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A review by emmaisnotavampire
The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake
adventurous
mysterious
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? Yes
3.5
This book unfortunately puzzled me a bit, so even though I found it enjoyable I have my doubts. The concept is extremely fascinating, a scientific portrayal of magic as the power of manipulating physics and chemistry is something so unique yet so perfectly in tune with my interests; the second chapter of the saga, furthermore, also explores more complex dynamics occurring in a world with such natural laws, like time travel and multiple dimensions, as well as asking plenty of philosophical questions concerning the purpose, ethics and meaning of these powers, the concept of divinity and fate and all that may relate to them. And all this was great, I absolutely loved it. However...
Plot-wise my only complaint is that, being novel number two in a trilogy, The Altlas Paradox often reads like a necessary linking passage rather than a standalone book, which sadly made me like it a tiny bit less than its predecessor. My main issue with it, though, is that I do not seem to understand most of the writing choices: none of it is inherently wrong, but omitting the description of scenes that had the potential to be extremely powerful or implying substantial changes in character dynamics without ever really addressing what it is that caused them felt... a little weird, if I'm being honest.
All this being said, the story has me deeply engaged and, no matter how flawed, after all this time I have started to care about the characters too, so despite not liking the writing style to the max I am still 100% going to continue the saga and see what's next!
Plot-wise my only complaint is that, being novel number two in a trilogy, The Altlas Paradox often reads like a necessary linking passage rather than a standalone book, which sadly made me like it a tiny bit less than its predecessor. My main issue with it, though, is that I do not seem to understand most of the writing choices: none of it is inherently wrong, but omitting the description of scenes that had the potential to be extremely powerful or implying substantial changes in character dynamics without ever really addressing what it is that caused them felt... a little weird, if I'm being honest.
All this being said, the story has me deeply engaged and, no matter how flawed, after all this time I have started to care about the characters too, so despite not liking the writing style to the max I am still 100% going to continue the saga and see what's next!