Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - The Atlas Six

Wow,
als ich das Buch gekauft habe, habe ich ja mit vielem gerechnet, aber ganz sicher nicht, dass sich das Ganze zu nem philosophischen Thriller Drama entwickelt (ja das Genre gibt es und zwar seit genau jetzt).
Die Fantasy ist dabei gar nicht im Fokus. Blake verwendet wenig Zeit auf Worldbuilding und versucht gar nicht erst die Mechanik ihres Magiesystems zu erklären. Und wieder erwartend stört es null. Von Anfang an treten die Figuren und ihre Charakterisierungen in den Vordergrund. Im ersten der acht Teile störte es mich noch richtig, dass vermeintlich massiv wichtige Gespräche und Szenen die eben zum Worldbuilding und Charaktereinführung beigetragen hätten einfach gescipt werden. Doch sobald ich mich von meinen Erwartungen gelöst hatte ein Fantasy Schwergewicht zu lesen, Boom unglaublich geniales Storytelling.
In diesem Buch geht es um die Fragestellung was unbegrenzte Macht mit den verschiedensten Persönlichkeiten macht. Wie ihr Ehrgeiz ihr, Streben, bzw. ihr „Hungern“ sie zersetzt und verändert. Würdest du morden um die Naturgesetze formen zu können, jeden Menschen wie ein Buch lesen und umschreiben zu können, um einfach allmächtig zu werden?
Eine Besonderheit spielt dabei Blakes Schreibstil. Wer braucht lineare Zeitachsen wenn man zeitlich zwischen den Kapiteln springen kann und dadurch eine Szene wieder und wieder in neuem Licht betrachten kann. Nur um einfach jedes Mal neue Facetten zu offenbaren und mich zu zwingen meine Meinung jedes Mal zu revidieren. Gedachtes, gefühltes und gesprochenes geht ineinander über. Das hat zur Folge das man wirklich mit den Figuren denkt. Ihr Handlungsmotive nachfühlt und die Szene quasi selbst erlebt. Das hat aber auch zu Folge gehabt das ich Seiten wirklich dreimal gelesen habe und jedes Mal anders verstanden habe. Was schlussendlich darin geendet ist, dass ich den „“ für wörtliche Rede einfach nicht mehr getraut habe.
Als Krönung verändert sich die Art des Textes immer zu den Figuren. Blake verschafft den nervösen Ticks von Libby sprachlichen Ausdruck, genauso wie ich Callums Passagen auch ohne die Überschrift identifizieren konnte, einfach an dem kalten rationalen Satzbau und Wortschatz. Ich würde so weit gehen zu sagen, dass wenige Sätze in diesem Buch zufällig gewählt worden sind.

Einziger Kritikpunkt: Leute bekommt mal eure Triebe unter Kontrolle! Also ernsthaft jetzt. Keine einzige Sexszene hat mich gestört, weil sie nicht einfach nur eine Beschreibung des Aktes waren. Sondern weil auch hier das offensichtliche in den Hintergrund getreten ist und dafür Charakterentwicklung betrieben wurde. Entscheidung wurden während diesen Szenen besiegelt, bzw. dem Leser zum ersten Mal erklärt wieso so gehandelt wurde. Aber letzten Endes war es mir dann doch ein zu großes Handlungsmotiv. Jeder hatte auf einmal ein verstecktes Verlangen, eine geheime Liebe, oder ein darauf bezogenes Trauma. Dabei hätte man noch so viel aus den Wechselwirkungen zwischen den Figuren rausholen können.

ich mein ernsthaft jetzt Tristan wird erst als der Kerl charakterisiert, der sich nichts aus Liebe macht nur um dann nen paar One-Night Stands mit Parisa zu haben, woraufhin er ihr auf einmal Loyal aka „verfallen“ gegenüber wird. Um dann durch den Dreier, echte Gefühle für Libby zu entwickeln um, Plottwist, doch nen geheimen Crush auf Callum zu haben. Auch hier wird alles erklärt und ist nachvollziehbar, erscheint mir letztendlich doch etwas überhöht. Zumal einfach bis auf zwei Ausnahmen jede Figur so ein Liebes Fünfeck hatte.

Absolute Empfehlung. Dieses Buch sorgt für frischen Wind und Abwechslung. Gerade für so high Fantasy verwöhnte Menschen wie mich. Achso hab ich eigentlich schon den Cliffhänger am Ende erwähnt…

Content Warnings

anaisdai30's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Content Warnings

sweetjuicee_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

BOOK TW: Alcohol, blood, degenerative disease, guns/gunshot wound, manipulation, murder, sex scenes (not explicit), suicide

After I bought this book, I only saw hate for the plot and the characters (other than Elizabeth). I can completely understand where this hate for this book is coming from, but honestly, I thought that this was a great book — especially in comparison to my last read.
~~~~~~
The main six characters (Parisa Kamali, Tristan Caine, Callum Nova, Reina Mori, Nico de Varona and Libby Rhodes) are selected to be in The Alexandrian Society and have to train their magic to make sure that they're one of the five that make it to the next year. This book was very slow paced, but since so much of the book was mainly focused on the characters learning from both the library and each other, I could excuse it. I think it sped up at the right places

particularly the invasion and the part where they plan and fail to murder Callum

but I enjoyed the fact that the book wasn't totally action-packed.

I also like Blake's writing style: she's great at showing not telling; she can handle the multiple perspectives pretty well without repeating things in another person's point of view, and I love how well she can describe something for pages and pages. If she wrote a book with zero dialogue, I'm 90% sure I'd enjoy it. Her descriptions were interesting and the only thing that took me out of the book was an occasional piece of dialogue or the fact that I had to force myself out of the book to do a separate task.

That's not to say it wasn't without its faults.

There wasn't a lot of 'rigorous' study that's suggested in the blurb, since the book focused more on the characters' thoughts and feelings towards the others in the society and their lives back home. Furthermore, the magic system is quite confusing — how do you figure out who's a medeian? Do they need to have median family? It seemed like Libby didn't. Can all medeians cast a certain type of magic, or did they have to go to specialists for illusions? I have a bad habit of filling in the gaps in my head, so I didn't realise until I read a review pointing this out.
~~~~~~
I'm fairly conflicted on some of the potential romances in this book. I'm always partial to romantic subplots, but there's something a little off with most of the romances that have been hinted at in the book; it feels almost unethical to ship them.

Trislibby is one I can't get behind because of the age gap, and I don't really think there's much to say about it.

Novacaine really splits me. On one hand, their moments together are adorable and I've accidentally read spoilers about how their relationship develops in TAP

with Callum's one-sided pining for Tristan and asking Parisa if she's been in love before, and I adore pining, one-sided or mutual which is so heartbreaking.

On the other hand, if either of them got therapy, they would've never been attracted to each other, and that would be a good thing for both of them

because still being in love with the guy you stabbed/the guy who stabbed you is kind of crazy in my opinion

.

I personally haven't seen enough for me to support Nicolibby, but I get the appeal behind it, since they start to tolerate each other much more (and because Nico's the closest thing Libby has to a friend in the society). If their relationship is developed in TAP, then I could support it.

The only ship that is the healthiest (even though it probably isn't that healthy) is Nicogideon. It's obvious that both of them care for each other more than the other knows, and it definitely surpasses a normal "best friend thing" (I love my best friends, but I do not want their problems), but if Olivie Blake turns around and says that they're not meant to like each other then I won't scream and cry over it.
~~~~~~
To reiterate, I like how Blake's managed the six different perspectives in the story. I feel that at times their characters and thoughts blend into one, but the majority of the time, she does a great job at separating them and their thoughts and feelings.

My final thoughts on the characters are as follows:

Parisa: I like her. It's very interesting how she and Callum have similar personalities and they see each other as villains in each others' stories. Their abilities both rely on people not being truthful and manipulating them to get the information or reaction they want or need. I'm intrigued to see how she changes and develops (or doesn't) in the second book.

Tristan: The first thing that comes to mind is that he needs therapy, but he's the type of person to complain about how it disrupts his work life. He, Callum and Libby are probably my top three main characters.

Callum: I think he's an underrated character. I'm always drawn to characters that have complicated morals and those who very easily make mistakes when picking alliances in books like this.

In isolating himself from the others and only allying himself with Tristan, he dug his own grave with the others and with himself. If he refuses to talk to the others, they'll think he's rude and be upset that he thinks that they're not worth his time, and since he and Parisa have similar (ish) abilities, they'll choose to eliminate the one who didn't bother to talk to them and think of him as expendable. He also dug his own grave with how he only spoke to Tristan as he doesn't seem to have any outside friends other than family ones that are all about business. Callum has also chosen to befriend the one person that can see through his illusions — Tristan both literally and figuratively is the only person there that can see the real Callum Nova, so only talking to the others out of necessity, but talking at length to the one person who can see through you is obviously going to do a number to your self-worth. He would've developed an us vs. them mentality eventually, and then having to kill the one person that you liked because he chose to side with "the enemy" is going to fuck you up mentally.

He's definitely one character that I would've loved to be in the head of more, and I'd love to explore his relationship with his family a little more as well.

Reina: I've never liked her. From the beginning to the end, I never liked her. I understand just how important she is

and how she can't die for Atlas' plan to work

but I seriously cannot stand her character. I had to skim read one of her chapters because she annoys me as a character so much. "I only feel strong platonic feelings" for whom? For what? Not your ability, not anyone around you, so what do you feel platonic feelings for? Books? She's the type of person to make fun of you because you aren't reading the classics every day.

Nico: Honestly, I think he's a little weak as a character by himself. I don't remember his perspectives as much as the other five and it seems like he prides himself on being Libby's rival and being better than her. I'm interested to see how he has changed in the second book

now that his rival is trapped in the dimension of time.

Libby: I wanted to hate her, but she's too relatable as a character. Her constant need for everyone to like her hinders her as a physicist and as a person. She also dwells on things a lot. She felt a little like looking in a mirror, and I felt bad when the other characters spent their time talking about how they hated her. I think she was coming out of her shell a little and was much more confident towards the end, which was nice.

The other notable characters (Atlas, Dalton, Gideon and Ezra) were also really nice to read about. I like how nicely Blake tied up loose ends with Ezra's perspective and how neither Ezra nor Atlas could be seen as the villains immediately. I really like Dalton and Parisa's relationship, even though it's one-sided and Parisa benefits much more than Dalton. Gideon is probably my favourite character in the book.
~~~~~~
I really liked reading this, but there's something that prohibits me from giving it all 5 five stars. I had the same problem with TSHEH where I liked it, but it didn't have a 5 star quality. I may not reread it for a while, but I'm very excited to read the second book and I hope it's as good as this one.

Content Warnings

sea_sea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Great read! The story was so intricately written, with loads of mysteries and interesting subplots. All the characters were so unique and facetted. They were so well written! The magic was a little confusing sometimes, I think I only understood towards the end of the book what ‘wards’ were. Sometimes the book also dragged a bit, but I didn’t mind that. I definitely look forward to the next book!

Content Warnings

saoreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I finally got through it, and it was most definitely in the latest parts where everything seemed to fit together, even though some mystifying areas still exist—a fact that made me love it. To be honest, I find that it wasn't my cup of tea in the first place, but by just continually reading it, especially that there are more than six characters involved, it is a challenge that you are rooting for; you might end up rooting for one or none, but it won't matter; it's a different kind of play in relationship dynamics that we don't find commonly. Often I have the obsessive urge to read the next installment just to find out what happened after, but this one was not the indulging type where it makes me go cray cray, but it gave both thrill and mystery that is enough to binge over for some weeks.

Content Warnings

beetayz's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I am still unsure if I like this book or not, or if I’ll pick up the next in the series. There is a theme of actualizing your full potential and unfortunately I think the author missed the opportunity to do the same.

I did find myself enjoying moments of this book and some of the plot battle scenes, but other times I felt like I might put it down unfinished. The writing often felt like the author was glancing at a thesaurus and it brought me out of the story. I expected more character development and actualization of plot to happen but the pace was so slow and the world is not well depicted.

I can see why it has a cult following and once I dive into this genre more, I think I’ll know if it’s worth it for me to continue.

Content Warnings

frantically's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book is just: "You don't know anything about physics? Sucks to be you 🖤" for almost 400 pages.

I had no clue what this was about going in and I was pleasantly surprised! Usually I'm not the biggest fan of urban fantasy but this one was so well done, it just all felt really natural (and it gave me hardcore WINX-Vibes, if anyone else understands that lol).

BookTok has made me really apprehensive about a lot of the books recommended there — morally gray characters are just lazy Kaz copies, enemies to lovers is just straight up abuse, etc., but this book actually had interesting, multifaceted morally gray characters and I enjoyed that so much.

For much of the book, there isn't a clear villain, a clear force that has to be fought again and that offered a lot of space for characters development and introspection, which fantasy books often don't have enough time for but I absolutely adore it.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book! I hope it won't be just a duology, as there were so many possible storylines mentioned in this one and I hope they all get their space to be properly explored.

Content Warnings

uranaishi's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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