“When the great library burned, the first 10,000 years of stories were reduced to ash, but those stories never really perished. They became a new story. . .”
Robert Ford, Westworld, S2E7
Everyone knows the story about the Library of Alexandria. The library was one of the greatest sources of knowledge and information from the late B.C. to early A.D. However we all know what happened to it. Knowledge, books, and scrolls completely wiped out in a great fire. But what if this knowledge survived? What if only a few select people were allowed to study and access the greatest source of knowledge in the modern, magical world. This is what Olivie Blake askes in The Atlas Six. Magic, relationships, betrayal, and death are all things Blake tries to explore.
Summary
The Alexandrian Society chooses Six of the most powerful magic users every ten years to join the them, where they get access to knowledge and forgotten magics. The six students go through one year of school and then must pick someone to be eliminated by the end of the year. After two years they get full access to the library along with power, wealth, and anything else they’ve ever wanted.
The Atlas Six focuses on the six chosen, where they form relationships with one another and learn powerful magics. Libby and Nicolás are physicist magicians. They can manipulate the physical world. They also hate each other for reasons not really talked about in the book, other than they are equally good at what they do. Tristan is an illusionist who can see through illusions. Parisa can read minds and manipulate people. Reina can talk and control plants and finally Callum can control people’s emotions. Atlas Blake, who is in charge of the society, picked them because he believed them to be the best and brightest.
Throughout The Atlas Six the characters squabble for superficial reasons. Each trying to form alliances so they are not the ones kicked out of the six at the end of the year. They attend class and focus on improving and inventing new spells. All of them try to learn more about the Alexandrian Society, but Atlas hides the secrets from them.
The Review
I picked this book up because it sounded interesting and also I love magic and secret societies in books. Harry Potter has always held a special place in my heart. However, this book is not what I was hoping it to be. The magic was minimal and focused more on the superficial relationships between the characters. Their motivations for joining this society only came from power or knowledge. Libby and Nico are prime examples. Libby plays the stereotypical anxious girl who hates Nico only because he is her equal. Parisa and Callum hate each other for almost the same reason. Parisa plays the stereotypical attractive girl who can manipulate guys and girls card.
One of the main issues I found with this book is none of the characters are likable. You want some voted out more than others but each of them whined too much or played the victim throughout the book. It was hard to relate with any of them. They keep secrets from one another for almost no reason at all. If the characters would have communicated with one another more most of the problems would have never happened. It was frustrating to read because the problems could be solved so easily if they just worked together.
Another issue I had was the plot. Not a lot happened in the 373 page book. The biggest thing to happen in the plot is at the very end of the book. Blake shoots off in a completely different direction at the end to set up the next book in the series. If the author leaves hints and clues throughout the book this could work however, Blake leaves almost nothing hinting at the direction her book will go in.
Lastly, the dialogue and interactions between the characters felt cliche or downright pretentious. Since this book focuses on relationships there is a lot of dialogue, most of it bad. People do not talk the way these characters talk to one another. You could turn to a random page and find them speaking in ways no modern person speaks. Blake tries to make them seem so much smarter and have such deep thoughts on life and relationships but it falls short. This is the main reason I disliked the characters. How can you like a protagonist who talks like a 7th century philosopher or looks negatively on all his peers?
The rating
I will eventually get around to reading the sequel in hopes that there is actual plot to it, since Blake set up the sequel to seem like there will be. However, I am in no rush to do so because the writing will be the same and the protagonists will most likely be their unlikeable selves. The Atlas Six is not recommended for our younger readers out there. There is sexual content and suicide related events.
During my reading the book kept me semi engaged which allowed me to get through it. However, I did not like the book due to the reasons mentioned above. People on social media hyped this book up saying it’s so great but I could not relate or see why they thought it was amazing. I would personally not recommend this book to most people. If you want books on magic and/or relationships I can guarantee there are much better out there.