The Atlas Six - The Atlas #1 (Blake)

Start Date

Fri, 10/28/2022 - 15:06

Black cover, The Atlas Six in white text

4.5 Stars

“No one here is good. Knowledge is carnage. You can’t have it without sacrifice.”

I...honestly don't even know how to review this, lol. Olivie Blake is a good writer whose writing people will either like or not like. This series in particular, I think, isn't going to have many people with middle of the road thoughts. I myself haven't really gotten into the dark academia trend as a whole quite yet but I think that's because past-Arielle wasn't a big fan of anti-heroes and morally gray characters. As I've gotten older and have read a LOT of Dramione fanfiction (lol) I've begun to see that not all characters are good. Not all people in real life are good. But they're not all bad either. Some can be somewhere in-between and fluctuate based on what they're trying to get out of life at any given moment. And best part is you can still fall in love with them anyway??? This group of people that are chosen as the Atlas 6 to attend the Society are special. They are powerful. They are unlike 99% of the world's average population and they know it. I've seen people say that Blake's writing is pretentious in this book and I think what that really means is that she's writing at a level to showcase the intelligence of these characters. Like I'm not going to lie, there's a good chunk of this book that I couldn't come close to comprehending. I know nothing about physics. Do I want to after this? Yes.

My favorite part about this book, and her writing in general, is how she writes characters and how they interact with one another. The way Libby and Nico's powers compliment and need the other to reach their full potential. The way Reina observes. Parisa's hunger. Tristan's ability to see, and yes, even Callum. The different moral gymnastics she puts all of them through in this is fascinating and that's coming from a person who doesn't enjoy thinking about philosophy. By the end I just had so many questions because I feel like I BARELY understand any of their true selves. What do they want out of life (other than power and knowledge)?! Whose "side" are they going to be on?! Will they end up working together or tearing each other to shreds? I couldn't begin to guess. All I know is that I NEED to know what happens next.

“We all have our own curses. Our own blessings.” Callum’s smile faltered. “We are the gods of our own universes, aren’t we? Destructive ones.”