It took me a while to get through this book but I absolutely adore it. The writing is pretentious and beautiful, and the plot is a piece of art. I loved the ending and I can't wait to dive into the sequel. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to have access to this book.

the fact that I got to read the book earlier than others feels like such a precious little detail after reading it. It is a dark academia story that understands what people want and need in life at a deeper level.

Do you like "The Magicians?" Or the Scholomance series by Naomi Novik? Or even just a casual fan of The Hunger Games? Then you will love this book (and series).

This is the very first volume of the Atlas series, and while it is a bit slow on the action and plot, I really appreciated the careful set up of the world we have entered, and each of the characters we are going to be spending a lot of time with. I love when a book is written KNOWING it will have follow ups, because it gives it room to breathe and expand so we, as readers, are comfortable.

There are six magicians every year who are chosen to join the prestigious Alexandrian Society and study with Atlas Blakely, and this year's class is full of narcissistic, privileged, troubled youths. When you put them together, momentous things are bound to happen, and fireworks are bound to go off left and right.

Really fun and full of characters you might love to hate a little, this is a great series for people who love fantasy and what happens when the youth gets hold of magical powers that are large enough to destroy.

Great story and love that it kept my attention throughout the whole book. I would love to read more by this author.

thank you for my advance copy in exchange for a fair review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc! I enjoyed this one a lot, even if it was difficult to understand the characters' decision making at times. The dark academia will definitely appeal to lots of people and I look forward to recommending it to customers!

I was really excited to read this but I think the book is a bit too slow for me. Not much happens and it's more character focused than I was expecting. I think I'm realizing that dark academia isn't for me but I think this would appeal to a lot of people who enjoy a character focused fantasy book.

This was all over social media so that is why I wanted to read it. It looked so intriguing and the rave reviews from everyone was definitely a reason why I wanted to read this. I was really intrigued with the dark academia vibe since I really enjoy books with magic schools included and this was no exception. I liked the competition in this book and the multiple POVs where really interesting and that you don't know who can be trusted and who will make it through.

Thanks to Tor and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

I want to be neutral on this because this book was SO popular on booktok for so long and it was so hyped up, I felt like I had to love this book and when I read it I just felt a bit disappointed. It's a really good book, I liked it, the plot the characters their relationships and competition; I guess I just had such high expectations for this book which is why maybe I felt it wasn't as good as I thought it would be? I don't know how to explain it. I'm giving it 4 stars because it is truly a good book and deserves good reviews, just try to go into it without any expectations.

Steamy and smart, twisty and magical, The Atlas Six had me hooked every time a new character walked onto the page. With secret societies, personalities that are bound to clash, and high stakes there was bound to be a little drama and I never knew for sure where this book would take me. Loved it, even when I wasn't as smart as the characters!

This started off extremely slow and I just couldn't get into it. It definitely has potential. I wanted to experience more of the magic and very little description of the setting.

I feel this book was overhyped and much longer than necessary. None of the characters are at all likeable, all just coming out with utter rubbish that doesn't really have any meaning, though its supposed to be deep and meaningful. A chore to read.

I didn't know what to expect of this when I went into it aside from Dark Academia vibes. It was a weird one for me - part of me was invested and sucked in. The other found it pretentious and didn't care which made it interesting to read as it took me longer than I'd have expected.
Overall, this book definitely has it's audience but not me

This is a great example of the pros and cons of #BookTok. While the book itself wasn't bad or unenjoyable, there was just something about this that I'm not clicking with. When I tried to read this, I had to FORCE myself to read. Not something I enjoy, so I will not be continuing with the series.

6 are selected and no one knows why or where they are going. They are given a chance to change their lives, as they hover at the precipice of adulthood. What magic do they bring to the group, and will it be used to help or harm.

TLDR:

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake is a Fantasy novel that went viral on TikTok. The book was originally published independently but was recently purchased by Tor Books to be revised and edited with additional content.

Notable elements:

- Secret Societies
- Dark Academia
- Mind Games
- Time & Space

What I liked:

- Strategic Alliances — If you like the show Survivor, you’ll love this book. The six initiates engage in a similar style of strategic side-conversations in the spirit of self-preservation. Some characters are severely underestimated while others are assumed obvious threats, but are their assessments correct? If not, what might their misjudgments cost them?
- “Knowledge is Carnage” — The cutthroat nature of the candidates as they seek admission into the Alexandrian Society is deliciously addictive. I clung to the edge of my seat as I witnessed just how far each initiate is willing to go for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Reminds me of:

- All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman
- Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Content warnings:

- Suicide, Death, Murder, Infidelity, Sexual Coercion

Final thoughts:

I devoured The Atlas Six, but my interest faltered briefly around the 25% mark. Fortunately, at the 50% mark, the spark was reignited, and it propelled me to the finish. This book is engrossing and imaginative, and I’m so glad TikTok gave it the attention it deserves.

Boring, pretentious writing. Boring annoying characters. I kept rolling my eyes. Hard to get into. I didn’t like any of the characters. DNF.

Always a fan of dark academia novels and especially novels with multiple POVs. I really enjoyed the concept of the competition in this book and the different abilities each character had and how they worked alongside each other. My favorite POVs were Libby and Nico. My least favorite were Tristan and Callum. There was quite a few filler chapters of the characters mainly just interacting. I wish there were more action scenes but I will definitely pick up the second to see where the story goes.

I wanted to like this book so much. The premise was fascinating but I just couldn't find a character to root for. When there's multiple protagonists and I can't find a single one to root for (not necessarily like) it's a no for me. I ended up dnf-ing this one about 40% of the way through.

This book was SO HYPED UP on bookstagram, even before the official release, and it made me so excited to receive an ARC! Unfortunately this just wasn’t for me. I’m glad there are so many out there who love this book, but as this is my second dark academia book, I’m thinking it may just not be my style.

The characters all hated each other which I thought would be interesting (I guess I was expecting more zodiac academy vibes which I LOVE) but they all ended up being a bit annoying and I couldn’t relate to any of them.

I’m sad this didn’t work out for me. The cover is absolutely beautiful, but I’ll skip the next dark academia book.

Thank you so much for the arc!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

DNF. Unfortunately this book wasn’t my cup of tea. Not what I was expecting considering the social media interest in this during pre-release. I think it caters to a small niche of readers but lacks a substantial plot and engaging characters for wider popularity.