI: Tomorrow is the release of The Atlas Paradox!!!! The second book in The Atlas Six series and the perfect dark academia read.
The main reason I gave it 4/5 stars is since it is the second book in the series and I thought it would be a duology soooo thats on me.🙈
The sequel follows everyone after the events of the first book. While the plot is a bit vague (I guess just like the first one) the pacing is a lot better! The interactions between characters, the banter and the dialogue is sooo good!! Even though they are all very unlikable (just like typical dark academia style), I really cared for them and am truly rooting for Libby finding her way back to the others! There isnt a big reveal unfortunately no major plot points BUT it was a super fast, intrigueging read that had me hooked until the ending where I was like... NOW WHAT?? Until I figured out the series is not over yet so WHERE IS THE NEXT ONE?

Firstly, thank you so much Pan MacMillan and NetGalley for the arc of The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
I will be very truthful and say that this has been in my top ten of anticipated 2022 reads and I was over the moon to receive an arc.
However, I must caveat my review with my lack of awareness that this series is more than just a duology, and that this is most definitely a ‘middle’ book. I dove straight into the book, without rereading The Atlas Six; What a foolish mistake! And, I was a little taken aback by the slow pace and to be truthful lack of engagement I felt with it. However, I persevered and was totally rewarded by the end of the book, which definitely didn’t fail to blow me away!
The book itself continues to deliver those little titbits of information as you progress through the book. The characters have progressed into their second year in the Alexandrian Society and are studying their own personal works, but the games and alliance breakdown and reformations continue.
However, I will be honest and say that I wasn’t as engaged as I was for The Atlas Six, but I put this down to ‘middle book’ syndrome and I am still very eager to read book three and continue the characters’ journeys.

Having read and loved Atlas Six, I eagerly awaited the arrival of this book. Oh dear! I found the story bitty and disjointed and really struggled to find the flow of the tale.
I can only hope that the final book is written with the punch that captured my interest in Atlas Six.

I enjoyed the TA6 so I have been eagerly anticipating this book coming out. It follows the same slow writing style which I would say did feel a bit of a struggle to get through initially, the story didn’t fully grip me the way I hoped it would. The plot felt like it wavered and as a result of this, I don’t feel I can recall much of the book as it lost me at points. I thought I’d be happier to see the characters again but I feel a re read could be in order to organise my thoughts and to make full sense of the book.

First things first: Yes, I primarily started this series because it was absolutely everywhere, I love dark academia mixed with magic and also, the library of Alexandria is in it. In the end, this is another lesson why I just shouldn't buy into hypes originating mostly on certain social media sites, because they rarely end up being enjoyable.

The first book in the series, 'The Atlas Six", was... okay. There were some good and interesting parts, and there was potential revealed in the last big twists, and I was mildly interested in how this story would unfold. It was also kind of boring and I always felt like the author was trying way too hard to sound sophisticated. The characters were mostly unlikeable or uninteresting, with the focus being less on us as readers actually getting to know them than on them proving to us how clever and Academic they are. Still, it was an enjoyable enough 3-star-experience to make me want to read the second book, which is... well, it's kind of a mess.

Once again there are intriguing bits and pieces all throughout, and the ending was, again, the best part of the book. But the characters feel even more lifeless, which isn't helped by throwing together new teams and forming new alliances seemingly only for the sake of having them interact, but there was no vibe, no emotional connection in any of these relationships. The characters are often mere archetypes and they simply don't feel alive. And that's a shame, because they have so much potential - I WANTED to love Reina but alas, I wasn't allowed to. I mostly cared about Gideon and he's not even part of the Big Six. Also, there's just... nothing happening. They all just idle around for the better part of the book, and the seemingly intriguing plot points - the ball! - are handled within one or two short chapters and without much fanfare. It's really, sadly, boring.

I wanted this to be an improvement to the first book, I wanted to explore these characters more thoroughly, but "The Atlas Paradox" gave me nothing. So despite the few things I actually liked, I don't think I will touch the third book.
2 stars.

My head is all over the place after finishing this book - however unlike TA6, where it was a, omg I need the next book immediately, this was more of a wtf just happened (which is not a negative at all).

There’s lots to be enjoyed in this book, and for me these were Libby’s storyline, the development of relationships between the characters, the growth of some of the characters from book one and the questioning of ‘the society’.

Overall I feel like this book was just laying the groundwork for the third? It was a bit slow paced (slower than the first) with lots of information that really took a while to get your head round. I’m really hoping for an explosive final book that’s faster paced and ties up all the lose ends whilst blowing your mind as it links back to something from the first book.

Thank you NetGalley and PanMacMillan for the ARC.

This was just as captivating as book 1- We jump straight back in and the characters are still just as sharp as before. The pacing of these books are generally quite slow - that is the purpose of this series, if you don't enjoy them these books are not for you. The characters are still not quite likable - but you can't overly dislike them either, which is done on purpose. This book has all the feelings of the middle book - so I cannot wait for the next one to come.

Thank you for my copy of this.
This was a well written sequel - sometimes I worry that follow up books will fall a bit short after the hype and popularity of the first but I think it did it justice!

I really enjoyed the writing style, the pacing, and the plot of this novel. The characters were just as vibrant as in the first book. However, I do think the first novel was slightly better. Still loved it though!

I'd rate the first 80% of this book at 2 stars but the last bit was so exciting I had to raise my rating. I love this world that Olivie Blake has created, I find the characters fascinating too, but not a lot happened for the majority of this book. It felt like a lot of posturing from each of the five remaining as they're all determined not to reveal anything or form any attachments to one another. The exciting chapters for me throughout were Libby's, as I was desperate to know what had happened to her and how she would find her way home. Overall I'm still very much looking forward to the next book, but I'm hoping the pacing is a little better throughout as this one did take me a while to get through

I am a bit of a newbie when it comes to the fantasy and mythology genre, but, I am widening my perspectives and so far loving it. The author has done this brilliantly. The story is beautifully written, the characters come alive on the page, the settings pop and all characters have a believable voice. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no gaps between sentences, and a cover for the. It is very document like instead of book like therefore star lost for this.

I very much enjoyed the first book in this series and this follows along nicely in the same vein. There was more exploration of the characters and this made them feel much more developed by the end of the book. The writing style is beautiful and the storyline interesting.

This was a ton of fun to read. I loved every minute of it. It pretty much checked all of my boxes. It was packed full of action, cool plot twists, awesome characters, and that touch of darkness I ALWAYS go for. I'm a sucker for quality stories, what can I say 😍😍 It was also pretty fast-paced which I appreciate a lot in books (I mean who the f would want to read a book that takes forever to get to the point, riiight???)

I most definitely recommend this.


P.S. I usually write much longer reviews but work is a thirsty b 😭😭

I enjoyed the Atlas Six so was really excited to read the second book. This book follows the six characters as they complete the second year in the society. I have to admit that I could not remember all the details from the first book and was a bit confused for the first section of the book. Eventually I went online and read some spoiler reviews to refresh my memory but would suggest that fans may prefer a reread as there is a lot of detail that I personally couldn’t remember. As the book picks up where we left off this background info would probably help with engaging with this sequel.
Unfortunately I felt that the story dragged a bit and I only really got into it in the last 30% or so. This took me a while to finish and I lost a lot of the enjoyment of reading this one but overall I’m glad I persisted and I am intrigued to see where the story goes and will pick up the third book when it’s released.