Amazing!!! This is one of my favorite books of 2020. The characters are so unique and the internal prose is beautiful. Everything is written so well and I cannot wait for the next installment!

I'd heard about this from BookTubers and I knew it was a big thing on BookTok, so I was intrigued when I saw it on NetGalley. The premise here is that magic is real, there are different magical specialties, and there's a secret society that periodically recruits a cohort of six magicians to study together for a year at a magically cloaked Library of Alexandria (that part was a little confusing for me) and then they get officially initiated into that society. I liked the alternating perspectives between the six recruits, some of whom are very unreliable narrators, and I liked the slow revelation of various conspiracy types of situations, but this did feel a little long to me. Of course, at the end I was like "nooooo but what's next" so that may not be a particularly fair criticism now that I'm thinking about it. This reminded me a bit of The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins, and was definitely dark and sometimes very violent.

Every ten years, the Alexandrian Society invites six young magicians of astonishing ability into its unparalleled archives for a year of training and study. The latest crop includes: Reina, who finds her knack for plants annoying. Nico and Libby, whose abilities to warp physics are so similar they detest each other. Tristan, who sees through illusions to the shape of reality itself. And Callum and Reina, an empath and a telepath whose strength is matched only by their callousness. At the end of the year, five will join the Society and one will . . . not be going home. This book's strength lies in its deft character building.

This books was such a good read I could not put it down! I love how we got POVs from all the characters so we could get inside their heads. You get to see how all of them aren't perfect which makes them human and allows you to fall in love with their imperfections. Out of all the characters my favorite would be Libby and I'm so excited to see what happens in the next book!

Thank you to Tor for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Following six 20-somethings (I believe) on their quest to join the Alexandria Society, a secret society that protects the Library of Alexandria and all it holds. Set against a magical society, each of the six contestants have some ability:
Nico and Libby can control phsyicality
Reina is a naturalist
Parisa, a telepath
Callum, and empath
Tristan who can see through illusions.

Recruited by Atlas of the society, the six of them must work together to protect the library of intruiders and thieves, all the while mingling amongst one another and trying to get under one another's skin.

A magical library dark academia tale, The Atlas Six is intriguing, sexy, and mysterious. Lots of answers lead you right up until the end. Expect to be a bit gobsmacked, my friends. Absolutely cannot wait for The Atlas Paradox.

The Atlas Six has such a uniquely fascinating premise, I was totally intrigued from the start. I really enjoyed the way the magic system was set up, it’s an interesting combination of a science based structure while also being wildly open ended where almost anything is possible. With such a large group of main characters the amount of time it takes to introduce them and their backgrounds is not insignificant, so while it does take a minute to really start getting into the story, each of them and their backstories are so uniquely interesting that it’s totally worth the time it takes. They are such a widely varied group and yet I could find relatable pieces in almost all of them…I for sure need more Reina in the next books, she was my favorite! The story touches on so many moral and philosophical themes that I know am going to be thinking about it for days, just processing through it all. At the end we get some confirmation and a few answer but mostly we’re left on a huge cliffhanger, with so many pieces of the puzzle still waiting to be put together, so I can’t wait for the next installment!!

This book reminds me of Leigh Bardugo’s The Ninth House…only it’s not as good, in my opinion. Though the individual tales of magical people were intriguing, I found the mystical language to be distracting and confusing.

I feel like I've been hearing hype about this book for almost a year now, and it's totally worth it! A wonderful New Adult read for fans of dark academia. I would recommend this title to fantasy readers and any adult who says their favorite book is Harry Potter. I think writing a book from six plus different perspectives in a way that the average reader can easily keep up with is no small feat but The Atlas Six accomplishes it with ease. Each character felt unique and their motives and goals were clearly understandable even though we only spend at maximum a 1/6 of the book with them. I have no doubt this title will be an immediate best seller and hard to keep on shelves at local bookstores and libraries. I am excited to see how the trilogy continues!

Possible Triggers:
Death | Suicide

Summary:
The first book in the ‘The Atlas’ Series.

Characters:
The story is told from multiple POV’s (more than 6).

I really enjoyed Nico and Reina, but they were both not really a large focus in the story. Crossing my fingers they are more of a big deal in the next book.

Negatives:
- The magic system was really really loose. Despite saying that all the characters had a, i dunno, school, they fell under, and then a further specialization under that, it didn’t really explain the parameters of the magic itself. It's hard to get into specific details of this without spoiling the story. Taking it at its basest levels, it seems like in the beginning of the book it implies that each person has a specific specialty, but as the book unfolds, you find out that no one really seems to be locked into their specialty. Sure they have things they can mess with, but if you think it's within your realm of stretching it, then you can probably manage it. I dislike messy magic systems.
- I certainly didn’t see at all where the end of the book was going to go. I wouldn’t say it was necessarily the BIG REVEAL (that part wasn’t so very surprising) but the second to last chapter of the book. While that last bit was super intriguing, I feel like it took a really long time to GET to that point in the book. I felt like we were driving along on a road going in a very specific direction the whole time and all the sudden you realize, nah, i'm on a boat.

Final Thoughts:
This was such a weirdly entrancing book. I’ll be honest, half the time I felt like the dumbest person in the world, standing in the middle of the room surrounded by all the things I love, but absolutely comprehending none of the beautifully detailed theorems and breakthroughs. Then I'd lay there in bed thinking about it for a while, and realize even with all the cool possibilities of magic, the book felt more like in-depth character study of the mind magicians and what they thought/felt/saw of their counterparts and instructors. We don’t actually get told WHAT specifically being a member of this secret society means - sure you get access to knowledge.. but also, not really? The few times we see people visiting the place, we are told even they have restricted access (on the whims of the library collection itself) to what they can and can’t read. So to my understanding you must be chosen as the best, prove that you are the best, and EVEN THEN, you still can't study what you want because… the library knows best for you? I won’t say that I didn't enjoy the book, it was interesting reading so many different perspectives and seeing the author kinda walk you through who you are supposed to like, dislike, and be annoyed by. I will say it was absolutely not what I was looking for when I picked it up. I was thinking, secret societies, awesome magical group studies, and some kind of epic test to showcase their talents. Instead I got a convoluted magic system and a bunch of characters that actively dislike but are drawn to each other, and TENSION. All the tension. I did feel like the ending was very mustache-twirly, power corrupts, ‘MUHAHAHAHAHA find out why you read the entire book in the next installment’. I do intend to pick up the next book in the series.

"A toast, to your linguistic superiority," Seriously though; the vocabulary in this book is just phenomenal! I love a read with content I have to look up, it broadens my own knowledge of words, and I feel a good book does that.
I also loved the names! Etymology and Nameology are subjects I'm very into. Seeing great uses of traditional, on the rise again names sets the perfect tone.
I mostly enjoyed the psychological views, the candid relationship issues, as well as the way the author describes emotional scenes.
The author uses scientific references, academic terms and other languages.
This book boasts precision, good grammar, exemplary dialogue, and diverse characters, all with unique personalities and backgrounds.
The time jumps had me confused a few times, but they always do in books that move back and forth through scenes. That's just my limited comprehension in the moment.

All in all this is an incredibly well written novel! A perfect dark academia theme with classic appeal.
Thankyou for the read!

Full disclosure, I didn't read much of this one. Maybe only a couple of chapters. I just couldn't get past how contrived and pretentious the writing was -- it was as if the author and/or the characters were trying their hardest to make the verbiage as complicated as possible. It kept me from liking any of the characters because I spent most of the time eyerolling at anything they said. Another book that has been all over tiktok that I just couldn't get into. I do think this book likely has many fans, I just can't be one of them.

With all the attention this book has been receiving lately, I expected it to wow me, bring me to tears, or at least elicit some sort of emotional response at any point. Unfortunately, The Atlas Six accomplished exactly none of these things. I felt engaged enough to at least make my way to the end in the hopes that something interesting would happen, but that was the full extent of my investment in this book. None of the characters were interesting or developed, even though it was clear from how heavy-handed their descriptions were that they were desperately meant to be. And since nothing else happens in this book except half-hearted character development and shallow philosophical musings that go nowhere, I simply couldn’t find it in myself to care about any of it.

The Atlas Six

“Beware the man who faces you unarmed. If in his eyes you are not the target, then you can be sure you are the weapon.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

So, I’ll start off by saying that I think the author Olivie Blake is a beautiful writer. A lot of the imagery and metaphors that she employed in this book were stunning. I think she does a great job at crafting complex and interesting dialogue without sacrificing impact. I also really loved some of the characters.

Personally, out of the Atlas Six, Reina was my favourite, and the most interesting character to me, both in personality and abilities. The fact that she didn’t really appear or contribute much to the plot in the story was a disappointment for me. I would have loved to get inside of her head more.

However, this was just not the book for me. Personally, this whole book felt like more of a prologue to a story. Things happened, characters were introduced and the world was established. But for me it was lacking stakes and motivation. The pacing felt very askew, where it wasn’t until the very end of the book that stakes picked up. And it wasn’t until the VERY last chapter that it started to make sense as to why things were happening, why things were important and so on. If the revelations in the last chapter had been sprinkled throughout the story, or even hinted at a bit more, I think the rest of the book would have been more enjoyable for me.

One of the things I didn’t love, was that throughout the book, we were told things were important - both to the characters and to the overall plot - but being told these things didn’t really make me care or understand why they were important. For example (no spoiler) I didn’t really understand Nico and Gideon’s relationship or why Gideon was important - apart from Nico saying he was.

I’ve seen a lot of reviews saying that this is a character-driven book as opposed to plot-driven. To a certain extent I agree, as the plot is almost non-existent in my opinion (save for the last few chapters), but I didn’t find there to be enough character development to justify that classification. Again, I really enjoyed some of the characters (Reina) but ultimately I just felt a little indifferent about them at the end, as I hadn’t seen anything change or grow.

Will I read the next book? Maybe. Now that things have begun to make sense, I’m interested in seeing how the characters react. But it definitely won’t be one I’m lining up to read.

Thank you to NetGalley & MacMillan-Tor/Forge for the ARC!

ARC REVIEW

The Atlas Six is about six medeians (people with magic abilities) who are chosen to compete to join the secretive Alexandrian Society. I've wanted to read this book for a while, as I've seen a lot of positive reviews, especially on BookTok.

When I started this book, I was worried that it was going to be one of those ya-fantasy-trope-y books that feels very formulaic, but I was very pleasantly surprised. It gripped me very quickly, and it is the type of book where there are a lot of questions that you want to know the answers to.

The characters are very unique and well-developed, and for some books, this means that the plot is lacking, but the story is intriguing and very intricate. The characters are complex and flawed, which makes them very realistic.

I did find the writing style a little bit difficult to get into at first, and some of the magic/science that they described went over my head, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

The last chapter threw me a little bit, and I did think it was a little bit confusing, but I'm still really looking forward to reading the sequel!

I have been wanting to read The Atlas Six for so long. I am so grateful that I got to read an ARC of the new edition. This book was incredible, engrossing, and I found it so hard to put down after each reading session. The Atlas Six answers the question of: What would have happened if the library of Alexandria never burned down? The answer is that members of the Alexandrian Society are recruited to preserve and care for the library and its materials. This society is exclusively made up of only the most unique and talented magicians in the known world. The book starts with the mystery Atlas Blakely choosing six talented individuals to compete for five places within the society over the course of a year. YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK. Olivie Blake has an incredible talent for building complicated relationships that feel genuine. This book is entirely unique in its approach to the world of magic and I found I did not want the book to end. Anyway, I am still waiting for my call from the Alexandrian Society. They haven't gotten back to me yet.

The Atlas Six - this book took an incredible fantasy storyline with loveable characters and added a heavy sprinkling of dark academia.

The cast of characters are so relatable. Flawed but loveable, complex and intriguing. I found myself rooting for every single one of them.

The plot and writing style was genius and the world building had me feeling immersed in a world of magic.

I can’t wait to see where we find the characters in book 2.

I loved this book the first time I read it, and I love it even more this time around.

From beginning to end readers are swept into this tale, going along for the gripping journey.

You simply must read this book.

The Atlas Six is a dark fantasy book about the entanglement of six magical individuals. Each character is vastly different from the next but you can't help but love each of them. Most are morally grey characters that you can't help but sympathize with them, The Six are given the chance to study at an exclusive Society, where things are not as they seem.
As for the book itself, you can't help but feel smart as you're reading. The beginning was slow at first but towards the middle, it picked up. The characters were amazing and intriguing. There were times when I may have been lost, but overall it was a great story!
Sincerely loved this book and cannot wait for the next!

The magic system in this book is so fun and unique: rooted in the scientific, like naturalism, physics, physiology, and psychology.
The characters were complex and detailed--they had unique voices, and were all so perfectly morally-gray that I kept swinging between loving them and hating them from one chapter to the next.
I loved the dynamic between Libby and Nico. And Parisa had so much depth, and she had such incredible empowerment in herself.
Each time I thought I'd figured out where this story was headed, another twist threw me in an opposite direction. And this ending! I'm so excited to see where this story goes in book 2.

***THE VERSION OF THIS THAT I READ WAS AN ARC***

Wow, we sure are killing a lot of magic teens these days. The characters in this are a bit older, edging into the age where uoure supposed to be doing something or looking for something to do, but they all have the same blindspot as their teenage counterparts: overwhelmed by the promise of knowledge and power, they forget to ask who pays for it.

While our titular six are off learning how to manipulate the fabric of time and space and not asking to see before and after pictures of previous cohorts, the characters on the edges are having a much better time of it. The Library and all that it is is focused on who is allowed to see and know what and why in the most roundabout of ways, and the debate about personhood, the position of the comparatively odd and strange, and the morality of being who and what you are is pushed to the wayside.

Speaking of the six, Nico and Libby are well drawn, with Callum and Parisa lagging slightly behind. Reina and Tristan, however, get short shrift in this, with the extent of their characters going no further than "daddy issues, feelings of inferiority, and conflicted loyalties" and "misanthropic pragmatist who talks to plants".

Final thought: Well, that last chapter sure did happen. I can't decide if that particular reveal took away a certain level of tension and suspense, or nipped the fact that a certain aspect is a bit of a letdown in the bud by not having us wait for it.