Book Review: ‘The Atlas Six’ by Olivie Blake

The Atlas Six (and its two sequels) is one of the fantasy books that has been gaining momentum and popularity in recent years. Once I’d finally finished all of my TBR books I treated myself to a copy and dove in.

Even whilst I was reading the first couple of chapters I knew I was going to enjoy this book. Everything from the writing style, to the characters, to the world building, everything immediately appealed to me. I’m always happy when I encounter a book that seems worthy of all the hype around it.

Set in the modern day The Atlas Six, which also falls into the sub-genre of dark academia, revolves around six magically exceptional individuals who are chosen by Atlas to earn a lifelong pass to the Alexandrian Society and all the knowledge of the Library of Alexandria. Every ten years six initiates are invited to the library but, after a year of study, only five gain membership. The twist? The initiates themselves must decide who to eliminate. It’s a prize many would kill for. A life or death struggle for popularity ensues.

With multiple POVs, the main six characters are introduced one by one. Childhood rivals Libby and Nico are able to control the elements around them. Upon graduating college the pair are looking forward to getting out of each other’s shadow until they both receive Atlas’ offer. Reina prefers solitude but the plants which draw life from her magic never give her a moment of peace. The confident Parisa is a telepath who uses her beauty to get what she wants. The cold-hearted Callum can control emotions and quickly proves to be the most manipulative of the group. Finally there’s Tristian who apricates his ability to see through illusions until he questions whether his reality is the same as everyone else’s.

All six characters are imperfect in some way with each having an unlikeable quality. I found the characters to be more flawed than dislikeable and I enjoyed the unpredictability they brought to the story. The different personalities and rivalries caused alliances to constantly shift. This tension between the characters was often what helped to propel the story along.

Despite my enjoyment of these characters I was frustrated by the lack of development some of them were given across the course of the book. For example Libby starts out with a mountain of insecurities despite her intelligence and magical ability. There are several scenes where she seems to gain confidence only for her to always revert back to how she was at the start of the novel. By contrast the arrogant Nico became one of my favourites by the end once his complicated home life and true motivations for wanting access to the Library was revealed. Although my absolute favourite character has to be the book-lover Reina who spends a lot of the novel frustrated every time someone interrupts her reading.

What I love the most about the world Blake created is that magic is an open and recognised part of society just like science. It isn’t a secret or hidden away, rather businesses seek to hire mages with particular skill sets to give them an edge over their competitors. Although we don’t see much of the world beyond the society buildings, I’m hoping this gets explored more in the sequels.

The Atlas Six has a lot of the fantasy elements that I enjoy together with a good mystery and plot twists which are gradually revealed throughout the novel as we learn more about the recent history of the Society. For me the book has a lot of positives and this is definitely a series I’d like to continue.

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