Olivie Blake

THE ATLAS COMPLEX is all about power and destruction. While it is still very much a character study of the six initiates, we finally get to see them out in the world. This is important because it is the first opportunity we get to see how they use their powers after two years of intensive study. Not only that but they also have to face the constant threat of assassination simply because of their powers.

If someone is reading The Atlas trilogy in hopes of reading a dark academia thriller/action story, they are going to finish the series disappointed. No matter what the publishers would like you to believe, that is not what this series is about. In the Author’s Notes, Ms. Blake started writing the series as a method of taming her rage at some of the asinine situations happening in the world. She uses her series not just to channel her feelings but also to raise some very real questions about power and the destruction that seems to follow anyone who has a modicum of it. Her anger about this issue seeps through the pages and makes her story difficult to follow in some regard. I believe her anger also attracts like-minded readers by allowing them to feel seen and heard.

But Ms. Blake doesn’t stop there. Part of her also explores the urgent need for changes that will positively impact the world and halt climate change. In fact, she ends THE ATLAS COMPLEX with firm conclusions about the state of the world and its future if things continue to deteriorate. Here is where I struggled, only because I don’t come to the same conclusions as Ms. Blake and her characters. I appreciate the path she takes to reach her hypothesis, but I don’t agree with it.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the novel. THE ATLAS COMPLEX is every bit as complex and mind-bending as the first book. Seeing the maturity of the six initiates, watching them enact their plans, and change the world is satisfying, and I’m glad I persevered reading the series. I hesitate to recommend it to readers though because it is much more a thinking-person’s novel. Much more cerebral and theoretical and entirely less thrilling than I expected, and that’s okay too. It just means that there is a niche audience for the series, and when the right reader comes across the trilogy, they will be able to appreciate everything Ms. Blake accomplishes with it.… (plus d'informations)

First, I can't believe this series is over....

This book took me a while to read. I started it because I was excited to see how the series ended, but then I took an extended break from the book because I just don't think I was ready. When I finally picked it back up, I continued to struggle through it for a time. I ended up enjoying it more as we got to the climax of the story, but I would say that the first book is still my favorite in the whole series.

Olivie Blake says in her acknowledgements in this book, "The relationships will be the plot, because relationships are all that matter. They're all we can take with us. They're the only real things we leave behind." And honestly, I loved that aspect of the books. I loved that the plot was essentially the characters and their choices. I loved that the characters were unreliable narrators and morally grey. It's hard to say there is a villain in this series because every character had good parts or at least had good intentions at one point in time before maybe those intentions got lost or polluted. Just as every character had bad parts too. I'm glad I read this series. It's maybe not going to be an all time favorite, but I'm glad to have read it.

Also, I'm so sad Nico died. He was my favorite character by the end.… (plus d'informations)

I was over-the-moon when I received a arc of this book. I mean, it's about a girl in engineering, as I also am.
So first up, I loved how nerdy it was. I could tell that the author actually put her time into actually researching what a physics class is like. (I did many of the same projects as the main character.) This continued throughout the whole book and made me so happy.
However, I ran into a few things that I was not fond of. Most of these are just personal preferences and experiences that were quite different.
I noticed that this book made almost all the guys sexist. When I say almost, I mean all. That just seemed a little too much. Yeah, there are some, but most guys won't act like the ones in this book. [To put this into perspective, in my four years of engineering classes that were almost exclusively male, I have only had one comment made by one guy.]
And the second thing that bugged me was one of the chapters that was packed full of politically-correct comments that were irrevelent to the story. They just seemed like they were there to say that the characters were Good People. None of the issues were brought up again.
Even with the little things, I would still recommend this book for those who want a good story about a girl discovering engineering.

Tropes: enemies to more

Content: some language, almost all the guys objected to girls in STEM, quite a few comments there just to be PC, kissing

3.5 Stars

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required.… (plus d'informations)

Book two in Olivie Blake's The Atlas series, THE ATLAS PARADOX, is a bit of a paradox itself. While the story picks up shortly after the events of the first book and spans the initiates' second year at the Society, there isn't much in the way of action. And yet, despite the lack of action or significant plot development, the story grows ever more complex.

In my notes, I describe THE ATLAS PARADOX as a cerebral novel, maybe even more than the first book. In that, we were still meeting the characters, learning the world of the Society, and discovering this world's magic. In THE ATLAS PARADOX, we need none of that, and Ms. Blake wisely does not include any of it in her sequel. Instead, we get 400 pages of astrophysical theories, telepathic scenes, and dream hopping, all to explore what it means to have power and what changes having power will bring to someone.

While I am not a fan of any book that requires me to interpret what I read, I enjoyed every last page of THE ATLAS PARADOX. I might not have understood half of it and am still fuzzy on what certain characters can do, but the story is like a dream. In saying that I mean that the story feels very nebulous, very ethereal, as if you aren't supposed to understand all of it but rather pull out the salient points and learn from them. I enjoy these characters, none of whom are enjoyable, and all of whom suffer from narcissism and neuroses.

The idea we are left with as THE ATLAS PARADOX ends, that people in power or who have power will never do the right thing for the greater good, is a chilling one. At the same time, you don't have to look hard or long to find examples that fit this narrative in real life. And, just like in real life, it is difficult to discern the Big Bads in THE ATLAS PARADOX. Personally, I find the morally gray ground of the novel fascinating; I am excited to see how Ms. Blake brings it all together.… (plus d'informations)