I'm going to preface this entire ramble with the fact that I haven't read the other books in the series, and**spoiler alert** This book..... THIS BOOK
I'm going to preface this entire ramble with the fact that I haven't read the other books in the series, and only happened to find this one because of the polyam rep, BUUUT after reading this I fully plan on going back and reading the others (and probably rereading this a minimum of 929393 times).
When I went into this book, it wasn't with the thought of it becoming a new favorite read and it certainly wasn't with the anticipation of how close to home it would hit (although I should have guessed from the summary), HOWEVER this book was like a sucker punch to the soul in all of the right ways.
I was a little afraid of how this story would make me feel with an MC who falls for a married polyamorous man and realizes that maybe his future wouldn't be all he'd always thought it would be. I didn't know how to expect it to be handled, but I didn't see anyone warning me away, which eased some of my initial fear.
Because that's the thing: I think that a lot of the other people I've seen talking about this have been seeing it more from Mason's perspective, in a sense that apart from him being the narrator (of course), he's very easy to emphasize with if you're monogamous, but that's where this book hit me so hard.
I didn't know how much I needed to read about a story with a character like Diego until I got my hands on this. Sure, I felt bad for Mason at points, but I also felt frustrated with him a lot, because Diego's character is the one whose experience resonated with me much more deeply.
I feel like when people think about polyamorous relationships, they worry about jealousy and about not being "enough" or "number one," but through Diego's character, I was really able to see a lot of my own personal fears and struggles: the idea that someone you care about will decide that you're not enough because you can't give them a cookie cutter monogamous future, that because you love other people, you're not prioritizing them. When Diego said "Just because I've also chosen other people doesn't take something away from you," it hit me so incredibly hard.
Another thing that was refreshing to me was the fact that Diego, although being as sweet as could be about it, was unwilling to compromise who he was. He was already married and had a great relationship with Claris, and maybe he fell for Mason too, but that didn't mean he should have to give up an integral part of himself to make it work. I'm so glad they were able to figure out a way to balance out their wants and needs in the way that they did, because I've seen my fair share of situations that ended up in someone having to stifle part of themself or shove themself in a box that was far too small–not fun at all.
I also absolutely adored Claris as a character, and the way she brought Mason and Diego together and was always providing an endless stream of support for them. Maybe she seemed overbearing at times, but sometimes you need an extra person to push you in the right direction, and she was very good at that.
It was also really cool to see the dynamics between each pair of them. This story is about a vee relationship, not a triad, but I loved being able to see the metamour dynamics that Claris and Mason had, whether it be from Claris always supporting Mason or calling him out when he needed it, or from Mason slowly getting used to her presence as a metamour rather than just a work friend, and it was absolutely lovely to see how well established Diego and Claris were in their own relationship.
Anyways.... I did not mean to write an entire essay and I could honestly probably go on more but. This book has my entire heart and I cannot express how much I needed this story and these characters....more
**spoiler alert** Okay! I have a lot of thoughts about this so time to unpack it all.
I'll start with the good things:
Overall the plot line was engagi**spoiler alert** Okay! I have a lot of thoughts about this so time to unpack it all.
I'll start with the good things:
Overall the plot line was engaging, and I wanted to see where it went, I had a hard time putting this book down! The world building was also interesting and I'm really curious as to where it goes, since the author hinted at having plans to explore other characters' stories! This read definitely has me more intrigued by shifter romances (usually I am a vampire guy).
Now, the not as good things:
When I read the description of this, I kind of assumed it would be like childhood friends, slow burn to lovers, with like a time skip dealio. This was not that. It starts off just before(?) the main characters' freshman year of high school, and then time skips to their senior year. If I'm going to read a romance novel that I know is going to have explicit content, I would prefer to not read about high schoolers, even if they happen to be 18, so it that's something you also want to stay clear of, definitely avoid this.
Voice wise, I had a hard time connecting with Nat and Caleb, and although I was invested enough in their characters to keep reading, I didn't really have any strong feelings about them. It made sense for them to sound more immature at the beginning of the story, but they still felt about the same post time skip, despite several years having passed.
I felt like Nat and Caleb were both pretty static, and it felt like really the most development that happened was whether or not Caleb could get hard.
The most interesting character in this (to me) at least was Preston. I was very excited to see the author hinting at a story following Ethan and Preston because I Was actually invested in them.
All of those things being said, I still enjoyed the book and if you like coming of age and shifter romances, then you'll probably enjoy this.
There was a disclaimer at the beginning of the book in regards to the shifter romance stuff, so I knew what I was getting into there, but other content warnings include: bullying, sa/rape (not on page, but it happened in the past and is brought up a lot), drugs (use not on page), and abusive parents (also not on page). (I think that covers it, but I have a bad memory)...more
This book hit every note that I expected it to! I'm probably going to be reeling from it for a while but needless to say, I'm eagerlActual Rating: 4.5
This book hit every note that I expected it to! I'm probably going to be reeling from it for a while but needless to say, I'm eagerly anticipating the sequel because what was that ending??! I haven't read a ton of dark academia, but the promise of a bunch of characters that are all varying degrees of morally grey was too good to resist, and The Atlas Six delivers on that aspect wonderfully.
Each point of view we get is so convincing and fleshed out, and I found myself getting invested in all of the characters! I think I found myself most invested in Parisa's and Callum's POVs, but I loved all of the others as well! It was so interesting to see all of the character's different pasts and motivations, as well as seeing the ways their abilities bloomed! I'm really eager to see where this will go and see what becomes of everyone in The Atlas Paradox (especially Dalton something about him just makes my brain go brr).
The only reason I didn't give it a full 5 stars was because there were a few bits in the beginning where the prose felt a bit awkward or wasn't my favorite, but that's fully personal preference and it still doesn't take away from the fact that I loved this book (and would highly recommend it)!...more
**spoiler alert** I needed a moment to collect my thoughts after reading this but oh my god, if you're looking for a sign to read this, this is your s**spoiler alert** I needed a moment to collect my thoughts after reading this but oh my god, if you're looking for a sign to read this, this is your sign.
Although the premise of this book interested me a lot, it took me a minute to get into it. Wyatt, the narrator, is messy and angry and he does a lot of dumb things throughout the story because he feels like he doesn't have any other options. At some points, it was hard for me to read because there's some aspects of him that remind me of my ex, but honestly there needs to be more characters like him in terms of queer characters, and I felt like he was super well fleshed out.
People seem to think that every queer character has to be good and perfect and always make the right choices, but it's refreshing to see characters mess up or do things that are self serving, even if it's not the ""right"" or obvious thing to do?
And I'll admit, I was a little bit wary at first when I read the note at the beginning detailing all of the potentially triggering things because I'm so tired of every story about queer characters being about how tough it is or how terribly they're treated. Even though Wyatt does face a lot of shitty things, there's so much more to his character than the pain that he endures.
There was a scene where Emyr made a comment about Wyatt being "born in the wrong body," and Wyatt's response reflected so many feelings I've been having about myself lately–how ridiculous it is that cis people think that trans people are always and automatically ashamed of their body or that it's something to be hidden, when it's OUR bodies and dysphoria isn't universally the same for everyone. That scene hit me so hard, and it was really refreshing but also I might have cried...
Anyways I would highly recommend this book, even if YA isn't your usual jam (it's not mine lol), because Edgmon does such a wonderful job of portraying a diverse cast of queer characters and giving them tons of depth and complexity.
(Also whatever was going on with Solomon, Roman, and Lorena ...more
My brain is still whirring from this, but I absolutely loved everything about this book. The world building and the lore surrounding it and the whole My brain is still whirring from this, but I absolutely loved everything about this book. The world building and the lore surrounding it and the whole system with the pantheon were so engaging, and the three different povs were all interesting, and it was so cool to be able to see how they slowly tied together. It was also really cool to see neopronouns used, as I have yet to see that in a ton of fantasy. I can't wait to see what is in store for the next book ...more
I absolutely loved this! I have a terrible attention span so its hard for me to get sucked into a book but V. E. Schwab has a way of writing that justI absolutely loved this! I have a terrible attention span so its hard for me to get sucked into a book but V. E. Schwab has a way of writing that just pulls me in completely. I'm in love with this universe and all the characters in it and I can't wait to read the next book ...more
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