#the rest are parisa -> libby -> nico -> tristan -> reina -> callum

[thebellekeys]

Power is taken. Official character artwork by Little Chmura for The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake, the final installment in The Atlas trilogy published by TOR Books.

[sillyengineerperson]

oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god

First of all, EZRA MY DUDE ARE YOU OKAY?? (I am so sorry I thought you were gonna be all evil ex vibes like if i can't have her, no one can)

but also i fucking knew there was more to him like jesus fuck that's so sad but he's doing the right thing now (? maybe? who has a fucking clue)

was kinda right about him already being a part of the society... but technically not (seeing as he wasn't initiated)

but also did he just leave Libby in like a time void or something? because what's she supposed to do now? just sit there until either Nico finds her or Ezra fucks up Atlas? I'd be so pissed

so glad none of them died

ATLAS WHAT THE FUCK? YOU MENTAL FUCKING LUNATIC

I am so in love with Nico though please you cannot give that man dimples, have him perk up at the mentions of tres leches, make him a great fucking cook, give him the most adorable relationship with his best friend (which is gay as fuck btw, like I love a good platonic friendship but Gideon and Nico are in love and someone needs to tell them before I knock their heads together and tell them to kiss already) and not have me fall in love

I am so in love with Parisa as well for completely different reasons and I'm pretty sure she would break my heart. but it would be worth it

still no developments on whether Libby and Nico are platonic, romantic or a secret third thing but I don't care I just need them to be a basass duo saving the world one argument at a time

Tristan and Callum, definitely going to fall in love with each other whilst simultaneously wanting to kill each other (very healthy relationship if you ask me)

Reina's just chilling and I love her for it

I cannot wait to read the other books

right so, I'm reading the atlas six at the moment and I'm getting near-ish to the end and my brain is about to explode from the amount of theories and just random feelings I have about this fucking book

(I genuinely don't know how much of a fandom there is out there for this series because I've avoided interacting with anything out of fear for spoilers. although kinda already fucked up on that one when I went looking for fanart and found out that my (maybe) favourite charcter dies, I just don't know how, when or why)

The point I'm at is when Libby screams(?)/gets kidnapped or something (or at least the room went weird and now she's probably MIA) and the other's have realised that someone got into the house.

My bets are on it being Ezra. Like why else would Tristan have randomly met him that one night and why was there that weird interlude chapter where Ezra was talking about starving with no context and then Atlas appears right at the end. And also Nico and Libby just had a little conversation about Ezra where she finally said that they had broken up (It feels weird because you'd probably expect that conversation to be between Libby and Tristan but, then again, Nico has some interest/hatred of Libby and Ezra's relationship. and also Libby repeated that they'd broken up even though her conversation with Nico had moved on already). My guess is that Ezra was one of the other options for the six being considered for initiation but obviously he didn't and then The Forum or some other rival society approached him and was like 'hey could you maybe try and get infomation out of your girlfriend about the society she's maybe going to be in' and he's like 'the fuck? sure okay' and they tell him about the fucked up stuff that the society does. So then he's helping the forum with this idea that he could save Libby from anything that could happen to her because ,as he keeps saying, she's his 'responsibility'. But then, because Libby keeps pushing him away and they had that fight on the christmas weekend he doesn't know what to do anymore. So then, Atlas approaches him being like you could still be an option to be initiated if you do this thing for me (Atlas is sus as fuck btw, more on this later) which is when Tristan and Ezra accidently meet and I remember Ezra saying something like 'I'm trying to decide something' (something like that). Is he trying to decide whether he should accept Atlas' offer (whatever that could be)? So now he's involved and it has to have something to do with Libby, like getting her back (in a good or bad way) or protecting her or even eliminating her?

All I know is, there is more to him than just being a side character for Libby's character development. I remeber in possibly Libby's first chapter that she said that part of the reason they got to know each other was because they had both suffered loss but she didn't go into much detail about what happened to Ezra. So that could be important as well.

Other than that my only other theory about him is that he's already part of the society, like probably in Dalton's class, which would have made him quite young when he was initiated but Dalton was also quite young then so it can make sense... maybe?

OH OH OH! This idea just came to me. What if the person that Ezra lost (I'm assuming it was a family member anyway or like his entire family) was, say, an older brother? who had been chosen to be one of the six (in Dalton's class) and he was the guy that Dalton killed...

so now Ezra hates the society for killing his brother and is trying to stop the same thing from happening to Libby but now that she's ended things with him it's made it all weird. Maybe if he kills her, he could get an opportunity to get his brother back?

(alternatively this could all be a load of utter shit and I've got it all completely wrong lol)

My other theory is about Atlas. Sus as fuck, as I have already said. The only person I trust, surrounding what they say and think about Atlas, is Callum. As much as I don't like him, I think he's dead on with what he's been telling Tristan about Atlas. That Atlas wants Callum dead and needs Tristan alive for his magical abilities.

Atlas, however, told either Parisa or Libby (I can't remember) that he didn't like or dislike any of them. (I'm now thinking he told Parisa this because they were talking telepathically and she said that it was harder to lie in thoughts which is why she believed what he was saying) So I'm thinking, he's an incredibly powerful telepath who's able to lie and is using that power to manipulate all of them. I've kinda lost my train of thought with this now so I may come back later and write something more. BUT I believe Callum.

Finally, who do I think will die?

Not Callum Not Tristan Not Nico (probably but there is like a 1% chance I'm wrong) Mostly likely not Parisa (there's still more she needs to discover I think, mostly to do with the fact that she still wants to explore Dalton's mind) Possibly Libby (BUT I don't think Nico would let that happen because I think they still need each other and I don't think Libby would let them kill Nico either so the only way one of them goes is that one of them will have to very dramatically and heartbreakingly turn on the other. I know that they 'hate' eachother but it's more like 'I hate you so much that I actually love you and can't live without you'. I can't decide if it's platonic or romantic or a secret third thing but I don't care I just need them to be alive. I also don't think Tristan is likely to let Libby die but also at the same time he's just failed to kill Callum, which was her suggestion so I'm slightly worried he's going to turn on her) More likely Reina (but mainly because I can't see it being more likely anyone else and I don't think the other's would be opposed to it, maybe Nico but not enough to not go through with it. Also they all know she's very powerful but also that she doesn't want to use her power, for a valid reason, and you can make the argument that they're supposed to choose the person that, essentially, the world can do without so if she's not going to use her power then what's the point?)

I don't want any of them to die though because (very very deep down for callum) I love them all so much

Okay I'm done now. I still have things I want to say but I've exhausted myself typing this. Might finish the book today but I have an exam tomorrow and don't want to be thinking about the ending whilst I'm trying to write essays on unrelated subjects. So, I'll probably finish it tomorow after the exam.

If you made it this far, well done. This probably made zero sense but oh well :)

(I am also very scared of going on any of these tags because I don't want spoilers so yeah)

[they-stare-i-ship]

I finished reading the atlas paradox

and now you're subjected to my SPOILERY thoughts.

Parisa Kamali: I love Parisa, I have loved her since the first book. I LIKE HER SO MUCH she's funny she's mean she's cool she's kind. She's incredibly powerful. She's so interesting and I really enjoyed how she slowly became "her royal softness". Whenever we have her pov it's so fun. I love how she's not scared of Atlas and how she challenged him. I can't wait to see what she does in the next book. I'm actually excited to see how Dalton has changed and how she reacts to them in the next book. Her relationship with Nico makes me so feel so nice. I also need her to be kiss Reina sometime in the next book.

Nico de Varona: he's been my annoying lil baby since the first book. I loved how he became more fleshed out in this book. I loved how lonely he got, his relationship with Reina and Tristan really intrigues me. HE'S SUCH A CHILD sometimes and I love him for it. Obviously I have spent the two books insane bc I knew he was in love with Gideon, I just knew it and they're just *chef's kiss* also speaking of his relationship with people, I think him and Libby will be stunning as besties, I truly cannot perceive them as romantic. They act so sibling like or even just asshole bestie like.

Reina Mori: when we started with this series I actually had more hopes from her. I feel like she didn't do much (especially in book 2) and my girl really doesn't understand communication. If she just talked to people sigh. But honestly her God thing, I am down. Go off, I'm excited to see her go off the rails bc people didn't talk to her the way she could have understood. I am low-key in love with how funny the duo of Reina and Callum is, tbh. I also get major ace vibes from her.

Libby Rhodes: honestly she was my second least favourite amount the six when we started. She desperately needed the corruption arc we got in the later half of the book. I think I will like her a lot more now. Her crush on belen was stunning to read. I can't wait for Libby to fuck shit up, literally fuck everyone up. And I genuinely truly deeply want her relationship with Nico to just be friendship. Friendships are equally as important and the fact that the universe made them parallel to eachother is my favourite thing.

Callum Nova: honestly I didn't really like him much during the first book, he was fine but we had more interesting characters. BUT DAMN CALLUM NOVA POST HEARTBREAK?? ~~ exquisite ~~ he's so fucking funny and hopeless and sad and pathetic. he is so desperate for love and so upset that he was denied it. He's my pathetic lil meow meow. Also I would LOVE to see him use his powers more in the future. As we keep learning about it, I keep loving him. Also I need Tristan to beg Callum to take him back.

Tristan Caine: actually I didn't enjoy his povs at all in the first book, I couldn't wait for them to be over. He is still my least favourite among the six but in the second book he was more interesting and fun. I'm a lil anxious of how Atlas is gonna use him and his powers. I don't care much of him but I want him to beg Callum or regret it for the rest of his existence. Also I hate LibbyTristan as a romantic permanent thing, they can fuck around and have fun but pls end at that.

Gideon Drake: I have loved him since day 1. He was the softer kinder balance to Nico's aggressive and abrasiveness. He is so interesting, his origin and his powers. I spent both the book wishing we had more of him. Now that we are out of the library maybe he'll get to play a more active role in the book. I am obsessed with Gideon (bc Nico is obsessed with Gideon) I love the tidbits we learn about Gideon like how Libby always liked him more or how max travelled with him for the rescue of the "prince". I want Gideon to have everything he wants, that's all.

Atlas Blakeley: I have been thinking of Giancarlo Esposito as Atlas the entire time. There's no explanation it's just vibes

Ezra: I'm glad he's dead 💖

[joseopher]

Love Languages of Atlas Six characters

Tristan

Physical touch

Growing up pain was often associated with touch for Tristan so he grew up longing for soft hugs and gentle squeezes. Due to his bitterness and reluctance to be vulnerable, he has trouble expressing verbally what he feels so he prefers to do it silently through touch. This might also be why sleeping with Libby was when he first realized he had a crush on her and that this crush started when they stopped time together which required a lot of touch.

Nico

Words of affirmation

Nico needs verbal affirmation. He needs to be complimented and praised or he will not be able to function. Sure, he knows he's the best but it's very important to him that someone tells him that.

Callum

Physical touch

Have you seen how touchy this guy gets when he's manipulating Tristan and Parisa? He 1000% expresses affection through touch, especially when it's cannon that he's scared of manipulating people. His words are his best manipulation tactic, so when he's expressing care he does so through touch. He just wants someone to give him a hug🥺

Reina

Quality time

Reina isn't really into being touchy with others and certainly doesn't care for verbal expressions of love. She prefers to express she cares by hanging out. That's likely why she felt like she had gotten so close to Nico because they were always sparring together. And also why when she was mad at him she started not spending any time with him.

Parisa

Acts of service

It used to be physical touch before that became more like a job to her (and her brother's thoughts about her ruined it). Now, when she cares about someone, she'll do so by helping them. For example, allowing Nico into her mind so he can rest and warning Tristan about Callum (though that could've been her manipulating him to choose her over him I still think it's because she cared about him).

Libby

Words of affirmation

Libby gets very embarrassed when people tell her that she's done a good job. But she craves it, considering how much of a people-pleaser she is, she very much wants affirmation she's doing okay. She's also very anxious, so I feel like she'd be would second-guess other's actions if they expressed they cared through touch, gifts or anything more ambiguous that her anxiety could twist into something else.

[kbookblurbs]

The Atlas Complex - Olive Blake (The Atlas #3)

1.5/5 - disappointing conclusion to the trilogy; no real satisfying character arcs or conclusions to those arcs; truly baffling character decisions

SPOILERS BELOW

To be completely honest, I read this book more out of a desire to see how, exactly, Blake planned to wrap up the character arcs than any real desire to engage with it because I also found the second book to be disappointing.

Basically, none of the characters are truly served in this book. The one with the best outcome is Callum and he ends up dead anyway. Every single character spends this whole book whining and complaining about their lack of purpose. Over 200 pages of the book go by before anything of note happens. Truly, I think Blake needed an editor and/or someone to tell her the harsh truth - that everything in this nearly 500-page novel could have been said in 200.

I just found myself extremely dissatisfied with the arcs. Reina gets no screentime and undergoes no real change. Nico/Gideon are stagnant. Parisa doesn't do anything interesting until page 350/474. Tristan whines, literally, the whole time about how he doesn't know what his purpose in life is. Libby undergoes a "corruption" arc and still manages to hem and haw and bite her nails the entire time, even though she's supposed to have grown a spine by now. By the end of the book all I wanted was for someone to just do something instead of overthinking their place in the world.

This book also continuously asks questions that I find to be overwritten and that Blake attempts to answer in text. The meaning of life and why humanity is the way it is does not need to be answered in your trilogy about six people without an ounce of backbone or direction between them. Even more so, the answers that Blake provides are not answers I find terribly interesting or useful. I am no longer interested in debating if humanity is fundamentally awful or if people with talent are always directionless and easily swayed to power schemes or if somebody can be both a good and bad person at the same time. These have all been done and, frankly, been done better elsewhere. To have multiple of your characters claim that ethics isn't really "their thing", that their experiments are just that and have no consequences is ... not a good look, particularly after the summer of Oppenheimer and the moral imperative of scientists everywhere. Like, yes, your experiments do have a greater ethical cost. That's common sense, actually.

The worldbuilding remains frightfully vague. The prose used is purposefully convoluted, which meant I had to read probably a third of this book at least twice to actually understand it. And I don't mean that in the there-are-complicated-metaphors-here sense. I mean it in the this-sentence-structure-and-word-choice-are-so-odd-and-complex-as-to-be-useless-to-the-reader sense.

By the time something interesting came up, I was so done with slogging through the rest of the book that it felt like a relief that might come in death. I just wanted it to be over.

Chief among these sins is that Blake also introduced new characters in this (already overstuffed) book that were substantially more interesting than our POV/main characters. Why tease me with concepts that are actually interesting before throwing me back into the weeds? It's cruel.

[pridepages]

Tangled Web: The Atlas Paradox

I just finished The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake. I have some thoughts...

Here there be spoilers!

Poet Walter Scott was the first to write “Oh what a tangled web we weave / when first we practice to deceive.”

The residents of the Alexandrian Society manor house spent all of their first year together weaving their deceptions. Now, in Olivie Blake’s followup The Atlas Paradox, all six initiates must face the reckoning of their choices--and find themselves and their affections more deeply entangled than ever.

Many fantasy trilogies tend to suffer from sophomore slump. Often, the second book is the weakest of the lineup. Fair dues to Blake: Paradox is in many ways a stronger novel than The Atlas Six. Firstly, the world-building is much more clearly shaped. Why did our wizards have to murder one of their own to join this academic cult? Because, apparently, the library is a malevolent, sentient force that thirsts for blood. Better still, the disappearance of Libby Rhodes will not suffice. The archives are wise to such cheats. In fact, when Atlas Blakely’s class tried the same thing by disappearing Ezra Fowler, the archives took vengeance: each of the remaining members of the class were eventually killed except for Ezra (bouncing around the timeline) and Atlas (remaining to be fed upon by the murder books). Similarly, we watch as the remaining members of Atlas’s Six begin to fall apart in different ways: Nico sickens, Reina obsesses, Parisa sours, Tristan sulks, and Callum drinks. All of them are still being puppeteered by Atlas, who reveals that his Master Plan appears to be to use the collective gifts of the Six to find a door to a wider multiverse. Meanwhile, Libby has been stranded in 1989. To get home, she will be confronted with the ultimate moral choice and will face her own fall from grace.

Blake has described this book as the characters experiencing their quarter-life crisis. And it shows. Admittedly, it’s a bit aggravating to hear almost all of them repeatedly telling the reader about how life and the world are pointless because Alexandrians all have power and can effectively do nothing to change the world, their individual fates, or otherwise find happiness. But, much like the grating nobody-understands-me adolescent phase, it is a stage that any thinking young adult has to go through. And the characters are charismatic enough that you want to stick with them.

As in the first book, the Six find themselves navigating tangled relationships. Initial attractions are complicated by the choices that each has made and the ways they have hurt each other. The question posed to all of them is: Where do we go from here?

An early question answered (yay for being right!) was about Reina: “she never thought of anyone sexually.” So her arc is all about her friendships. “She developed a talent for isolation,” Reina reminds us early. But the problem with that is that she resents being overlooked. And although she can identify moments when she’s being unfair--expecting other people to reach out to her or praise her or admire her despite the hostile demeanor she radiates--she can never quite get over her own pride enough to try to reach out for the closeness she wants.

Meanwhile, we rejoin some of the couples facing the immediate consequences of their actions. Callum knows that Tristan tried to kill him at the suggestion of Libby Rhodes. Callum also knows that Tristan and Libby slept together. Therefore, Callum concludes, “This was who Tristan had chosen over Callum...He hoped it would pain Tristan for the rest of his life.” A vengeful Callum is perfectly in line with the person we know. Most of book one we were exposed to Callum’s vanity to the point where whether he was interested in other people beyond manipulating them was debatable. But here we see a softer, truly wounded Callum: “Tristan might have betrayed Callum, but he wasn’t the bad guy...This was just the world. You trusted people, you loved them, you offered them the dignity of your time and the intimacy of your thoughts and the frailty of your hope and they either accepted it and cared for it or they rejected it and destroyed it and in the end, none of it was up to you. This was just what you got. Heartbreak was inevitable. Disappointment assured.” 

And then there’s Tristan, who shows perhaps the most maturity out of any of the characters in this book when he finally says to Callum: “This--between us--it was real for me. You can pretend that it didn’t matter. That I was the one who wronged you. That you had no hand in how things happened. That I made a choice based on nothing, based on my own insecurities and flaws. But I am not such an idiot--I’m not so devoid of feeling to not be perfectly aware that you and I had something rare and difficult and fucking significant, and in the end it only broke because I broke it.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t make things right between them. Callum is still in deep pain and lashing out because of it. He cannot see that there is a way through the mess between them: forgiveness. But forgiveness takes courage, and more than just recognizing your flaws. It takes accountability for your own imperfections, taking responsibility for your actions both in the past and in the future. Tristan, by actually putting out there that he wronged Callum, was building a bridge that Callum has refused to cross. For all its failure, Tristan’s maturity in trying deserves a gold star.

Another way Tristan has changed is leaning into his affection for Libby. For most of the first book, Tristan was cold, reserved, apparently off-put by Libby’s earnestness and sensitivity. But secretly, he seems to have found it rather attractive. He sets Libby up in his mind as a kind of hero archetype, a contrast to how much he hates himself. But Parisa cautions him: “You like her because she’s innocent...because she’s moral. Because she’s good. Because she represents something to you that the rest of us no longer have, because we came here. And because we made choices. But she made a choice too, Tristan. She knew what the consequences were. Libby Rhodes is not your goodness, Tristan. She’s her own open flame.” Tristan is certainly in danger of idealizing Libby out of existence, fictionalizing her in his head--which is easy to do since she is absent from his life for most of the book. But, in the end, Tristan determines he’d “rather have whatever version of Libby she had become than face the prospect of having no Libby at all.” Whether he will be able to live with the reality of that choice will remain to be seen in the next installment.

Similarly, Parisa’s journey is one of identity. Parisa has been repeatedly accused of being unable to love. Parisa finally refutes this misconception: “Of course she loved...to her, sex and love and desire and affection were different things--some of which she needed or wanted, and some she firmly did not.” Parisa knows who she is. However, Parisa learns that book one paramour Dalton Ellery is not who she thought he was. She was previously aware that Dalton’s consciousness had been split. She now learns that Dalton split off a part of himself that he did not like--his ambition--in order to both make himself safer to handle his power in the world and because it would allow the archives to trust him with more information for his research. Parisa ultimately contributes to reuniting Dalton’s consciousness, but a ‘healed’ Dalton is a new Dalton: “She realized that without the entirety of himself--with no ambition, and indeed, no formulation of the future, which was a thing she thought they had in common until she realized that, actually, his version of a blank page was wildly different from hers--she had never seen the other intricacies of him. His dreams. His longings. His fears.” Their arc is particularly fascinating because it invites the discussion: would you change what you perceive to be your worst qualities? If you did, you would be a different person. If you were, would you still be right for the people who love you now as you are? Perhaps it is different when life changes who we are gradually, as it inevitably does. But neatly removing one element entirely does not make you a ‘better’ version of yourself. It just makes you different.

Speaking of differences: wow, Libby Rhodes! I admit, I had a pet theory about Libby Rhodes. Part of it arose from the kind of way she spoke about Ezra (like he was a box she was ticking off, like she was acting in ways a good girlfriend should, the way she seemed to easily resent and want to ditch him). I was just getting big closeted sapphic vibes off her. Then, of course, she had threesome with Tristan and Parisa in book one. This at least suggested queerness to me, but still felt unconfirmed...until we get this gem in Paradox: “I’m a time traveler from the future...who maybe kind of slept with one or two of my coworkers, whom I would also (maybe) like to sleep with again.” Them, plural, as in she was into Parisa. But, then again, who isn’t? Firmly orienting Libby with the sapphics is that she gets a crush on a fellow medeian academic during her sojourn into 1989: “a cautious kiss from Belen’s careful mouth, was riotous with sensation. The hint of pressure was like a spark to Libby’s imagination, igniting something dormant in her chest as a purr of satisfaction slipped from her parted lips into Belen’s smiling mouth.” Libby is at first her typical unsure self in this moment, feeling “the kind of weird that preceded a cliff’s edge, a sharp drop. A sip of absinthe and a first kiss.” A sip of absinthe. The drink she shared with Parisa before their tryst. Not to put to fine a point on it, “Libby reached for her...and heard the vestiges of Parisa’s voice in her head: Have what you want, Rhodes. Take it.” Big. Gay. Vibes. We love to see it. But it’s unclear whether Libby is meant to end up with Parisa, Tristan, or anyone else. All we know is that “All this time she’d been desperate for help, for someone else to reassure her, for some form of comfort, or anything that could make her feel she wasn’t alone--but she was alone.” Being cast out on her own forces Libby into a reckoning. Because, for her, companionship has always been about tacit acceptance or approval. Libby has needed to be constantly reassured of her own worth. But now she’s growing beyond that. “She was no longer desperate for the crutch of someone else’s faith. For the first time...she would not presume herself to be deficient. She would not doubt the power in her body. She would not question what was earned. She would do this, and she would do it alone.” If we’re heading toward a Libby who needs to forge a future standing completely alone, uncoupled to signify that she is finally emotionally self-sufficient, wouldn’t hate it. But it would be better if it were gay.

So, thank goodness for my absolute favorite arc in the novel. In book one, an obvious romantic connection to me from the beginning was Nico and his friend Gideon, the one who he claimed to come to the Society to help. The one who he does so much to protect. The one he worries about constantly. It could not be clearer as their interactions pile up in Paradox that it’s two-sided: these idiot boys are so in love. And just when you think they’re never going to do anything about it, Gideo takes the leap: “Relief, that no one had put a stop to that arrogant laugh...some madness in Gideon’s chest made up his mind for him. He leaned forward and caught Nico’s mouth with his in something of a punitive force, a captive blow. More of a gasp that anything else, really. Although technically, it was a kiss.”

Thank you, God. Finally. But these characters are unpredictable. Nico has shown attraction to women before (well, Parisa, but again--who hasn’t?) and maybe we were heading for another heartbreaking twist:

“Gideon felt Nico’s breath catch on his tongue, an audible hitch of surprise, and then Nico pulled away and Gideon thought no, no, no-- ‘Oh, so it’s like that?’ Nico said. His eyes were searching and bewilderingly, confusingly bright. In response Gideon felt unopened and raw, like he’d cracked his chest in two and presented the evidence for Nico’s evaluation... ‘Yeah, it’s like that.’ Nico’s smile broadened. ‘Good.’ Nico caught him by a fistful of his t-shirt, tugging him in again.”

Good. Just good. For so long they struggled with their words, struggled to articulate even to themselves what they are. But at last, they chose to take a risk: no more deceptions. No more tangled thoughts, fears, self-consciousness, or denial. Instead of deciding to stay caught in the web, they tore themselves free. 

I think we all have a tendency to overcomplicate our relationships. It’s easy to pull strands of negative thought. We tease out all the reasons that we can’t be happy with someone else: our sense of our inadequacies, our obligations, our histories, our resentments, our fear of risk--and we weave them into nets that keep us trapped. But we have the ability to make new and different choices. In the grand scheme of things, maybe choosing to pull ourselves out of our misery webs may seem like so much wasted or pointless effort. But if this life is all we get, and all we can control is ourselves, then maybe there is something worthy and heroic in setting ourselves free.

[bunnyandbooks]

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

I had obviously heard about this book, but don’t think I went into it with any expectations on how it would go. I just had pretty much absorbed it like the pop culture phenomena it was. It’s been out long enough that I don’t think I’m spoiling anything, but here’s a cut nonetheless.

Maybe because of that, but my opinion of the book changed pretty gradually the more I read it. First off, I didn’t like any of the characters at the outset. None of the characters are immediately likeable; in fact, some of them are pretty detestable. But around the halfway mark of the novel, I found that my opinions on the characters had settled into a pretty firm strata: I had soften considerably towards Tristan and Libby; Tristan because he seems to be the only one with feelings, and Libby because her flaws (like her insecurities) were so relatable to my own. From start to finish, Nico and Reina stayed at the same level -- neither my faves nor The Worst, in a way they were almost forgettable (Reina by design, Nico’s gregariousness notwithstanding). Parisa and Callum remained detestable - but with a sharper focus as to why by the end. Their god complexes just made them so insufferable.

Despite not immediately being engaged by any of the characters, I realized what propelled me through the story was the strength of the writing. I don’t mean just in terms of world building or description, though I was naturally drawn to the idea of a group of talented, adult magicians (or meidans) who were already in faculty of their powers but were nerdy enough to continue their education and make entering the Library of Alexandria their ultimate goal. I mean that the prose was really subtle and deft. Blake ends up conveying a lot--or at least just dropping enough that the imagination could supply the rest--in just one line. I found myself going back over the lines to make sure I didn’t miss any details, and otherwise puzzling over the line which seemed so fraught with meanings that I wasn’t yet privy to. It was compelling--I had to keep reading. And by the time the plot reveals itself, then there were other reasons to keep going.

Overall it was a really fun experience, and I’m eagerly awaiting the sequel that was announced.

[austennerdita2533]

Hey!

I love Penelope Douglas for sure check her out! She writes some of the best smut tbh. I’m working my way through her devils night series right now-I’m on book 2. It’s good so far, definitely dark though. I’m interested to see how she goes about a redemption arc for the character Damon right now I don’t think he deserves one but I hear such good things about his book, Killswitch, but that’s book 3 so I will see how it goes. I definitely recommend Birthday Girl from her though I loved it and the couple from it are my favorite age gap could I’ve ever read. I find myself still re reading some of their best moments.

I am slightly embarrassed by Credence though so I hope it doesn’t bother you too much if you read it. Just so you know before going into it, it is about her and her step uncle/cousins. To be fair they are not blood related and very distance to the point she didn’t even know about them. But she does call him Uncle Jake during a sex scene, and the two others call her cousin during one too. There’s also a MMF scene with her two cousins. But on top of that there is a sexual assault scene (it does get stopped but the intent is there)-personally I wasn’t a fan of how she inwardly dealt with that scenario it felt like she was blaming herself for it instead of holding the other character accountable. Uncle Jake also does kiss her when she is still 17. So if any of that makes you uncomfortable don’t read it.

I’m so happy you liked the atlas six as much as I did. I can’t believe we have to wait until next year for the sequel to see what happens. It’s too long!! I also liked Callum the least, I still appreciated his character though and what he brings to the story I just wasn’t a fan of his, probably because of his problems with Libby/Parisa. Plus his powers terrify me-as someone who likes to have full control of my emotions the fact that someone could just change everything scares me. I also loved Nico he is my typical character that I love the whole I’m an asshole but soft and caring for the people I love gets me every time. Parisa is my queen though I’m obsessed with her. Like I’m literally in love with her, I wish she was real so she could be with me instead. Not that she would because I’m broke have 0 magic or power to give to her, but still. But I have a thing for power hungry women so I was gone the second I met her. But anyway if she was real she could destroy me or do anything she wanted to me and I would say thank you. Reina I also love and agree she could destroy the whole planet and one day probably will. I just love how she is there and wants all that knowledge but also doesn’t give a fuck about anyone else. Tristan also grew on me I’m still not completely sure how much I like or don’t like him yet he gets annoying sometimes because he is constantly in his mind about his alliances but I also love how loyal and caring he is. Libby is my girl!! I also relate to her as well since I was an outcast and battled inadequacy and all that (you and I must have some stuff in common!) Out of all the characters I relate to her the most and am rooting for her so hard-also because the author made her from Pittsburgh and I’m also from the area so I felt personally attached. But Olivie just did an interview and said Libby is getting a corruption arc and I am so excited about it!!

Okay ships- so I will be honest and I think it’s an unpopular opinion but oh well-I am a nicolibby stan. They have every single dynamic that I love in a ship and they could potentially be my favorite book couple of all time if that is the road they are being taken. Honestly I was obsessed with them from their first interaction so i have it bad for them. Obviously I know they were not romantic in this book but the potential (at least for me) was there especially in some of their quotes in the end. I fully believe they are soulmates though-even the author said they were born on the same day and feel like their other half is missing in an interview once-whether that will be platonic soulmates or romantic soulmates I have no idea and I could see either happening. My heart will break if it is platonic but it’s okay I can just live in my own little head about their potential.

But I get the idea and also like both libbytristan and NicoGideon and could see those happening instead of nicolibby too. I wouldn’t say I would be mad about it either-I do like both just to me the potential of nicolibby works more for me! My only thing about libbytristan though is I’m not sure how much of their tension/feelings are real (like did any of it exist before Parisa put the idea of the other person in their thoughts to lead to all the feelings.)

Weirdly enough since they probably my least favorite characters I also adore Tristan and Callum together. Their dynamic just works for me.

And I love Parisa and Dalton too and I’m so interested in how that relationship pans out because they have some stuff to figure out. But they work well together and honestly they are just so sexy together so I’m down for it. Although I do ship myself with Parisa more than her and Dalton but I’m biased.

Honestly though all the ships are wide open though so I’m curious to see what ends up being endgame. But omg yes the twist I was not expecting it-I’m so excited for the rest of this trilogy!!!

In other news though I finished up the ravenhood series. I know you said you either read it or it was on your tbr. But god I loved it. That series broke me and then put back all the pieces. If you haven’t read it and want to feel both heartbreak and happiness I highly recommend it!

Oh and don’t apologize for babbling as you can tell I also babble!!

-ACOTAR anon

Hiiiii sweets!

I've been sifting through a bunch of summaries of Penelope Doulgas' work on Goodreads and there's a bunch of stuff there I think I'd enjoy. I'm all about good smut. I didn't realize she had that many books. I'm excited! Thanks so much for the rec! I love dark romances/erotica every now and again so I'm also going to have to dive into the Devil's Night series at some point.

Oh, and idk if you know about it/read it but a couple of my friends told me about the Crossfire series by Sylvia Day a while back. It's BDSM, like Fifty Shades, but supposedly loads better. I don't know if you're into that but I figured I'd just throw it out there anyway. The smut is supposed to be steamy. I haven't read it yet but I do have the first four novels on my Kindle (where they've been sitting, unread, for about 2 years now)...so that's something haha.

And please don't be embarrassed about Credence. Seriously, the most wonderful thing about reading is you can go wherever tf you want in your imagination. No one can stop you. There are no rules. No restrictions. You can be whomever or whatever you want to be for a while, morality notwithstanding. One of my favorite things about books is that I can experience the most bonkers, outlandish out-of-this-world stuff that I'd never dream of wanting/liking in real life. It's liberating!

Thank you for the trigger warnings, though. I appreciate that. None of them sound off-putting enough to keep me from reading it. (Tbh, I want to read it more now.) I've read loads of books where characters marry or have sex with their cousins or siblings *waves at ASOIAF, the Secret History* so it doesn't bother me. I've also read most of Lolita and all of My Dark Vanessa by Kate Russell, which both romanticize pedophilia in disturbing degrees, so it takes a lot to put me off. If curiosity could kill then I'd be long dead by now. Hell, sometimes I will purposely read things I know will upset me to my core. What can I say? I'm a weirdo. 🙃

I DON'T WANT TO WAIT A YEAR FOR BOOK 2 OF THE ATLAS SERIES, EITHER. AHHHHH. How am I going to make it that long? It seems so far away!

Callum is the most terrifying of them all right now, imo. I think that's why I disliked him the most. Like you, it shook me to my core to imagine someone like him being able to toy with my emotions. I have a tendency to detach, to keep my emotions pressed close to my chest so that I can't be manipulated or hurt, and the idea that someone could have power over them, over me in that way is...no freaking thank you! I would put as much space between him and me as possible. Most of the Atlas crew had the right idea there. He does bring a lot to the story, though, like you said. I have a feeling he's going to be one of those characters I "love to hate" as the series progress. I might even grow to "hate to love" him, idk. He's just such a shady bastard! And so judgmental/mean to the girls.

I'm with you on Parisa, by the way. She's the kind of conniving, ambitious siren of a woman I can get behind. She has a similar vibe as Katherine Pierce on TVD. I mean, there's nothing in her arsenal she won't use and I love how she weaponizes her beauty. It's delicius. She's unpredictable. Definitely the type of character who inspires "scared and aroused" energy any time she walks into a room. Like, she could choke you and instead of crying you'd just ask her to do it again...harder lol.

Reina has the same kind of "no fucks given" attitude I have because I genuinely don't care what people think of me, either. I'm just here to do my thing. Be nerdy. Learn. Whatever. And Nico is my fave for the same reason as you--the asshole who only has soft edges for those who matter to him. *heart eyes*

Omg, Libby is going to have a corrupted arc? AHHHHH. That's going to be amazing, I cannot stinking wait! I was sort of hoping she'd go dark so now that it's confirmed I'm even more pumped. Also, I think you and I have more in common than either of us realized. I'm from the Pittsburgh area, too! How wild is that? Maybe there's something in the water here and that's why, like Libby, we've both felt inadequate and like outcasts at different points in our lives? Olivie might be onto something here...🤔

The thing that's been so cool for me about this series so far is that there are a bunch of potential pairings I could get behind. And I kind of like that it's not clear cut right now. Most series I know who I want together or who will be together like halfway through book 1. I like that I don't know have firm preferences and am still open. That's novel. Not to mention fun!

I don't blame you for shipping Nicolibby so hard, though. They're definitely one of my top contenders for a romantic pairing. They have that enemies-to-lovers element with witty banter that I always gravitate toward. And you're right about Libby/Tristan. I don't know how much of their connection was manufactured because Parisa intervened, either. That'll be fun to puzzle out moving forward. And Callum/Tristan should NOT be a ship I like but they have a palpable something that I can't put my finger on. I've got my eye on them, for sure.

The Ravenhood series is still on my tbr. I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed it so much, though! It's rare to read something that just ticks all your boxes. The next time I'm the mood to binge a series I'm gonna have to pick that one up. :-D

I've been trying to clear out my backlog of ARCs lately. (Not possible because I'm getting more on the regular - as in constantly haha - but I'm trying.) I just finished Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult, which has a Sliding Doors premise that is set during the pandemic where the main character has a parallel life experience (one, where she's in the Galapagos Islands on vacation when the shutdown hits so she's stuck there with strangers, alone, not speaking the language; the other, where she's in Manhattan with her surgeon boyfriend and recovering from COVID). It's intense but so, SO good! Picoult is such a good writer. Anything I've read by her has been moving, with rounded and real characters. I haven't been disappointed yet. I so recommend her.

Oh, and if you're into nonfiction/biographies at all I finished The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson not long ago, which is about Winston Churchill as well as those around him, and it was fantastic! Read more like fiction. I loved it. I am no longer surprised it was on all the BEST lists for 2020.

[joseopher]

HELLO, LADIES, WORMS, HOMOSEXUALS

As we know I check the novacaine tags daily.

AND THE ATLAS SIX VACATION SERIES HAS BEEN UPDATED!

I LITERALLY SCREAMED

when the dust has set!!!!!!!!!

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS FIC:

Nico continues to wish he drowned instead of witnessing novacaine

LOVE CONFESSIONS

Sibling dynamics

Found family dynamics

Friendship dynamics

Sleepovers!!!

THE BEST ENDING EVER

Spoilers! Spoilers! Spoilers! Spoilers! Spoilers! Spoilers! Spoilers!

"They had gone upstairs together earlier today, probably to fuck. When they finally were downstairs again, Tristan had talked to him like nothing happened. Like the relationship between them was completely normal. Eventually, the two of them disappeared again, probably to fuck. Again."

Nico is so done. He is so done. He will commit murder if he has to deal with novacaine again.

"He didn’t want to think about them having sex, although it felt like that was all they ever did."

I mean...he's not wrong.

Then Nico sees Callum smile and is like what the actual fuck. He just stares at Tristan like "explain yourself". And Tristan is just like "la la la".

Nico is suffering.

"Wanted them to be the type of friends that could share those things. "

Awww Nico wants to be friends with Tristan <3

“It’s just that we were just there not too long ago. Before we went to my room. I just thought that Tristan doesn’t even go to his room that often. Only to sleep. Or with me,” 

“And you wanted to rub that in our face again because….?” 

HAHA Callum being jealous and petty and Nico just wanting to murder him.

Nico @ Callum constantly: You are a bitch.

"'Well, I don’t know. Why on earth would anyone want him dead?' Nico nodded toward Callum.

Callum put his hand on his heart and cooed at him. 

'That’s exactly what I’ve been wondering for years now, Varona,' he said. Nico flipped him off. Tristan rubbed a hand over his face with a sigh."

I love these people so much. Callum is sooo petty and Nico is just pissed off and Tristan is like "I can't believe these are the people I want to hang out with".

"'So someone tried to blow me up. That’s nice.'

'Tried to blow you and Callum up,' Reina corrected. 

'That I can understand,' Nico said. This time Tristan flipped him off. 

Nico is #1 novacaine anti

"Nico had always suspected that was just a sex thing. Maybe Callum had just such a big dick that Tristan couldn’t resist. It simply couldn’t be because of his personality, because it was shit."

Correction Nico is just a Callum anti.

(Parisa listening to Nico's thoughts as he tries to understand novacaine is so funny.)

"'As long as we have pillow fights,' Callum added. Parisa snorted. 

'Prepare to die again old man,' she threatened."

The friendship dynamics in this fix>>>>>

“If you even try to kiss each other below the belt while we’re in the same room I will cut off both of your dicks,”

LOLOLOL YESS GO OFF NICO!!

"Libby sighed. Callum sat down next to Tristan. He let himself fall back, held up by his elbows, and pushed his feet on Tristan’s lap. Tristan just let him. It was disgusting. "

Nico has "novacaine supporters" in his DNI on twitter.com

“We’re in love, for starters.” 

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Maybe he quite liked the rest of them too. Some more than others, but there was fondness in him somewhere."

AW NICO IS MAKING FRIENDS <3 <3 <3

“Are you in love with him?”

“Yes,”

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"so

i did dreamfuck you?"

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"'Got it after a few hours on the first day. Same handwriting as the invite. Suppose it was from Atlas. He’s been planning to kill me since then, I guess. Think he was hoping for you all to do it but no one did. Stayed here to spite him.'

'And to sleep with his favorite the whole time. To rub it in,' Parisa added. Callum smirked.

'Perhaps.'" 

Aww Atlas's plan was that them being stuck here 'on vacation' would make them try to kill Callum again. But they didn't and instead made friends <3 <3 <3

Also, Callum got laaaaaid.

Bet you didn't expect that Atlas!

OH MY FUCKING GOD THIS WAS AN AMAZING ENDING. PHENOMENAL! PERFECTION! I LOVED IT!

I AM SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW!

SO HAPPY!

I LOVE THIS AUTHOR'S WRITING SO MUCH!

GO READ THE ATLAS SIX VACATION SERIES OR I KILL YOU!

[joseopher]

HELLO, LADIES, WORMS, HOMOSEXUALS

As we know I check the novacaine tags daily.

*opens Spotify*

*puts on Ambrosia Wine by Madds Buckley*

THERE'S BEEN A UPDATE TO GOD COMPLEX

GO READ IT HERE: god complex!!!!!!!!

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS FIC:

Callum is sooo petty

Callum is also sad and pathetic

Murder

YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHERE CALLUM TAKES TRISTAN

Nico continues to be best boy

#PROOFKINGNOVAISAGOODPERSON

New fashion trends

Spoilers! Spoilers! Spoilers! Spoilers! Spoilers! Spoilers! Spoilers!

"He repeated the words over and over in his head, wondering if going back home might be the better option. Sure, his father would punish him for leaving, maybe even make an example of him. Look at my horrible son who ran away, look at what happens if you disobey Adrian Caine. Tristan shuddered at the thought. A few days ago, he had seen one of his father’s men. He had ducked underneath a diner table so quickly that he got dizzy with it."

Awww Tristan is just having the worst time.

Poor guy... (*feeds off the angst like a wolf sucking blood of their kill*)

“'Tristan!' Nico shouted”

NICO! OUR BEST BOY! <3 <3 <3

“When you know him better he….I’m not sure how to say this without sounding like some girl convincing her friends that my boyfriend doesn’t suck. He’s not that bad. He’s not the evil mastermind you think he is. Reina isn’t either. She’s lovely. Powerful, yes. They both are. But they’re not…they’re not…fully evil. I guess. I’d say 75% evil.”

Come on Tristan, he's only 75% evil

"Although, last time Tristan seemed to like his chest. Maybe this time it would also work in his favor."

Callum has his priorities straight XD

"He could feel the heat coming from Tristan’s body. He wanted to pull him closer, pull on the fabric of his shirt, touch his skin, forcing him to look at him."

Or many he has his priorities gay o.o

"You’d look pretty on your knees.” 

The characterization of Callum is so on point, Tristan is just miserable and Callum like "ha this is funny and amazing"

"Callum wished he could kiss him. Wished he could lick into his mouth and coax more words out of him. Wanted him to keep repeating it. Wanted him to keep begging him."

Correction Tristan is miserable and Callum is turned on.

"In the end, Callum didn’t pick one. He decided that he needed time to think about it and said it was almost time for dinner. Tristan wanted to strangle him."

Callum is the king (literally) of pettiness

“That’s why he’s testing you. Because you’re only doing it because you have no other choice. He wants you to do it because you want to,” 

Gideon coming in the facts!!!!

 "Nico nodded immediately, probably not even having heard the question."

He's thinking about Gideon, I just know it.

"Tristan didn’t know what Gideon and Nico had going on and why Callum was making a big deal out of it. Nico didn’t talk much for the rest of the dinner."

HA I WAS RIGHT! THIS IS IT L, THIS IS MY PERFECT VICTORY!

"When he had asked Libby where Gideon knew each other from Libby told him they used to be roommates. He figured that was the only reason why they always seemed so close."

Oh poor naive Tristan...

“Ahh, Caine, don’t be so sour about that. I’ll pick your clothes for you if it bothers you so much,” 

HE CALLED HIM CAINE <3 <3 <3 <- a diseased person said this

"Maybe this p*ycho needed a bed partner after all, but Tristan was not that person. He’d never be."

*laughs knowingly*

"They were currently standing in a sex shop. Tristan could feel Callum’s eyes on him."

HA! CALLUM YOU DID NOTTTTTTTTTT!!!

“You can keep this. Maybe if you used it a bit you wouldn’t be this feisty.” 

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"He also bought some condoms. He planned to conveniently drop them somewhere in the palace for both Parisa and Nico to find. Maybe that way Parisa and Dalton would finally fuck and Nico and Gideon would also finally cave and fuck whenever they wanted to. See, Callum wasn’t selfish. He cared about his people and their sex lives."

#PROOFKINGNOVAISAGOODPERSON #HEISSOGENEROUS

"He probably would have spit in his face if he could, Callum briefly wondered. Callum would let him."

Callum being horny on main

"Now wasn’t the time to admire Tristan’s strength or fighting skills. If it were the time, Callum would be salivating."

CALLUM BEING HORNY ON MAIN

“If you know who I am, you should have also figured out what I can do. And if you did you would also know not to touch what’s mine,”

AHHHHHHH "MINE"! HE SAID MINE!

"They had noodles and talked about nothing important."

Noodles are the best food ever. That is a fact. If you disagree with me you are objectively wrong.

“'You’re covered in puke,' Tristan said. 

“'New trend,' Callum tried to joke weakly.”

#NEWFASHIONTRENDSETBYKINGNOVA #FASHIONFORWARD

“Oh, you’d love to shower with me, I know. But I’m fine, don’t you worry darling.” 

DARRRLLIIIINNGGGGGGGGG *dies*

I love how Callum still manages to tease Tristan even when he's on the brink of death <3

AMAZING FICCCCC

LETS GOOOOOOOO

IT WAS SO FUNNY AND SWEET AND AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I LOVE IT SO MUCHHHHHHHHH

[austennerdita2533]

Hey! Hope all is well!! First of all, thank you for all the links to save money on books. I checked them out and plan to use some with buying books!! And don’t worry I have other self-restraint issues-mine come more from the fact that I get bored easily so I have about 4-5 books going at the same time. That way I can switch up genres when I need it (for instance I always have a fantasy, a romance, and a dark romance all available to me at the same time because those are my favorites) but sometimes more than one of the genres too. I also am terrible at following a tbr for instance I have been wanting to read Ugly Love for months now but then as I get closer to finishing a book a different book grabs my attention and must be read asap. But to prevent money spending I just browse through kindle and download a free sample of books I want to try instead of buying them right away. Plus I have a rule with myself that I have to read the first 10% of the book that the free sample gives me before I buy anything because at that point I can tell if I like the writing style, the potential story, etc. Just because I don’t want to buy a book and not finish it so I don’t want to waste my money and time. It has worked well so far! I mean there really has only been one book (well series) that I did not buy because I could not even get through a chapter (unfortunately that was the from blood and ash series which I know is a big hit but personally the writing style just was not for me)but it still saved me money!!

I heard about the Book of Night by Holly Black I am really looking forward to it!! I have other friends who adore Jurdan so we are all pumped to see her take on an adult romance and the summary sounded really cool!!

I will have to check out Anxious People for sure!!

But anyway I finally finished The Atlas Six!! Honestly I would have finished it sooner but I got into a romance mood so I went and read both Birthday Girl, Punk 57, and Credence by Penelope Douglas. Definitely recommend Birthday Girl if you like age gap relationships-it is a big one though so if those are not for you I do not recommend it. Punk 57 was okay, I was expecting a little more out of it than I got and I only read it since they were pen pals and I love letter writing but there was not a whole lot of that. And Credence well Credence is what it is LOL it is SUPER taboo and not for everyone and I feel slightly ashamed to say I enjoyed it, but I do not know you well enough on a personal basis to say read it or not read it because well it is wild and it is really a book that I think you love or you epically hate and think people are insane for liking. So look up at your own risk.

But did you end up finishing atlas six?? I do not want to talk about it unless you finished it!! What were your thoughts on the characters/plot/ships?? I am super excited about the future of it!! Olivie confirmed it will be a trilogy recently. I think the next book comes out next year. I also want to start some of her other books like Alone With You in the Ether. I just really enjoyed her writing style and the way she develops characters.

Can’t wait to talk about it with you once you get through it!!

-ACOTAR anon

Hello, hello! I'm embarrassed it's taken me so long to get back to you, I apologize! I haven't had access to WiFi the last week and a half so I haven't been on here much. I went away with two of my closest girlfriends and we were busy laughing, chatting, and goofing the time away--pretty standard with us, tbh. We're a bunch of Chatty Kathy's whenever we're around each other. 😄

But yayyy! I'm so happy you might be able to use some of those money saving book sites. They've been a godsend for me, truly. I mean, I still spend double what I ought on books but at least I can rationalize it because I know I'm saving some money lol. That's smart of you to have established that rule where you read 10% of the sample first before you buy the book. I might have to try that. I hate when I buy a book only to find myself disappointed because I don't enjoy the writing style or the story. I do usually read excerpts, but they're not always long enough for me to tell if I might like something or not.

I'm sorry you didn't care for the From Blood and Ash series. That seems to be hit or miss for a lot people. I believe I have the first two books on my Kindle (which I scored cheaply from Kindle Daily Deals lol) so I will get into it at some point. I'm curious which way I will land.

I don't know how people only read one book at a time. (No hate, just amazed lol.) Like you, I usually have at least 2, sometimes 3 or 4, books in rotation because I want to slip into different genres depending on my mood. And also depending on the time of day. Sometimes I prefer to read fantasies or thrillers during the day because they're exciting. I don't want to stop reading. Now, romances and non-fiction I will read at night, before bed. They're good genres to lull me to sleep with their facts and/or fluffiness.

I'm gonna have to check out Penelope Douglas. I'm not that familiar with her writing, but I'm always looking for new romance authors. You seemed so shy/embarrassed about liking Credence that I HAD to go and look up the summary lolol. You can't say "taboo" and then have me not investigate. My interest is piqued! The polyamory angle sounds fun. I've only read it in fic for the most part so this one's going on the tbr. As is Birthday Girl with the age gap. They both sound deliciously promising!

Something to know about me when it comes to books, to reading: I'm a daredevil. There's literally nothing I won't try at least once. There are times I balk AT MYSELF for the things I pick up knowingly, willingly, but I never regret it. Not even when I read something disturbing enough to give me nightmares. Which has definitely happened. 😂

And yes, I have finished The Atlas Six. I tore through that book so fast! I kept sneaking reading it when I was supposed to be doing other things. I loved that it was a character-driven fantasy because those are my favorite. And the magical system is so cool! It's such a creative blend of science and magic--like, the way she embedded particle physics and the multiverse into everything set my nerd flag flying like you wouldn't believe haha. The characters all have that morally gray Six of Crows vibe to them, too. They're enigmatic. Hard to pin down. They're all thrown together out of necessity not because they like each other, and it was fun to see how attachments did or did not form. I liked Callum the least. However, he's also one of the characters who intrigues me the most because I have no idea wtf he wants. There's no way to parse what his endgame is right now besides self-preservation. Nico is a conceited wise ass, so naturally I love him. Parisa and Reina both terrify me for different reasons. Parisa screams I AM A SIREN so I don't want to tread too close to her. Reina, I think, is going to just, like, detonate the whole planet at some point. She has so much untapped power. Tristan grew on me the most. I didn't care for him much in the beginning because he was an asshole, but then little by little, his layers start to peel back and you see how much he cares. How much he feels. Libby I related to a lot because I've spent most of my life feeling like an outcast like her. And the fact that she's constantly battling inadequacy--oof! That hit me.

As far as ships go, sheesh, I gotta say I'm conflicted! I feel like there are so many different directions the author could go??? It's rare for me not to know where the romance is headed, even this early on in the series, but I really don't.

Parisa and Dalton seem to be the most obvious ship right now. Even so, there's something dark, something dangerous and unknown lurking there so I don't know if that'll work out. Nico and Libby have the enemies-to-lovers type banter and dynamic that I love to gobble up. They're a lot of fun. I enjoy their scenes a lot. It's interesting that they're bound/connected in their powers, too. I can't wait to learn more about that. I'd be totally fine if they went romantic...but then I'm also picking up a vibe between him and his roommate. So I don't know what to think? I could get behind Libby and Tristan as well. Their unresolved tension leaps - literally LEAPS - off the page and I like how their dynamic progressed from dislike (on his end) to respect to something more...well, undefinable as of yet. There's palpable sexual/emotional energy between them, though, for sure. Callum seems to genuinely care about Tristan but he's been so damn manipulative! He'd have to jump through some hoops for me to get on board.

As you can see I babble a LOT when I get excited haha.

Anyway, what about you? Do you have any favorite characters or ships so far? That twist at the end was pretty good, don't you think? It blew the whole story wide open. I'm so looking forward to the rest of the trilogy.

Can't wait to hear your thoughts! xx