Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

219 reviews

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

I quite liked The Atlas Six. The characters are mostly just the right level of “everyone believes themselves the smartest in the room but are they really,” for me. The character backstories and their behaviors, both in the Atlas Six and those overseeing them and/or friends/associates of theirs are all quite well executed. The personality contrasts between the characters and the way their abilities interact with each other creates so much intrigue throughout the plot. That said, at least one character gets the short straw in characterization. Also, the plot for this first book in a series of three doesn’t truly conclude itself. It worked well for me but I can see why some would really dislike these characters and dislike how this book concludes. I’m definitely continuing into book 2. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Much of the intrigue and conflict of this book is about idealogical differences, theoretically and in practice. There is questions about the morality of their abilities. There’s questions about what access to/denial of access to knowledge means. Is it right or not for a privileged few to have access to certain types of knowledge over others. Things are not always binaries too. If this doesn’t sound appealing, no harm in skipping this.

abrataydabra's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I can’t tell if I like this book or hate it. It was well-written, and  I was not expecting the plot twist with Ezra. Will probably give the rest of the series a try. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Drug use, Grief, and Murder

okaychanly's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

In The Atlas Six, Olivie Blake crafts a world that fuses dark academia with magic and science, creating an intriguing backdrop for a character-driven story, but I found her writing style pretty tough to get through— it often felt like she was trying a bit too hard to sound smart. The multiple perspectives are cool in theory, but a lot of the characters ended up sounding rather similar in an effort to convey sophistication and intellectualism. On the subject of characters, I feel that Reina in particular deserved more of a presence (because I really feel like we didn’t get to know her), whereas Callum, (though arguably the least likable one of the bunch), needed to be further fleshed out.

My biggest gripe is that everything happens and yet, nothing at the same time. I was hooked by the premise and the central mystery, but I wish the character relationships had been explored more. There's a lot of philosophical talk and thought exercises, but the whole group dynamic was never truly focused on. The pacing felt off, too; there was this built-up mystery around the inevitable initiation process and the costs of magic, but then the big twist at the end came too quickly and concluded with a rather confusing cliffhanger. Overall, while Blake’s imaginative world is captivating, it sometimes overshadows the character depth and clarity of the story, making for a bit of a mixed experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Suicide

Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Blood, and Death of parent

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Suicide

Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Blood, and Death of parent

kaydyyn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content and Violence

maritareads's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault

walkingcha0s's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

carolinejane's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

2.5

The book is written well and I did enjoy it… However, in terms of pace, it was very slow and I found having the relationships as the focus instead of the plot immensely boring. It was rather like a magical version of Bridgerton but with an actual plot line, although thin. Character development was small and actual action minimal. The relationships were average and quite stereotypical. I appreciated the different ethnicities and representation, on the other hand, I feel it certainly could have been done better as there was a feeling of it not quite hitting the mark. There was a lot of world building but since it is set in familiar places, I feel this was unnecessary. Overall, I think it was fun to read and I do want to finish the series, albeit due to my inner gossip girl curiosity. This is also in spite of the title and concept being more exciting than the execution. I am in no rush to buy the next book. You would not be missing out if you skipped this one but it is an easy read to pass the time.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Gun violence

Minor: Child death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship

aino_maria23's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use and Death of parent

saretta02's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, and Grief