Book Review | The Atlas Six

Thank you so much to Tor UK and Black Crow PR for sending me a proof copy of The Atlas Six!

This is one of my most anticipated releases of 2022, I have seen so much hype about it online and I was really excited to pick it up. Described as a dark academia novel, and featuring magic and ancient societies, this is everything I love in my fantasy books!

Perhaps I went into this with too high expectations. I finished it feeling a tad disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, overall I enjoyed the novel, there was a fascinating magic system and a really interesting plot, but it just fell flat. I think the main reason I wasn’t overjoyed with the novel was the characters. I didn’t like any of the characters even slightly. It felt like the author had written them all to be as ‘cool’ and ‘aloof’ as possible. This just meant that I felt zero attachment to any of them. I really didn’t care what happened to them.

In general I would say that this novel read like it was trying just too hard to be cool and trendy. The focus was on the vibe of the book and less on the actual content. Nothing was explained clearly enough for the plot to make sense. The characters all made decisions which did not go with what we had been told earlier in the novel. The novel gave off dark academia vibes, with secret societies and libraries etc, but once you read past this, nothing really stood up to any close attention.

Overall I did like The Atlas Six, I was invested enough to keep reading to the end, and it kept me engaged. But I just think it fell flat for me, especially the characters!

Thank you again Tor UK and Black Crow PR for the proof copy!

Pre-order the book from Waterstones or Bookshop.org (affiliate links)

• 
• 
• 
•