In short:

woah, this book is anything but what I expected. A story that sets the full focus on its characters that either immediately pulled me in or made me grow more obsessively attached to them as I kept reading. If you love great, complex, moralley grey characters and the omnipresent question of who will betray the other and if it will cost you a great deal of pain, then this is the book for you.

In anything but short:

Often you‘ll come across books that are hyped. For different reasons, of course, but the voices are loud enough: it needs to be read. And very often, it sets the expectations rather high, so impossibly high that it‘s hard for the story to meet them. But some still do. Some are still able to meet all your expectations and excel them. But what I love is when my expectations aren‘t met. At all. And yet, I find myself totally at the mercy of the words within the pages, suprised at how much I hadn’t known I need that type of story, meeting characters that have me in chokehold, which is exactly what The Atlas Six accomplished. And maybe more.

One thing that I need to start off is this: it‘s definitely not a story for everyone. While this book is one that discusses magic in every sense possible, it doesn‘t read much like a fantasy novel. No, I would be much more inclined to compare it to literary fiction. Putting the essence of the characters in the focus, not the action. And maybe this story is proof that one doesn‘t need to slay a dragon for a book to be magical. Not that magic doesn‘t play a very important role in this story. It does, very much so. But I can easily see this story set in a different genre, erasing the magical elements, and yet the characters would shine. Because the first and most important aspect of this story are the characters. Their drive, their motivation and their development. However, I do think this would make a much less intriguing storyline if the magical component had been erased. I love how much bigger the picture gets because it’s magical. So it‘s needed. For the suspense, but also for establishing how a fantasy novel doesn‘t have to necessarily follow the traditional build-up to work. Not in the slightest.

It‘s the characters who shine in this book. Six being the magical number here (honestly, how come books with a main cast of six always do their thing to me? Is this some wicked spell doing its work here, anyway moving on…). Some characters immediately had me obsessing over them (Libby and Nico), others needed some warming up to them (Tristan and Reina), and others had me intrigued, wondering whether how much of a mess they will turn me into once I totally hand over my heart to them (Parisa and Callum). However, it‘s not only them individually that I find immensly interesting, but them interacting with each other. I loved seeing them together, trusting and not trusting each other. Working together, only to set it up for potential betrayal. Each of them is so complex, hiding so much more than we can see, not letting me go. Really, with these characters it‘s just „Head empty. Only them.“ I never knew what to expect next with them, and they kept surpising me, making sure I fell for them even more. Chapter by chapter. Page by page. I‘m at their mercy. Totally. And I know I‘ll pay for it. (I just know it!)

Honestly, I understand the hype. I truly do. Because once you let these characters get control of your body and soul, they won‘t let you go. But I can also see why this book might not end up being what you wanted. Because truth be told, it‘s very character-driven. In fact, if you‘re looking for a solid and exciting plot, you might end up not being as happy as I do. Simply because the characters are the plot, what they do, what drives them is what carries this story. The Society itself is more or less just the setting of it. Not that I minded it, but I can see how it can be hard for anyone prefering a plot-driven story.
However, this is not saying that this story completely lacks of a plot, and I‘m positive that we get to see more of the mechanisms of the Society and the action being involved in the sequel, but The Atlas Six mainly gives us an understanding of the characters and where to place them in this dark academia world.

As for the worldbuilding itself - it‘s intriguing. I mean it‘s about the library of Alexandria. Which bibliophile wouldn‘t be immediately obsessed about that fact? I certainly was. But the main aspect of magic and this world we learn is through the academic studies the characters go through. The writing is partly dense, partly philosophic, partly too smart for my own good. I loved how scientific the element of magic had been dealed in this book, because to the contrary of what I usually come across (i.e. magic being tied heavily to feeling it), the explanation in this one goes a bit further it. One needs to study the history, the mechanism, the science behind it which actually fits perfect in the dark academia setting - but takes some time getting used to it, mostly due to the writing (and maybe because I kept telling myself I‘m too dumb to understand it, so that‘s on me).

To put this review to an end - and free you from your misery, in case you‘re still reading it (high five if you are) - all I have left to say is: this book is so damn good. Pro tip: make sure you get the time to binge! Really, trust me on this one.

*goes to stare at the incredible stunning character artwork inside of the book, and cries because missing the characters already*