Synopsis
‘Six magicians. Two rivalries. One researcher. And a man who can walk through dreams. All must pick a side: do they wish to preserve the world—or destroy it? In this electric sequel to the viral sensation, The Atlas Six, the society of Alexandrians is revealed for what it is: a secret society with raw, world-changing power, headed by a man whose plans to change life as we know it are already under way. But the cost of knowledge is steep, and as the price of power demands each character choose a side, which alliances will hold and which will see their enmity deepen?’
This is a brilliant dark academia novel, with action packed chapters and some very interesting characters!
I will admit, at times I was quite confused as to what was going on. There were moments when something major happened, and then the it skirted on to something else, leaving you hanging and desperate to find out what had just happened, and why. Obviously this is not an entirely bad thing, as it makes you read on!
Most of the characters were delved into more, my favourites being Nico & Tristan (also surprisingly Parisa!) and finding out a bit more about their past and personalities, really helped bring you into the novel and made you feel for those characters. The only character I didn’t really care for within this 2nd book is Reina, as I felt she didn’t really have much of a role to play in this book (however, I’m thinking this is because she’ll play a big part in the 3rd book!).
Dalton also had a fairly large role to play in this book, with his and Parisa’s relationship at the forefront, and keeping secrets from Atlas. I think his character may be evolving into something dangerous, and that might also be a big part of book 3.
Libby was lost in 1989 for most of this book (hello Taylor Swift fans!) so it was interesting to see how she dealt with being in this almost ‘new’ world on her own, making friendships and relationships with new people (one of which was a character also in the ‘now’).
Time passed very quickly within this novel (did a whole year pass? I’m not sure) so often you’d find that we’d skipped ahead a month or two and something entirely different to what you’d just read was happening. I think Blake has done this with the intention of keeping the book a little shorter, as otherwise it could have been 700+ pages long!
I think the baddies within this novel were good, with Tristan and Nico often banding together to fight them off, especially whilst they’re out trying to find Libby.
We are also briefly introduced to Tristan’s father, which I’m hoping is explored more in book 3, as those dynamics are VERY interesting.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, not quite enough for 5 stars (mainly because the jargon confused me and sometimes the skipping ahead was annoying), but I’d really recommend it to anyone that enjoys Dark Academia, and science fiction!
Thanks again to Black Crow PR for letting me take part in the blog tour!
4/5 stars