A review by cody_crumley
The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

“I believed the universe was completely random, and that's what eluded us. Because we all want to believe we are fundamental in some way. We are our own myths, our own legends. We give things reason. We are reasonable creatures and so everything must have its place, its purpose — but we are also egoistical creatures, and so we give ourselves reasons that don't exist”

Something I am wanting to work on in 2024 is going back to series I started last year to close off a lot of the loose threads I have going, so I decided to start with the Atlas Paradox, Olvie Blake’s follow up before the third and final boom in the trilogy comes out this month.

If you did not enjoy The Atlas Six because of how vague and grey the plot is or how most of the characters can be seen extremely unlikeable, then you will dislike this story. Blake doubles down on the vagueness of it all with the plot and power concepts becoming even more complicated and complex by introducing things like time travel or multiverses into an already complicated magical world.

Where this book shines is in the character work. The POVs all feel distinct and I enjoy the fact that most id not all of the characters do not fall into the traditional “good or bad” character designs. Every single character has shades of grey and show their true feelings in naturally flawed ways. One example of this is Perisa, the telepath who uses seduction to exert her control. The difference between what she does to Dalton (continuing from The Atlas Six) to the scene with Nico shows the layers each character has. 

The plot does falter under the various vagueness of it all, but I still found it relatively enjoyable, even if sometimes it was inscrutable to decipher during many times of the book.

I think this is going to be a book where you will either love it or hate it, there will be not many who fall in the in between. For me, I lean towards the prior, but Blake will have their work cut out for them to stick landing of this trilogy in the final book that is coming soon 

*Also I went back and forth between the digital copy and the audiobook. The audiobook I found helpful with deciphering key moments and the overall performances and production was top notch*