This was a fast paced fun and adventurous book! Very reminiscent of The umbrella academy. Not my usual genre but I do not regret it! I can’t wait for the next!

Whoop whoop! Alexandrian society welcomes you with open arms! Dark academia, magical librarians, extra talented rivalries are fighting tooth and nail to eliminate each other for securing wealth, power and prestige beyond their wildest dreams! Yes! Yes! And yes! Such a dreamy combination for satisfying my dark soul! I am all in!

The plot gave me so much hope and I felt the five starred, highly appraised review was already on its way! But… I hate the sentences starting with that word because you may sense something negative will come out sooner. And actually it’s about to come out!
Well, it’s so hard for me to say it: I’m just ripping the band aid off quickly: I didn’t enjoy it as much as I anticipated.

Firstly it was really slow! Not slow burn, slow enough to get you outrageously impatient.
Mostly there is less action has taken place.

As a biggest fan of Novik Scholomence, I was expecting to connect with at least of the characters. But most of them truly irritated. I think Callum and Tristian were the less annoying ones to root for. I slowly learn to tolerate them.

The using of magic and entire execution of the story have still so much potential. High competition between magicians/ medians, their extraordinary differentiated abilities, hidden libraries, the big secrets surrounded around the entire Alexandrian society were the alluring parts of the book giving you best vibes of dark academia thriller that kept me going.

So I ignored my hesitations about very punchable characters and solid writing style and reached to the finish line.

Well, I think I’m still intrigued to read the next book. I’m still hopeful all those will evolve and reach their better versions of themselves at the sequels. So I’m not gonna pray for the lightning strike to take their lives!

I’m giving three solid stars because of alluring magic element and its intriguing execution. I was expecting to enjoy it more! I’m still rooting for the sequels!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor / Forge for sharing the digital arc of one of the most anticipated books of 2022 in exchange my honest thoughts.

This is hands down one of the best, if not the best, book I have ever read. I love everything about this book, the magical system, the characters, the lot, the atmosphere, every detail. I love it all. I recommend this to everyone with eyeballs…..and even those who consume books in other ways!

While it started out strong, my interest in these characters waned the more time I spent with them. By the halfway point, I honestly couldn't care less about them individually or as a collective. Perhaps I could have pushed on if the story had engaged me, but the twist, so to speak, was rather lacking too. I'm sure others are going to enjoy this book, but it was not for me.

Honestly, I couldn't get into this, but I think that was my problem and not the book itself. It will be great for people who like the Novik Scholomance series or enjoyed Bardugo's Ninth House, though.

Knowledge is carnage.

In short, The Atlas Six is an engaging blend of the fantasy and dark academia genres following six of the most powerful medians (magicians) who are invited to become initiates of the secretive Alexandrian Society. When the Library of Alexandria was lost, it was reborn in secret to preserve the knowledge there. The most powerful medians were permitted to access the library as long as those medians also cared for it and ensured its safety.

Each of the six medians that are chosen are exemplary in their own field and study of magic and are eager to accept the invitation from the mysterious Atlas Blakely. They will soon learn that although six were chosen, only five will be initiated. One must be eliminated.

A wonderful novel that has left me with the certainty that I will be reading book two, The Atlas Paradox, as soon as it is available.

THE ATLAS SIX will inevitably draw comparisons to NINTH HOUSE and ALL OF US VILLAINS, for good reason -- magical dark academia with a full cast of somewhat unlikeable, morally grey, extremely bisexual characters? Practically its own subgenre at this point! But Blake's take feels somehow fresh, partially because she doesn't waste precious space with attempts to explain the magic that fuels her world -- the reader gets exactly as much information as she needs to grasp the story rather than suffering through a history lesson. Similarly, the characters' backstories are revealed piecemeal, and the narrative skips through time in an almost playful manner, somewhere between free indirect discourse and flashback/forward. Time, like memory and emotion and thought, in the novel is a plane to traverse, which keeps the novel exciting--where dark academia books sometimes get lost in the repetition of classes and lessons and terms, TA6 moves briskly and with purpose. At times, I grew a bit tired of the characters' endless existential pontifications, but that's a personal genre bugbear rather than a real fault of the novel. I definitely look forward to reading the next two installments of this trilogy, and I anticipate recommending the series to many people!

Olivie Blake’s The Atlas Six is a dark, academic fantasy-meets-dystopian struggle. A number of fun elements come together to make this an enjoyable work—magical libraries, powerful magical students, romance, competition, and secrets. However, the overall unlikability of the protagonists makes it a difficult to enjoy completely.
The Atlas Six takes familiar elements—magical schools, competing magicians, hidden libraries, and more—and combines in them in a way that is fun without being a new or original as many of the reviews suggest. For me, though, the combination was a winner, and I enjoyed seeing familiar elements combined in a fun, interesting way.
While many of the reviews highlighted the ‘gorgeous’ prose, I found the writing to be serviceable without being particularly impressive. It was good, solid, readable prose, which is what I wanted—it made the story easy to read, and I found myself sinking into the narrative without any problems.
The main downside of this book for me was the characters. I didn’t find any of them particularly likable; from the beginning, they all seem petty, selfish, and self-absorbed. Some are certainly more interesting and deserving than others, but I didn’t find myself rooting for any of them, and it was a relief when I could stop reading about them. This would have been an automatic five star book for me if I’d liked any of the characters.
While reading, I found myself comparing this to All of Us Villains; The Atlas Six is infinitely better, and if you find yourself deciding which to read, save yourself and go straight for Olivie Blake’s book.

If you were to mix The Magicians, Ninth House, and The Secret History— you’d essentially have the Atlas Six. A group of incredibly talented magicians, the best of their generation, are invited to join a secret society. Six are chosen, but only five will be initiated.

I can’t wait until the sequel comes out— the ending has me absolutely bewildered!