This book grabbed me from the very first page and didn’t let go until the vert end. I was so fascinated by the plot line that I couldn't stop turning pages. The char as tears were so well drawn I felt like I was right there with them. The scene development was amazing, because I seen every one in my minds eye. I would highly recommend this book.

I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this advanced reader copy. This is my honest opinion of this work.

An otherworldly, creepy, magic-mixed-with-science book. The perfect reading choice for a spooky autumn night.

Haunting, atmospheric, bizarre, scary…lots of adjectives to describe this unusual book. Relatively engrossing but at the same time bewildering. The clues are interesting and add to the puzzle of this story.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.

"Atlas of Unknowable Things" is an exciting new dark academia-esque thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat through every twist and turn!

I was first introduced to this book with an online puzzle to solve by the author, which was a really fun way to dive into the novel's academic world. As a longtime fan of puzzle games and riddles, this book was right up my alley. This story is not what it seems. We follow Robin Quain, an academic researcher trying to validate the existence of a religion followed by witches of the past, who identifies a rare relic found by a professor at a mysterious school in the Colorado mountains. She travels under false pretenses to attempt to find the relic to prove her theory, and in doing so meets a group of young scholars who seem friendly but are obviously hiding something on the beautiful campus. At no point did I know where this story was going - every time I thought I had solved one of the puzzles and things were becoming clear, I was blindsided by another revelation that switched up the narrative. I had a hard time putting this book down as I needed to know the end! It was also one of those books where you feel the need to immediately start at the beginning again after finishing to put it all together.

This is a great pick for millennials like me who grew up obsessed with Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" and the like. It was a wild ride!

What an incredible genre-defying novel this is! From the very first pages I knew that I was reading something special. Something extraordinary. I loved how smart and intellectual it was. I loved all the clues and puzzles. I loved reading about botany, history, religion, divination, etc. In fact, it took me longer to read this book than it could have because I was constantly Googling things to learn even more. Hildegard College sounded so beautiful that I wish I could go, even knowing about the horrors-and there are horrors. It just sounded so wonderful to be there at the enchanting campus, with the interesting people having parties full of delicious sounding food and drink. However, there were other times you would not want to be there at all. This book had me feeling deeply unsettled-not through overt horror, but through a sense of unease that crept up on me and lingered long after I'd stopped reading. I had a hard time sleeping and kept opening my eyes at every little sound. It was a subtle horror, but chilling nonetheless. I will say that as much as I adored the vast majority, the ending wasn't my favorite. It felt a bit abrupt and anti-climactic, and one part didn't make sense to me. Other than that though, Atlas of Unknowable Things was amazing. The twists were shocking, the plot was intriguing, the setting and atmosphere were perfect, and I loved that I had no idea what was going on and it felt like I was right there with Robin trying to figure it out. I can't wait to see what McCormick Templeman writes next!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

I had a harder time with this book. I think it was just the timing, and I will be re-reading this and giving it another chance!

Atlas of Unknowable Things is a wonder—strange, beautiful, and endlessly thought-provoking. McCormick Templeman has crafted a book that feels like wandering through a dream where every turn reveals something dazzling, eerie, or profound. I never knew what to expect, and that unpredictability is exactly what made it so magnetic.
The language is lush without ever feeling heavy, the kind of prose that makes you stop and reread just to soak in the beauty. At the same time, the ideas running through the book—about knowledge, mystery, and the limits of human understanding—kept me thinking long after I’d set it down.
Reading this felt less like consuming a story and more like being invited to explore a whole new way of seeing the world. It’s haunting, luminous, and absolutely unforgettable.

A very well told story that had me coming back for more. The twists had me shocked and guessing until the very end. I loved being in Robins head, it felt like I was really there

"Perfect for fans of The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, with a modern gothic twist.

High in the Rocky Mountains on a secluded campus, sits Hildegard College, a celebrated institution known for its scientific innovation and its sprawling, botanical gardens. Historian Robin Quain has been awarded a residency to examine Hildegard's impressive collection of ancient manuscripts, but she has a secret. She's actually on the hunt for an artifact - one she must find before her former best friend turned professional rival gets his hands on it first.

But Hildegard has secrets of its own. Strange sounds echo across the alpine lake, lights flicker through the pines, and the faculty seem more like Jazz-age glitterati than academics. And then there's the professor who holds the key to Robin's research. She vanished suddenly last spring. What exactly did she do at the college, and why does no one want to talk about her?

As Robin searches for answers, an unknown source sends her a series of cryptic messages that makes her question whether she's the one doing the hunting, or whether someone is hunting her. Drawing on historical, botanical, and occult research, and steeped in the gothic tradition, Atlas of Unknowable Things considers what it means to search for meaning in the scientific, only to come face to face with the sublime."

And the supernatural. Never discount the supernatural.

WOW... honestly just wow. I had LITERALLY no idea what was happening the vast majority of this book and that is what makes a sensational mystery/horror book. It felt like Robin's POV was MY POV. I was the one in the creepy college, I was the one hearing the noises at night, I was the one sleepwalking out in the woods.

So many times in this book I was like "WTF is going on??" I was on the edge of my seat, I didn't know if this was spiritual, cult/witches, cryptids or aliens. Robin was a great main character, she definitely made incredibly questionable decisions in the name of research. Searching a key pad locked cabin in the woods at 3A.M?? No thank you... Swimming to the island at the break of dawn and feeling something moving beneath you... I THINK NOT. So I had to admire her persistence in the pursuit of knowledge. I enjoyed the way this book was written because you are learning everything that Robin is at the same time.

The other professors I knew something was up, they all seemed so warm and welcoming and then one of them would say something out of left field, or drastically change the subject. I just couldn't figure out WHO!! Which drove me insane, I am definitely one of those people that try to figure out what is happening throughout the book and I was constantly thwarted.

The ending was more modern than I had expected which isn't necessarily a bad thing but I couldn't have guessed it. And there are some things that I don't think got a nice neat little bow to wrap things up, but the ending leaves maybe a potential opening for something else? Please let there be something else!! Pick up the events after this ending with another one of the professors. A girl can hope.

10/10 recommended for Spooky September and October. Will be asking/begging everyone I know to read this book so we can talk about everything that happens!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

Here we meet Robin. A historian obsessed with reclaiming credibility for her thesis. Upon obtaining residency in the gothic Hildegard College she soon stumbles on a bigger and more dangerous mystery than she anticipated.
I loved Aspen and Finn as characters the most. In a book that had pretty fast pacing, these two served as calming and comic relief respectively. And that apothecary garden will live rent free in my head for life!
That being said, as the story progressed it felt more and more unstructured. There was mention of cults, witches, werewolves, and even Frankenstein… The mystery surrounding the disappearance of Isabelle was done really well, and I would have like to have seen just that as the main focus. Instead, the last 60 pages took inspiration for Cabin in the Woods.
Atlas of Unknowable Things has a thrilling and compelling mystery, with a trail of clues to follow. This is perfect for fans of monster horror, or those that want something a little different.

Things seemed pretty normal, just life as a wronged grad student trying to somehow finish a PhD, at least until Robin's roommate goes nuts, and a bizarre residency program pops up that Robin is too eagerly accepted for, to spend all summer in the Colorado mountains at a very small liberal-artsish college that may hold the key to Robin's stalled dissertation.Only, maybe the roommate is not the only one going nuts.
I had some grumbles about the pacing in this one, and while the ideas incorporated in this plot are cool, I always felt a significant separation from the story, so the impacts of the twists and everything else didn't hit as well as the should have. Still, fun story, great for readers looking for something a bit different.

Robin Quain is a historian or at least trying to be. Her best friend Charlie stole her greatest finding so far and used it to get himself a tenure track position, leaving Robin behind. But when Robin learns of an artifact that could prove her theories correct, she applies for a residency at Hildegard College, where the discoverer of the artifact teaches and conducts her research. When she arrives, she finds a small close-knit group of friends who teach there, dealing with the sudden departure of their sometimes friend, sometimes enemy, the professor who had discovered Robin's artifact. After a series of weird 'dreams' and occurrences, Robin decides she needs to do some digging. As Robin digs deeper into what exactly happens here at Hildegard she begins to question her safety, and a big revelation threatens everything she knows about herself and those around her.

I recommend this to fans of folklore, apothecaries, and dark academia.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

This was a well-researched story unlike any that I’ve read with a mystery tied to supernatural forces.

Robin Quain was working on her dissertation based on organized religion and witch hunts from the 1920s when the man she was dating used her notes for his own thesis. She realized that trusting him was a big mistake.

Robin was devastated but then she was overwhelmed with good news: acceptance for a summer residency at a small college near Denver. She proposed to do research on a greater aspect of the supernatural forces based on history and religious beliefs. Were there such things as witches and werewolves?

She was staying at the college near a group of five professionals. They all had secrets and were interested in her studies to the point where she felt like she was being watched. This place was well described with a sense of strangeness and dark energy. She started following a series of clues to find an ancient artifact that she believed was there.

We all have beliefs about UFOs, ghosts, angels and demons. This book takes readers far beyond the unknown with an exploration of the imagination. Thanks to Google, I was able to search words such as transmogrification: the act of changing form or appearance. It wasn’t frightening and ghostly but it was intriguing thinking of an unfamiliar dark existence – as if we have enough going on in this world.

My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of October 7, 2025.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, and there were aspects I truly loved. The setting was fantastic! The odd secluded 'college' with dark monastic libraries evoked definite dark academia vibes, but the Rocky Mt. locale and regular scenes in the great outdoors were a literal breath of fresh air in a somewhat overdone genre. I also enjoyed the scavenger hunt element with solid callbacks to previous scenes. And maybe most of all I appreciated that I really didn't know what was going on, and the twists weren't at all predictable. It's a bizarre and compelling ride throughout.

This book really would have been a five star read if not for a few small issues. The pacing is a bit off. The slower start may put off readers, as could the rushed (almost abrupt) ending with plenty of unanswered questions left dangling. It almost felt like there was a scene or chapter missing in the finale. Likewise, the prose was a bit off at times. Repetitive use of words and phrases, as well as lots of exposition and info-dumping. It didn't ruin the experience for me, but I can see those quirks bothering others.

In short, I was wholly sucked into the story, and had a blast reading this book. A few issues kept it from being an absolute standout, but I still highly recommend it for readers of dark academia and occult horror/thrillers!

Rating 3.75 Rounded up

Quick very high level summary.
Robin Quain is a historian who is granted residency to Hildegrad to research its ancient manuscripts but in reality she is there to find a specific occult artifact before her rival. Hildegard itself is a small but prestigious college isolated in the Rocky Mountains. Soon after her arrival Robin learns a professor is missing and no one seems willing to discuss this missing professors work. The unease and secrecy grows as well as the danger.

My take.
The premise was fascinating and I was captivated from the beginning. The MC Robin is vetted out well but the other characters in the story seem to have less development and I found myself not really knowing or always understanding their purpose. Even still I was engrossed in the story and the atmosphere created around the college was definitively creepy and unsettling. The plot is a slow build and can seem a bit convoluted at times because there is so much going on. At about the halfway mark the story starts to pick up and becoming more fast passed. I was enjoying it so much at this point there are times I felt like I needed more information but then halt. That part of the story would just stop and turn. Overall the premise was fascinating and I was immersed right away in the story.

[whew]

This book was like a puzzlebox that I had a great time trying to solve. It was like a whole bunch of my (typically) niche interests got thrown in a blender to create this delightful smoothie that I gulped down.

I had so many notes about things that ended up not meaning much at all, but now I want to go back and see if I actually was onto something the whole time.

Atlas of Unknowable Things by McCormick Templeman is a very entertaining, twisty-turny, starts as one thing/changes to another thing, hot mess of a novel. Don't get me wrong, I liked it a lot, but I wish it would have zeroed in a bit more on the type of story it was going to be and smoothed out a few of the plot points and edges. I actually really liked the dark academia vibe in the beginning and when the story started going in another direction, I was happy to keep reading, but a little disappointed.

I think anyone who likes these kinds of books will like this one, and I'd definitely recommend it. I just wish the all the reveals/surprises and path of the book made a bit more sense. I'll definitely keep an eye on this author though!

*some spoilers ahead*
This was so fun! Ancient theories and practices, puzzles and clues, maybe the existence of an old, untold horror? And all set on a college campus? Sign me up! I had a fun time reading this and it was such a fast paced book most of the time that it flew by. However, I felt like most of the side characters were underdeveloped, and the tiny plot line with Jim/Uta and the higher ups just felt abandoned at the end, and like it didn’t really need to be included. And we never found out what happened to Paloma/Sabine. I still had a fun time with this book, and the cover is so gorgeous that I’ll definitely get a physical copy of this when it’s released.

First and foremost, thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an eARC for an honest review!

'Atlas of Unknowable Things' is a generally fun ride! It kept my attention throughout, and had me wanting to know more and more as the story unfolded. It provided just enough to keep everything feeling eerily compelling throughout, and had some solid twists that I quite enjoyed. I will note, I think the pacing of this one is a little odd, which left the end and a lot of the reveal feeling somewhat rushed and incomplete. However, it only feels that way because the storytelling leaves me wanting more of this mystery and more of these characters. The world building is so well executed that I wanted to stay there for longer to learn much more. All in all, I would recommend this as a fun mystery read as we move out of summer!