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yoursbia's reviews
2 reviews
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.0
I just finished this book, and now i can say with certainty that about 70% of it was just random rambling.
Yes, the way the author writes is beautiful, and I love the way she conjures up her sentences on paper, but that's the only good thing going on for this book (and as it might be important to mention, i read the self-published version). The problem is that this book was, possibly, 200 pages too long. There was no plot, and the whole thing felt like it was just a collection of beautiful sentences put together in order to fill up this book, saying everything and nothing at the same time.
More than halfway through this book, nothing had been explained. There are magicians—medeians, as they call them—, there are magic-less people, secret societies, elemental powers, mind-reading, and whatnot. But at no point in the book are these explained. We don't know how the magic system works, we don't know why some people have it, we don't know what they do with it or its impact on the world, we don't know why this is important.
Six people—the most powerful that exist—are invited to join this secret society, where they are promised access to all the knowledge in the world. I would say this is a pretty cool idea for a book, especially with magic involved. Academic secret societies and magic? Yes, please! This book had so much potential, but it was so boring to read because nothing ever happens! All we get to see is them researching some random philosophical topic that doesn't get explained properly, hating on each other, or the vague mention of them having sex.
If you're looking for a found family trope, this is also not the place to be. In the one year these six people had to live and study together, they didn't form any significant relationships with each other. All their conversations started and ended the same way: vague, poetic, and philosophical, with no character development or conclusion whatsoever.
This book was purely just vibes, pretty sentences, and a weird, undeniable sexual tension between all of the characters (and yes, I mean all of them!). Which would honestly not be a problem with me if it wasn't 400 pages! The only time something interesting starts to happen is at the end, when you're too tired to keep reading it. And I admit that I was confused most of the time while doing so.
And i don't mean to be too harsh on the author, especially since i haven't read the traditionally published version. There were definitely things i enjoyed reading too. I loved the ambiguity of the characters, not knowing whether their intentions were good or bad. I loved getting mad at them for their shit actions. I loved Parisa. And i would even say i started to like Callum towards the end, even with him being a literal psychopath (or at least portraying himself to the others as such). I loved Nico and Libby's relationship (which was pre-existent). And i honestly loved the tiny bits of actual plot that we got to see, especially near the end. But as i said, all of this went flat because of the lack of development and exploration of these characters.
Overall, I strongly believe that this book would've been an amazing read if it wasn't so long, possibly even 4 or 5 stars. And i wish i could know what happens next without having to go through another 400 tiring pages to read the next book (which i most likely won't).
Yes, the way the author writes is beautiful, and I love the way she conjures up her sentences on paper, but that's the only good thing going on for this book (and as it might be important to mention, i read the self-published version). The problem is that this book was, possibly, 200 pages too long. There was no plot, and the whole thing felt like it was just a collection of beautiful sentences put together in order to fill up this book, saying everything and nothing at the same time.
More than halfway through this book, nothing had been explained. There are magicians—medeians, as they call them—, there are magic-less people, secret societies, elemental powers, mind-reading, and whatnot. But at no point in the book are these explained. We don't know how the magic system works, we don't know why some people have it, we don't know what they do with it or its impact on the world, we don't know why this is important.
Six people—the most powerful that exist—are invited to join this secret society, where they are promised access to all the knowledge in the world. I would say this is a pretty cool idea for a book, especially with magic involved. Academic secret societies and magic? Yes, please! This book had so much potential, but it was so boring to read because nothing ever happens! All we get to see is them researching some random philosophical topic that doesn't get explained properly, hating on each other, or the vague mention of them having sex.
If you're looking for a found family trope, this is also not the place to be. In the one year these six people had to live and study together, they didn't form any significant relationships with each other. All their conversations started and ended the same way: vague, poetic, and philosophical, with no character development or conclusion whatsoever.
This book was purely just vibes, pretty sentences, and a weird, undeniable sexual tension between all of the characters (and yes, I mean all of them!). Which would honestly not be a problem with me if it wasn't 400 pages! The only time something interesting starts to happen is at the end, when you're too tired to keep reading it. And I admit that I was confused most of the time while doing so.
And i don't mean to be too harsh on the author, especially since i haven't read the traditionally published version. There were definitely things i enjoyed reading too. I loved the ambiguity of the characters, not knowing whether their intentions were good or bad. I loved getting mad at them for their shit actions. I loved Parisa. And i would even say i started to like Callum towards the end, even with him being a literal psychopath (or at least portraying himself to the others as such). I loved Nico and Libby's relationship (which was pre-existent). And i honestly loved the tiny bits of actual plot that we got to see, especially near the end. But as i said, all of this went flat because of the lack of development and exploration of these characters.
Overall, I strongly believe that this book would've been an amazing read if it wasn't so long, possibly even 4 or 5 stars. And i wish i could know what happens next without having to go through another 400 tiring pages to read the next book (which i most likely won't).
Content Warnings
Minor: Death and Suicide attempt
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I don't usually rate books 5 stars. I'm not an extreme person, usually keeping myself in the middle. However, I don't think I could give this book a rating lower than 5.
This book was everything I needed and more. As someone coming from a long book slump and just now getting into the fantasy "populars", I feel like Shadow and Bone was the perfect book for me.
This story was SO good. So much so that I can say there wasn't a single moment while reading it that I didn't enjoy. Every page of this book kept me even more captivated by the story than the last. I read it at record speed for me.
I think the way the author writes descriptions is what drew me in the most—it's just so beautiful. Every sentence that I read made it feel as if I were really living this story myself, inside the book.
I was instantly consumed by its world and characters the moment I first laid eyes on the page. It's such a creative but simple concept, too. What if darkness was a place? The Shadow Fold is by far my favorite part of this world. The magic is great too, and I loved memorizing the different colors of kefta and associating them with the right powers. I have to say I loved the Darklingat first, hated him at the end of the book, and I definitely did not see the plot twist coming. But I loved it either way.
I do think Alina and some other characters could do with a bit more personality, sometimes feeling too flat. But overall, this was an amazing read, so it didn't really bother me too much. And honestly, it might be something that we get to see in the next two books, so I'm keeping an open mind. I had so much fun, and I can't wait to read the next books!
This book was everything I needed and more. As someone coming from a long book slump and just now getting into the fantasy "populars", I feel like Shadow and Bone was the perfect book for me.
This story was SO good. So much so that I can say there wasn't a single moment while reading it that I didn't enjoy. Every page of this book kept me even more captivated by the story than the last. I read it at record speed for me.
I think the way the author writes descriptions is what drew me in the most—it's just so beautiful. Every sentence that I read made it feel as if I were really living this story myself, inside the book.
I was instantly consumed by its world and characters the moment I first laid eyes on the page. It's such a creative but simple concept, too. What if darkness was a place? The Shadow Fold is by far my favorite part of this world. The magic is great too, and I loved memorizing the different colors of kefta and associating them with the right powers. I have to say I loved the Darkling
I do think Alina and some other characters could do with a bit more personality, sometimes feeling too flat. But overall, this was an amazing read, so it didn't really bother me too much. And honestly, it might be something that we get to see in the next two books, so I'm keeping an open mind. I had so much fun, and I can't wait to read the next books!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death and Gaslighting
Minor: Death and Murder