Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

22 reviews

sohma4uesugi's review against another edition

challenging 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

1.0

I had to force myself to finish this and I am exhausted. There is just so much without anything at the same time. The sentences are wordy and over the top in a way that is heavy and clunky. Instead of saying “she was shocked by his reply”, the text is that “she was aghast at the perversion of the transaction.” Just… why? Everything simple that should be easy and flows is so over the top that it falls flat beneath the weight of its self. 

There is no immersion into this world. My eyes kept jumping forward begging it to be over with faster. I would reread sentences several times and still be confused in the next paragraph.

Interesting characters were largely ignored and the uninteresting characters were heavily focused on. The artwork, though beautiful, strangely did not match the characters each section was named for, which didn’t make sense to me. 

It felt like whole chapters were missing and the ones that were there dragged on forever and a day. Anything interesting was just simply dropped the next page in infuriating regularity. The last two chapters of the book seemed like they were written for another work entirely, in that they were interesting and actually held my attention. 

To go from talking in tiring detail about the complexities of stopping time to calling someone a useless fuckboi just because they could in the next sentence was jarring and not in a way to bring humor or relief from the vast complexities the text tried and failed to reach. 

The concept was super cool and I wanted to love this book, but unfortunately, I did not. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

kayladaila's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Blood

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Chronic illness, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

omfgeleanor's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Grief, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, and Abandonment

bookaholics_anonymous's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Death of parent and Abandonment

sunsetcity's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

jfield351's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Right off the bat I was really drawn to the characters. They are very original, very well written and very interesting. Especially their backgrounds and motivations. The drawings in this edition were also insanely good! The book was quite dense with so much happening on each page and i wasn’t really pulled to this book, but it was still interesting. The way time was written - it kind of jumped a bit - was a little confusing, as was the constantly switching perspectives. I was a bit confused about who was who at the start but i could tell it would be a good read! I LOVED the bluntness of it, how topics were not skated over but given in just enough detail. I think though, some parts were a little too confusing to read when tired as there was a lot of process. The last 100 pages

were a whirlwind of ‘oh this person is dead! Oh not actually now this person is dead! Oh wait that’s not right either! The whole issue with Ezra was very neatly done, I really enjoyed that. The ending was definitely unexpected for me , I had an idea Ezra would be involved but did not expect that.

solid!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Car accident, Abandonment, and Alcohol

allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense slow-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

3.0

Academic rivals are a trope that I typically take only minor interest in. School was more often a collaborative than competitive affair for me, so it clashes with my experience, leaving me baffled at who has the energy for it. This book had me convinced within the first chapter. YES Libby, Nico is clearly the worst. Continue with your banter. Shoot to emotionally maim. Not only was I convinced, but I was having a great time. 

In fact, all six POVs quickly brought me under their thrall by eliciting strong reactions with their voices. I could give an itemized summary of how I feel about any of them and why because each character is so carefully formed and fills a specific role in the group. The sometimes vicious competition among them adds another layer, as I came to support certain alliances while wishing other liaisons a swift death for the threat they posed to themselves or others through their choices. I found myself irrevocably interested in all the characters' sharp edges, their darkest thoughts, their jangling worries at odds with their lofty ambitions. I admired the unexpected pathways the characters followed, the twisty growth to their relationships, and the queer (pan representation at minimum--most of the characters seem fairly fluid in terms of sexuality) and BIPOC representation (Black, Japanese, Persian, and Cuban protagonists). 

I did get stuck on a couple points. For one, my initial investment in the characters was a bit frayed by the end. This was partially due to choices made in the quest for power and partially related to the way the cast would fixate on each other's perceived weaknesses, amplifying them for the reader. A related concern is that I'm not sure there was a single relationship I wouldn't ultimately categorize as toxic and/or unbalanced. It's not glorified, which I appreciate, but I personally need at least one strong, supportive bond to hold onto in a story. It's what keeps me motivated and excited to come along for the darker bits. 

In terms of world-building, the magic system isn't necessarily revolutionary, but the periods of academic contemplation regarding different abilities and talents left me in the dust as a matter of both mental fortitude and attention span. I may be a science teacher, but honestly, ew physics. 

I liked that the story seems to be winding up for some intriguing commentary on power and institutions, on knowledge and ambition. Already, there were some fun asides and acute observations that I highlighted as fuel for my dark, cynical worldview that Tristan would surely appreciate. Dark academia fans will especially find a lot in these pages to live up to the hype. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Thanks to Tor Books for the free copy of this book.

 - THE ATLAS SIX shouldn't work, but it does. Does it? It does. I liked it. I was sometimes bored? But I kept going? Yeah, I have no idea how I feel about this book.
- It's definitely very clever and keeps you hooked, unspooling plot twists and major actions slowly, between all the long conversations about the nature of time and whatnot.
- I think my main reaction is that this is what THE MAGICIANS should have been.
- Also, that Parisa realllllly verges on the trope of the insatiable bisexual (yet also unclear if she's actually queer or just slept with some women for power reasons? Why is this book hailed as full of queer characters?), though the reasons why she is who she is are laid out in the text, it still felt weird.
- I dunno, I'll probably read the sequel? Have you read this? Tell me what you think. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

daisy54321's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

interesting characters

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Grief and Abandonment

Minor: Child abuse

meredith_williams_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Abandonment

Minor: Cursing and Drug use