The Atlas Paradox - You're probably going to need a refresher course...

I really wanted to adore this. I really did. 

Maybe it’s just me? Maybe I’m just not smart enough? But I’m guessing that’s not the case. This novel is almost impenetrable. I think if I had picked up The Atlas Paradox immediately after finishing The Atlas Six I would probably be alright following the contrived plot and bizarre character decisions, but, as it’s been a good six months, I quite frankly had no clue what was going on half the time. 

There is no gentle easing into this second novel, you are not subtly reminded of what came to pass in the first, you are just zooming onwards, headfirst into complicated theoretical concepts, a time travel problem and the land of dreams. This book reminds me a lot of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. A barely understandable plot and a whole lotta vibes. 

Oh, but one other thing. 

I freaking love Tenet. 

I kind of loved this, too. If you loved The Atlas Six, I do recommend picking this book up. Maybe just go on a refresher course with the plot first.

Spoilers from here on out. 

At the centre of Olivie Blake’s novels, once you get past the fact that there’s a three syllable word every time a single syllable word would do, are the characters. Callum is hilarious, Libby is freaking tenacious, Tristan is…Tristan (he’s the Jason Grace of this world, and that’s alright), Parisa is deliciously interesting, Reina is slowly going insane in the best way, and Nico is falling in love, or at least he’s slowly admitting to himself that he’s falling in love. 

Like Babel by R.F. Kuang (which set the standard so unbelievably high, I’m now always going to be comparing and I don’t think anything is going to live up to it), Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, and the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan, my favourite stories see a group of unlikely people coming together to form a bond stronger than family. What hit me with this book is the fact we’re still not quite there yet with these characters, painfully demonstrated by the dinner scene towards the end of the novel. I felt Nico’s confusion so deeply in that moment and it has ended up being one of my favourite scenes of the book. It contrasts what we expect from this genre so well and I don’t know whether I want Blake to keep defying it or finally give in to the traditions and have them finally admit that they mean a lot to each other. Either way, I want to read what’s coming next for these six people because it was them who kept me going when I barely understood what was going on. I couldn’t for the life of me remember why Gideon’s mum (I’ll get to Gideon, don’t worry) wanted to break The Prince out of Dalton’s head. I couldn’t remember why/how/if Ezra had used Dalton to create the animation of Libby. I definitely could not remember what happened to Atlas and his cohort. So I had to let the actual plot of this book wash over my head, and just enjoy being with these confusing but brilliant people.

I knew I was always going to be rating this book reasonably highly after Gideon and Nico’s first interaction. What can I say? I have a soft spot for boys named Nico and their overtly optimistic blonde-haired love interests (The Sun and The Star can’t come soon enough). They kept me going. I don’t know if I would have seen this through to the end without them. The moments with Gideon were truly refreshing. Compared to the rest of the six, his stakes felt much less life-and-death — which is highly ironic, because he is the character arguably most at risk from death throughout the entire book — because of his more relaxed attitude towards his life. It was a relief to get to a moment with him, because I knew he would probably be bringing a little bit of adventure and a lot of flirting to the story. He was the most fun to read and I would love a spin-off all about him one day. 

Despite my difficulties with this novel, I will read the third Atlas book and frankly I was relieved to see that there would be one. I want to know what happens to all these people; whether they’ll come together or fracture apart completely, I don’t know. I’m hoping for the former, but I trust Blake to do something interesting if she goes with the latter. 

Thank you to the team at Tor publishing and Pan Macmillan for sending me a copy for review!