Book Title and Author: The Atlas Six (The Atlas #1) by Olivie Blake
Genre: fantasy (in a dark academia setting)
Why you liked it & why you're recommending it:
I will never get over the fact that it took me four months to read this. I loved this book so much, it’s easily an all-time favourite, but this is a pretty dense fantasy and I didn’t anticipate needing to read this book bit by bit instead of in one sitting. Academia in fantasy is definitely my new favourite, weirdly specific, sub-genre and I can’t tell if I’m excited or nervous to read more of it because I don’t know if I can handle another four-month-long read.
One of my first observations about this book was literally that it was written in a textbook font made for ants. On a more serious note, the way that science and magic were combined in this world is so interesting. We’ll be discussing scientific or philosophical concepts and then every 50 pages or so - mermaids. It’s so deeply unserious and yet the writing is just so fantastic, Olivie Blake deserves a lot more praise for her work.
How would I describe this book? An unhinged, traumatized and horny-as-shit found family/cult does science magic and tries to justify murder. (we should have a letterboxd for books where I can just post that and go)
Share quotes from the book if you have...
“Knowledge is carnage.”
“they were binary stars, trapped in each other’s gravitational field and easily diminished without the other’s opposing force” - pg. 147 (Libby and Nico are the greatest academic rivals-to-lovers who are also twin flames!)
“But he could feel the triumph radiating from her; it was sickening and putrid, rancid and rotting. She was overripe with it, devolving to decay. She was deadness taking root in fertile soil, resurrecting in the abundance of his loss.” - pg. 236 (oh you have no idea what I would give to be able to write like this)
“Yes, Tristan could see things other people could not, but the trouble was that he didn’t believe his own eyes when he saw them. The child told routinely of his worthlessness was now a man bereft of fantasy, lacking the inventiveness to give him a broader scope. Ironically, it was his own nature that crippled him most.” - pg. 250
“Trust, once dead, cannot be resurrected.” - pg. 270
“You need me to hurt you so that you can finally learn the difference between torture and love.” - pg. 307 (that entire scene was just so f*cked up)
“You’re a fire hazard, Rhodes. So stop apologizing for the damage and just let the f*cker burn.” - pg. 315
“because he was perpetually safe and she was eternally not” - pg. 354 (the most heartbreaking line from the book, and there were a lot of those)
Your personal Star rating out of 5 (if you wish to): 5.25
Trigger warnings (if any): I personally can't think of any, but definitely search them up to be on the safe side!
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