The Atlas Six (The Atlas #1) by Olivie Blake

"Six Medeians are approached by Atlas Blakely, the caretaker of the Alexandrian Society, a collective that has existed since the burning of the Library many centuries ago. He offers these six initiates one year of study, to hone their craft and they all accept but of course, no one is ever honest and there's always someone working in the shadows to destroy it all. It was a unique concept but it was bogged down by unlikable characters, unecessarily flowery language and just an overall feeling of pretentiousness."

2 Stars

Pros:  Callum, for an empath is frighteningly dead inside, though he does make for a good villain, or, at least, an anti-hero. 

Cons: Basically all of these characters were obnoxious in one way or another and were constantly bickering, snarking and fighting with everyone and everything/There were no real moments of cohesion, of friendship and so, it was just reading a book about six people who despised one another/Parisa has absolutely no qualms what so ever about sleeping with anyone and anything to get ahead/Blake's attempt to rationalize magic was heroic but too bogged down with jargon, my brain just tuned it out/I wanted to see them doing more actual magic but when they did, it was vastly underwhelming/The surprise twist was just confusing in the end. 

Full Review

Six people are approached by a man named Atlas Blakely, whose business card reads, Caretaker - The Alexandrian Society. The thing that links them all is that they are some of the best Medeians (magicians) in the world and Atlas promises that if they accept his proposal, then knowledge, beyond their wildest dreams will be at their fingertips.

Induction into the Alexandrian Society takes two years. The first year of study is mainly research, honing their skills in their particular area of magic while also studying different aspects of time, intent etc. The second year, well, Atlas is slim on the details, simply stating that only five of them will move on. They all accept, some more hesitantly than others and begin their training. 

There's Libby, the always anxious and insecure, goody two-shoes perfect student. Nico, just as smart as Libby and in constant rivalry with her but they complement each other. They are physicists, able to manipulate the physical world around them. Reina, is a silent, scowling girl, who is a naturalist, able to control organic life but she's not interested in her specialty, she just wants access to the Society's vast knowledge. Tristan, who can see through any illusion and in fact, sees the world a little differently than everyone else. Parisa, the telepathic prostitute who will sleep with anyone and anything to get ahead and Callum, the Empath, who has honed his own craft to subtle lethality. 

Of course, they're all operating under false pretenses and when the truth is uncovered, well, it puts a damper on the whole thing. And, of course, as always, there's someone working in the shadows who's been wheedling and dealing, creating their own group, intent on burning the Society to the ground. 

There were parts that were genuinely interesting and other parts that were not. I think my biggest gripe was Blake's writing felt pretentious. Every character was incredibly intelligent and gifted but, all they did was argue with each other about rhetorical questions and theories. None of them really had any personality aside from being snippy and combative. I didn't actually feel anything for any of them. There was no real background, nothing to make me care about these characters and so when they had emotions, it all just felt fake. 

I'm glad I finally read it but I'm uncertain whether I'll continue with the series. I'll work on my TBR for now and put this to rest.