A review by worm_food
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

4.25

There's just something very fun about a really pretentious cunt man soliloquy that is also written well. There's times where trying to find a balance between exposition and plot progression that make the pacing feel clunky, and the Brandon Sanderson golden rule of the limitations of a magic system being more exciting than its capabilities is not exactly honoured - both things that at times make you feel like the author bit off a fair bit more than she could chew. Overall though this shit was FUN, the characters and their internal conflicts were FUN especially in the back half of the book after the reader manages to spend some time with them and they get a little bit more depth (Parisa and Tristan especially, I was pleasantly surprised). A fair amount of absolutely baller scenes, Ezra's interlude and the confrontation between Tristan and Callum were a treat to read, they are enough for me to ignore the overly sensationalised dark academia prose that I would be slamming otherwise.

I'm curious about the rest of the series, but my expectations are high, so let's see how it goes - survivors guilt as narrative device and a departure from the dark academia shittery is what I'm expecting and I really really hope it stays good or gets better.