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A review by shellballenger
The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake
2.0
Type of read: Lunch/Weekend Read.
What made me pick it up: I've read and enjoyed the first two in 'The Atlas' series and we had preordered 'The Atlas Complex.' I'm looking forward to seeing where the storyline goes with this third installment.
Overall rating: If you can make it through the first 1/3 of 'The Atlas Complex,' past all of the recap and societal bullshit that does more to brain-boggle than explain and set the stage, you're *mostly* golden (I'll get to that in a bit). I appreciate that we get a breakdown of some of the key society members and their special talents at the beginning of the book, but I think nearly everything through Elif, while helpful, is so infuriatingly complex that if I hadn't been prepared for something so dense, I would have put the book down. It has been two years since the publishing of 'The Atlas Paradox' (#2 in the series), but there had to be a more reader-friendly way to remind us of the craziness that happened at the end of those pages. I'll take part of the blame in saying I forgot how completely dense and roundabout Blake's writing style is, but it took way too long for me to get into the groove of 'The Atlas Complex.'
All of that being said, once I got into the actual story and felt like I had a better understanding of what was going on and the flow, I was transported back to the Archives and the same confusion, muddled behavior, and craziness that established my love-hate relationship with the books in the first place. However, you'd be going along, reading your little heart out, and then *BAM,* Blake decides to completely break up the story with stupid book club questions, or a whole section telling you how you should feel about Atlas. I don't want to be told how to feel! I want to read the book and create my own feelings.
Which ultimately, leads us to the *mostly golden* part. Blake let us down with 'The Atlas Complex.' Not just a little bit, but fully and completely let us down. I feel like the first two books in the series were SO good and this one is just overthought, overly complex, and doesn't have any of the same flow and thought the first ones did. It honestly almost felt like Blake was trying to fit too much into the confines of the trilogy. They either needed to beef up the duology or spread it out to a longer series. Additionally, the continual character POV switches that were so well done in the first couple of books make absolutely no sense in 'Complex.' There are too many points of view, too many formats of writing, and all together just too much that doesn't connect or make sense.
And I know I briefly mentioned it above, but as a book clubber, I appreciate there are questions BUT WHY IN THE HELL IS IT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BOOK?! It's like Blake wanted to try and make 'The Atlas Complex' interactive or break the fourth wall but didn't know how to do it effectively and in the end, it comes off almost as a silly choose-your-own-adventure book where you're told what pages to turn for the worst possible storyline.
If anything, take my extended reading time as a sign that 'The Atlas Complex' is overdone, drawn out, and not something you'll want to keep picking up...unless it's to hurl it across the room in disgust.
What made me pick it up: I've read and enjoyed the first two in 'The Atlas' series and we had preordered 'The Atlas Complex.' I'm looking forward to seeing where the storyline goes with this third installment.
Overall rating: If you can make it through the first 1/3 of 'The Atlas Complex,' past all of the recap and societal bullshit that does more to brain-boggle than explain and set the stage, you're *mostly* golden (I'll get to that in a bit). I appreciate that we get a breakdown of some of the key society members and their special talents at the beginning of the book, but I think nearly everything through Elif, while helpful, is so infuriatingly complex that if I hadn't been prepared for something so dense, I would have put the book down. It has been two years since the publishing of 'The Atlas Paradox' (#2 in the series), but there had to be a more reader-friendly way to remind us of the craziness that happened at the end of those pages. I'll take part of the blame in saying I forgot how completely dense and roundabout Blake's writing style is, but it took way too long for me to get into the groove of 'The Atlas Complex.'
All of that being said, once I got into the actual story and felt like I had a better understanding of what was going on and the flow, I was transported back to the Archives and the same confusion, muddled behavior, and craziness that established my love-hate relationship with the books in the first place. However, you'd be going along, reading your little heart out, and then *BAM,* Blake decides to completely break up the story with stupid book club questions, or a whole section telling you how you should feel about Atlas. I don't want to be told how to feel! I want to read the book and create my own feelings.
Spoiler
At this point, we all know he's either morally gray or completely lacking morals altogether, you don't need to continually - and badly - remind us that he's probably not a great person.Which ultimately, leads us to the *mostly golden* part. Blake let us down with 'The Atlas Complex.' Not just a little bit, but fully and completely let us down. I feel like the first two books in the series were SO good and this one is just overthought, overly complex, and doesn't have any of the same flow and thought the first ones did. It honestly almost felt like Blake was trying to fit too much into the confines of the trilogy. They either needed to beef up the duology or spread it out to a longer series. Additionally, the continual character POV switches that were so well done in the first couple of books make absolutely no sense in 'Complex.' There are too many points of view, too many formats of writing, and all together just too much that doesn't connect or make sense.
And I know I briefly mentioned it above, but as a book clubber, I appreciate there are questions BUT WHY IN THE HELL IS IT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BOOK?! It's like Blake wanted to try and make 'The Atlas Complex' interactive or break the fourth wall but didn't know how to do it effectively and in the end, it comes off almost as a silly choose-your-own-adventure book where you're told what pages to turn for the worst possible storyline.
If anything, take my extended reading time as a sign that 'The Atlas Complex' is overdone, drawn out, and not something you'll want to keep picking up...unless it's to hurl it across the room in disgust.