This book was all vibes and not a whole lot of plot, but sometimes that's what you want. I won't lie, I would've liked things to have been delved into some more and had story beats strengthened, but I enjoyed The Atlas Six. I've been recommending it to my friends and hopefully Olivie Blake will come out stronger with book 2.

If you ever want a dark academia book, THIS IS IT! Full of amazing morally grey characters, magic, secrets, this is honestly the best dark academia book I've ever read. I feel like this world can expand so much more and I can't wait to watch these characters grow further. The writing is beautiful and gives all the atmosphere and dark academia aesthetic that you could ever wish for!

Ok so there is so much hype surrounding this book so my expectations were high going into it. I predicted that I would love it enough that I literally ordered every special edition there was 🙈😂.
So did this live up to my expectations?
Yeah pretty much!
Will I rave that everyone needs to read this…probably not. But I will recommend it to people who like slower and more character focused stories.
This is definitely what I would call a character study with a focus on what would someone sacrifice for great power. The characters themselves are all very distinctive and range in the scale of morally grey to just downright terrible. That is to say I loved pretty much all of them! The only character I couldn’t care very much about was Libby and that’s mostly because she’s super irritating.
I will say that if you are going to read this you need to give it your full attention as it is quite complex when it comes to the magic system. I am still trying to wrap my head around it and I guess I would of liked a slightly less convoluted explanation of it!
Also although this definitely had those dark academia vibes and the elitist school setting atmosphere, I would have enjoyed more world building and descriptions so I could fully grasp the imagery of the characters surroundings.
The story itself like I said is very slow, so don’t go into this expecting and action packed adventure. The ending was probably the most gripping section of the book with a unexpected twist. So for sure I’ll be continuing onto book 2!
I gave this one 4⭐️.

I loved this book. I think my favorite thing about it was all the scientific thinking on abstract concepts 🤯🥰 loved it! But it wasn’t too complicated nor too complex and there was magic involved so a win all around.

I picked it up because everyone was talking about it and I heard “dark academia”. But this book was more of a magic university or Ph.D. degree. And it was super cool!

Loved the setting and the magic and the science. Even the characters were great. I really look forward to the sequel. No idea if it’s going to be a duology or more but I’m here for it 😁.

I honestly do not know what I have just read and I don't think I liked it, either.

It was a really long book that somehow didn't really tell y0u anything.

There was too much going on with no real structure.

Sometimes the hype for a book is OTT. I promise, The Atlas Six lives up to its hype. I don't want to give anything away at all but...

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Atlas Six gives tension and drama and sex and magic and fear and loathing and time and physics and confusion (in the best way) all wrapped up in a nice neat bow.

It makes you think about the world and things that should not exist and if certain people should not exist and the discomfort we feel around others.

Its about power and morality and those who have it and those who covet it and the lengths people will go to get it.

If you like the sound of morally grey characters, people who own their sexuality and those who nurture their bad parts, people who refuse to let the world dictate their life and those who just want to fix it... this book is for you.

Gotta be one of the most hyped books of the season, and I did enjoy it.
The Atlas Six was surprisingly sexy for a book I expected to have no romance at all.

I was left feeling a little bit flat after finishing this book. The first 10% i thought it was was heading for a 5 star review but the middle/main section of the book ruined it for me. However, the last 10% was also amazing.
The Atlas Six is about 6 uniquely talented magicians who are invited to The Alexandrian Society for a 2 year trial to see if they can join the society of the world’s most magical academics. It’s a secret society which opens up its trials every decade. 6 start the trail but only 5 can be initiated. One must be eliminated but what exactly do they mean by that…
This book has so much promise. Magical people, libraries, a huge secret house and more but for me it was all over the place. The middle section of the book was incredibly long and seem to jump wildly from one character to the next. Unfortunately, I didn’t like any of the characters and therefore weren’t rooting for them. The ending also left me asking lots of questions which can be a good thing but I’m unsure whether I’ll read the 2nd book to find out the answers when it’s released.
Overall, the beginning and ending of the book were filled with excitement and suspense but for me it was a 3.5 star read.

This book was a highly anticipated read for me and so I screamed when I got this lovely copy of The Atlas Six as an e arc. Thank you so much <3 . This book was crazy! There was so much happening all at once, there are so many questions I have that need answers. I enjoyed the way this book was written as it flowed and flowed into each chapter. Very character driven in my opinion which I enjoyed.

I have never been so baffled by a book in all my life.

Because the premise was so cool. A dark academia setting with morally gray character, but the result I got was not… not good.

None of these characters are interesting. Do you know those people who think the only way to be cool is to act edgy and mysterious to create an aura of interest in them? But then you actually get to know them and you find they’re absolutely insufferable? That’s the entire cast!

Except for Reina. I actually liked her, only because the author seemed to forget she was pin the book. Justice for Reina!

But aside from the characters, there are issues galore. The pacing needed some work, and there was no plot at all. It was like the book was used to inflate the ego of Libby, who was so annoying I wanted to slap her. It was a chore to read this book and the fact people loved it is weird to me.

I won’t be reading the sequels.

This book know what the people want. This is a fantasy novel which highlights characters really well and understands them equally aswell. I loved this story and I think that Olivie Blake is a true talent, when it comes to page turners. I loved every page and these characters are just.. perfection!

As an obsessive fantasy reader, it is no surprise that a book starting with an ancient legendary library and the magical mysteries that surround it would have me completely and thoroughly hooked! I really savoured this story and took my sweet time reading it - it felt like a special treat just for me. The concepts were intelligent, intriguing and kept me guessing throughout. I loved the different types of magic and how well the fantasy elements mixed with the modern world - beautifully done. Loved everything about this story - the unique and believable characters, the mystery, world building - all of it. Cannot recommend enough!

A very intriguing premise. In a version of our world, magic is part of society, used at different levels, the more talented make a fortune in business and politics.

Six individuals are given the chance to study in a secret society of academics with access to incredible archives that will increase their power and knowledge to incredible levels. But there is a drawback, it will cost one of them their life.

Thought I would love this but felt let down. Mainly because it was hard to like or emphasise with any character and there felt like a lot of padding before we get to a conclusion which felt underwhelming. Just didn’t feel like it rewarded the reader like it should have done.

Thank you to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of The Atlas Six in exchange for an honest review.

As one of the most anticipated dark academia novels of 2022, The Atlas Six had a lot of expectations to live up to and, quite frankly, it did. From world building and magical explanation, Olivie Blake manages to pull it out of the bag. All six of the main characters (and the four most prominent supporting characters) provide unique storytelling and the POV change is refreshing throughout.

The story is compelling and well paced (more on pacing later) throughout with plot twists that were completely unexpected and the dynamic between the characters continued to shift with each chapter, allowing the reader very little time to come to expect anything too far in advance.

With regards to the ending, it was not known to me that this book was part of a series and the last few chapters appeared rushed, however now knowing there is more in this world to come, it makes sense and in fact is well fitting with the rest of the title.

I truly wanted to love this book. It is dark academia meets fantasy and the overall idea of a magical, surviving secret Society housing the Library of Alexandria and, therefore the secrets of all knowledge, has so, so much potential.

The book, however, is based on characters and the way they interact. None of the characters felt realistically formed or depicted to me. They are adults in their 20's behaving with the thoughts and dialogue of a teenager's creative writing project.

Which means that the way they interact just doesn't save scenes which somehow possess lots of description but minimal and inconsistent world building and plot. An entire fight scene or magical experiment can be happening and it is so bogged down with philosophical thought or irrelevant description that you have no idea what the key element of that scene is until after it is over.

On the other hand, the "major twist" surrounding one character was so obvious I honestly thought it was a plot line I was supposed to be following until I realised towards the end that was supposedly the clever twist.

This book is so convinced by its own pretension that it seems to have convinced social media of its brilliance on initial self publication. I'm not sure it is going to manage the same via traditional publication.

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.

5 starts!

This book is a fascinating, intriguingly smart, character driven freaking mind game. Between twists and conversations that go from philosophy to quantum physics, my mind has been blown (and questioned) a few times. I also thoroughly enjoyed the writing, pace and dynamics of those 6… well done!
That’s all you need to know.

I voluntarily read an ebook ARC of this book. In the meantime, also got myself the audiobook because life got in the way and I wanted to alternate. The audio is great (4/5*), and I especially appreciated to have different narrators for the different POVs. I may have also bought the hard cover of this book, but it will be our secret.

Notes on reviews: I made 3 reviews
1) My Instagram account (for some reason doesn’t allow me to copy the link): ireadthereforeiexist
2) GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4530074115
3) Amazon: https://www.amazon.es/gp/customer-reviews/R2K8J0XPFWK7A9?ref=pf_vv_at_pdctrvw_srp


Notes on the draft: I can understand the drafts shared as ARCs are designed to avoid piracy of the manuscript (I work negotiating commercial/legal terms in the corporate world, so I get it…). That said, it’s incredibly difficult to read in Kindle in the format that was shared: the map and pictures are in pieces in different pages, the titles are somehow misplaced, sentences are cut in half… it’s a bit of a nightmare. In my case, I could not use the Netgalley app because it only works on my phone (not compliant with my latest iOs on iPad), and the phone screen is not big enough. I did try to read in the phone, but the pdf format of the Netgalley app had incredibly wide margins and tiny font size, so it was also extremely difficult. Not sure if all of this will be relevant for you, but thought would be worth mentioning it.

I went into this book not expecting to like it. I've had some bad experiences with BookTok/Booksta favourites and I was so sure this would end up the same. But, it didn't and I'm so glad for that because The Atlas Six really is an amazing book!

I took a lot longer to read this than I do for books of the same size but that was only because it was so packed I needed to take frequent breaks. Storywise, it is quite straightforward with a linear-ish plot. However, the characters are what drive the book. There's multi-POV between the six main characters and each chapter was like diving deeper and deeper into their soul.

I was really cautious at the start of the book since it took more than 10% of the book just to introduce all the characters but I'm glad for that now. It really is necessary to know their background first because, at the end of the book, you'll probably know the characters inside out.

Olivie Blake is a truly talented author; the way she writes the inner battles of the characters is tremendous. The way she writes the magic is... magical. I am so intrigued by the magic system and I hope more is explained about it later.

There was one thing I didn't like, and that was the big dump at the end when everything was revealed. It seemed a little forced, but I didn't let it sway my rating since everything before that was amazing. The Atlas Six is very much a character-driven book and if you don't like that then I would suggest skipping this series. I, for one, loved it and I cannot wait to read more.

Little disclaimer before I dive into this review. If I hadn’t gotten a proof for this, I don’t think I would have read it. Ever since I heard of this book I kind of felt slightly put off by the marketing and ‘hype’ for the book. As soon as I saw the phrase ‘TikTok sensation’ immediately any interest I had in this book. I know this is a me problem but i’m really happy to say this book isn’t terrible and isn’t as cringey I thought, in fact I quite enjoyed most of it! The Atlas Six actually surprised me not only with its plot but also with the way it gets darker throughout. It’s my first read of 2022 and i’m not mad!

Atlas Six = Secret Society + Library + Magic + Secrets + Dark Academia Vibes

Why Did I Read It?

The reason I picked up The Atlas Six wasn’t because I was enticed or super excited to receive an e-arc to review, in fact I was only mildly curious because of the excitement on twitter. I picked it up because I was bored and alone around Christmas and thought it would be an idea to try a new book. I have to say though, if you are thinking of picking this up or even have a mild interest in it like I did, do yourself a favour and pick up a copy as soon as you can. It’s fascinating, page turning (at points) and most of all it has a mystery you’ll be dying to unravel.

“we are empty and trying to fill, lighting ourselves on fire just to prove that we are normal—that we are ordinary. That we, like anything, can burn”
Olivie Blake, The Atlas Six
What is it even about?

The whole plot of this book revolves around a secret society which is only for the select few. So few only 6 initiates are picked every 10 years, with only 5 of them going on to graduate. What is this secret society you ask? Knowledge. It’s an infinite library with all of recorded history. Can you think of a lost artefact or book from centuries ago? Odds are they have the original manual-script or artefact. I loved how this book centres itself on the question of: what would you really do for infinite knowledge and power? Each of the core cast of characters has a very different answer which tends to make the book hard to put down. There’s a lot more excitement with so many events to go down that I won’t spoil in this review. But I do remember being mind-blown when I realised where the title came from, it’s so clever!

Lets Talk About Characters

Talking about characters, there are six main characters whose points of view you will hear from. The problem with this format is some of the characters are so dry. No matter how devious, cunning or salacious a character might be – it doesn’t automatically make them interesting to read, especially if their whole personality is just that. Out of the six characters there was only one point of view I always looked forward to read the rest were a mixed bunch. Sometimes the points of view will be riveting and I found myself on multiple occasions staying up till 2am for ‘just one last page’. Other times I’d start reading and fall asleep.

“The problem with knowledge, is its inexhaustible craving. the more of it you have, the less you feel you know”
Olivie Blake, The Atlas Six
It’s really hard to nail such a large group of main characters and get you to feel strongly about all six. Atlas Six doesn’t fully succeed but it doesn’t fail either. Libby, Nico and Reina were fantastic, Tristen and Parisa were always a mixed bag and Callum was just boring. Each character had a specific magical skill set which would benefit the society, with each being the best in the world at their field. Each gift feels unique and interesting and as the book goes on it tends to build and develop these and they blossom, reveal secrets and twists that you didn’t expect. I just wished that some of these characters were just more interesting to read.

Would I recommend it?

Yes. I think it has some absolutely astonishing moments. Moments when I just exclaimed ‘What The Fuck?!’, leading my room mate to ask me if I was okay. Moments when I couldn’t put it down. Moments when all I would be thinking about is these characters and who could be eliminated. (hint: you’ll never guess what happens). So many of the elements are fantastic and for these I would totally recommend reading it. However, I would also be cautious with the hype starting to build around it.

It is a great book, but it also does have some big caveats with some chapters that feel like filler and moments where I genuinely considering putting it down and not returning. The first half of this book is everything i’ve been praising about it, dark, mysterious, intriguing. The end of the book is the same. But around the 60 → 80% mark is just so mind-numbing and the total opposite of everything i’ve been raving about. So it’s just something to keep in mind.

Would I read the second book coming out later this October 2022? Yes, i’m awaiting it with baited breath I NEED IT NOW! Will I still get excited about the fact Amazon is developing a TV show around it? Fuck yeah, I’m already fan-casting in my head. Do I understand why it’s become a ‘runaway TikTok success? Oh totally, and now I’m starting to realise that’s not necessarily something that should put me off. Because, i’ll probably find parts of it that I really enjoyed!

“Funny how that worked; the innocent fragility of being human. There were so many ways to break and so few of them heroic or noble.”
Olivie Blake, The Atlas Six
In The End

The Atlas Six is great. It’s fun but not without flaws. But it’s certainly a book I think you should prioritise reading. I haven’t mentioned everything about the book here, because what I loved most was going in completely blind. I think not being that excited for this book actually helped temper my expectations and enjoy it a whole lot more than I would have. On a side note, Olivie Blake is a genius and I cannot wait to see what kinds of evil delights the sequel brings and what she writes next.

Wow! I was completely drawn into The Atlas Six right from the first chapter. Olivie Blake has written a masterpiece, entwining the modern world with magic and pulling together an incredible cast of characters all of whom are complex in their own way. I loved the way the different POVs worked together to tell the story. The whole book was really cleverly woven together and I'm really looking forward to reading the next book.