This book was exactly what I was looking for. I love The Magicians (the show, I haven’t read the books yet) and this book delivered a realistic take on magic just like that series did. There are six main characters that all join the secret Alexandrian society for different reasons. These people are not necessarily good, just powerful. Each has their own regrets and issues that they have to deal with to become their most authentic selves. Since they come from different backgrounds, each has different ways of doing things. Some personalities clash and others mesh; this is a story of self-discovery and growth. It’s about constant growth and development and I love it for that.

One aspect of this that sets it apart is its writing. Blake writes in a very stylistic way that always makes it seem like characters are saying too much. 

“We’re all starving, but not everyone is doing it correctly. Some people are taking too much, making themselves sick, and it kills them. The excess is poison; even food is a poison to someone who’s been deprived. Everything has the capacity to turn toxic. It’s easy, so fucking easy to die, so the ones who make themselves something are the same ones who learn to starve correctly.”

This excerpt definitely went on for a bit too long after the point was already made. Pretty much every character talks like this and it can get tiring after a few chapters.

The main plot felt like a backdrop as there really wasn’t a goal all the characters were working towards. They all were doing their own things for the most part and only interacted when they had to. The Library they live in is filled with boundless knowledge, but not many characters do anything with it. Minor experiments are conducted, however nothing of real substance is discovered in the magic aspect in this entry. Even writing this review, I cannot recall a large chunk of the events in this book save for the climax. There is a “plot twist” but it doesn’t really fill earned, but it does set up the next book quite well.

Despite the loose leaf plot, the character work here is immaculate. I enjoy Libby’s journey the most. She spends much of the story dealing with her feelings of inadequacy and trying to console her boyfriend. The Atlas Six are not supposed to tell anyone about the society, so she has to constantly lie to him and it eats her up inside. She can feel them growing apart and at one point she even cheats on him. (I really hate cheaters and this moment almost made me hate her.) She still has some growing to do, as do they all and watching that unfold is what hooked me. Parisa initially seems coldhearted and brash, but she undergoes some truly intense moments in the story that made me sympathize with her. Atlas himself is an enigma. No one knows what his true motives are and this mystery helps keep those that are not interested in the characters invested. Characterization is the focus here though, so the mystery of Atlas may not hook you.

I enjoyed this book as a character journey, but it did feel like setup for future installments. Learning this was going to be a series was not surprising, so I look forward to the rest being a bit faster paced.