Basically yes. I felt that in previous books so much of the intrigue was because of the group dynamics, and in this book there was no group. Like she missed the mark completely.
Just finished this week and was curious as to what others thought; totally agreed on all counts! I still enjoyed some of the interactions here and there but ultimately it felt so unsatisfying.
Your comment about how none of them ever say what they want is SO true!!! That's been my overarching problem with the series as a whole. I thought that after book 1/initiation, they'd maybe start working together or actually speaking to each other, but book 2 was just as bad! I think Reina even mentions at one point how it's been months since they had all even been in the same room. This one was a little bit better in that the characters had at least paired off, but STILL!!!!! Reina is one of the most disappointing characters ever. I got about 25% into this book and just gave up and came here, and I'm pretty glad I did hahaha
'You walked away from your father who is a literal crime boss. You can walk away from this 20-something who is just annoying.' - 😂 I never thought about it that way (in fact, I completely forgot about the texts - guess I blocked what I read of this book from my memory completely) but you're so right. I remember being frustrated that they all wanted the same thing but none of them were willing to say it, which didn't make any sense to me. Like, we got two books telling us self-interested all these people and their goals are, and now it comes down to them having to choose (or not) do this highly dangerous, but ultimately self-serving, experiment and suddenly they all have consciences and they're too moral to admit it. After two books of them being trapped together and unable to escape, this one could have been really interesting in the way they could have chosen to lock themselves together into this thing they wanted to do. And there could have been betrayal caught up in that! But no. Instead we got this terrible book in which it feels like Blake got so caught up in her own pretentiousness that she completely forgot who all these characters are. I'm still impressed you finished it. I got halfway through and that was more than enough for me. I'm just annoyed I took the time to reread book 1 and then read book 2 just to end up DNFing book 3.
I agree with everything you said!! This was my most anticipated release of the year and it became my biggest disappointment instead 😂 the only good thing about this book was that it made me realise how much I loved Parisa when she didn’t feel like Parisa anymore
I LOVED the first book, liked the second and spent of my time wrinkling my nose at the third. I literally ended up skipping Reina- couldn’t care less about her. It was the most disengaging storyline and it became all about the plot instead of the characters- but there was barely a plot at the same time (?)! I was so invested in Nico and Libby- I have a platonic soulmate dynamic myself that is almost identical. AND THEN SHE KILLED HIM?! No. That’s not her. Honestly, at one point I was convinced that they would all be killed off, similar to Atlas’ cohort situation. I almost would have preferred that. Overall, so disappointed and I agree- someone rewrite the ending for me!
100% was a couple chapters from the end and I was convinced they would all be killed off. I kind of thought that was why Gideon was positioned as a semi main character
I want an explanation I want to read the last book but … after this review I don’t know if I can anymore. I need to know why Libby killed Nico ! And why nobody talks about it? Every where I look on booktok everyone is talking about how Nico and libby are such a good ship. 😭😭 I want to know if he is still alive because please I think I need spoilers to finish this book
It’s like Libby suddenly disregarded her prior two books of character growth and decided to choose power instead, which meant killing Nico when the spell went wrong (after everyone decided they wanted to do the experiment after skirting around the decision for the whole book). It was such a poorly planned and executed book, if you can skip it… I’d save my time if I could do it over again. 😂
I tried skimming back through the last 4-5 chapters again thinking i'd missed something important. Such an anti climax. Cant beleive i re-read 1 and 2 again in preparation for this 😭
I am so sad right now.... i really loved the first one the second one was okayish. But the last one was so dissapointing. What happend to all the cool characters.... 😢😢😢
I had to get this on audiobook and force myself to listen to it in the car. I could not get through it! Im pretty sure I only have a vague idea of what happened bc of how little this book kept my attention. I was hoping to come here and find another awesome summary video, but alas, you suffered juat as much as i did!
![Archived Review #2 The Atlas Paradox | An In Depth Book Review [Spoilers]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/D-_JGrbrbKc/mqdefault.jpg)
![Archived Review #2 The Atlas Paradox | An In Depth Book Review [Spoilers]](/img/tr.png)
I just think I regretted liking the first two books a little (even though the second one fell a little flat for me), but the last one... JESUS!
I know exactly what you mean…
Basically yes. I felt that in previous books so much of the intrigue was because of the group dynamics, and in this book there was no group. Like she missed the mark completely.
Yup, nailed it: no group dynamic, huge miss.
Just finished this week and was curious as to what others thought; totally agreed on all counts! I still enjoyed some of the interactions here and there but ultimately it felt so unsatisfying.
Your comment about how none of them ever say what they want is SO true!!! That's been my overarching problem with the series as a whole. I thought that after book 1/initiation, they'd maybe start working together or actually speaking to each other, but book 2 was just as bad! I think Reina even mentions at one point how it's been months since they had all even been in the same room. This one was a little bit better in that the characters had at least paired off, but STILL!!!!! Reina is one of the most disappointing characters ever. I got about 25% into this book and just gave up and came here, and I'm pretty glad I did hahaha
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this comment, thank you. 😂
'You walked away from your father who is a literal crime boss. You can walk away from this 20-something who is just annoying.' - 😂 I never thought about it that way (in fact, I completely forgot about the texts - guess I blocked what I read of this book from my memory completely) but you're so right.
I remember being frustrated that they all wanted the same thing but none of them were willing to say it, which didn't make any sense to me. Like, we got two books telling us self-interested all these people and their goals are, and now it comes down to them having to choose (or not) do this highly dangerous, but ultimately self-serving, experiment and suddenly they all have consciences and they're too moral to admit it. After two books of them being trapped together and unable to escape, this one could have been really interesting in the way they could have chosen to lock themselves together into this thing they wanted to do. And there could have been betrayal caught up in that! But no. Instead we got this terrible book in which it feels like Blake got so caught up in her own pretentiousness that she completely forgot who all these characters are.
I'm still impressed you finished it. I got halfway through and that was more than enough for me. I'm just annoyed I took the time to reread book 1 and then read book 2 just to end up DNFing book 3.
Ugh I re-read the others too, why did we do this! It took me over a month to read, should have been a sign but I was determined. 😂
I agree with everything you said!! This was my most anticipated release of the year and it became my biggest disappointment instead 😂 the only good thing about this book was that it made me realise how much I loved Parisa when she didn’t feel like Parisa anymore
Omg Parisa, yes I felt the same about her! She grew a personality in this one, shame the rest of the book was a dog’s breakfast.
I LOVED the first book, liked the second and spent of my time wrinkling my nose at the third. I literally ended up skipping Reina- couldn’t care less about her. It was the most disengaging storyline and it became all about the plot instead of the characters- but there was barely a plot at the same time (?)! I was so invested in Nico and Libby- I have a platonic soulmate dynamic myself that is almost identical. AND THEN SHE KILLED HIM?! No. That’s not her. Honestly, at one point I was convinced that they would all be killed off, similar to Atlas’ cohort situation. I almost would have preferred that. Overall, so disappointed and I agree- someone rewrite the ending for me!
100% was a couple chapters from the end and I was convinced they would all be killed off. I kind of thought that was why Gideon was positioned as a semi main character
I want an explanation I want to read the last book but … after this review I don’t know if I can anymore. I need to know why Libby killed Nico ! And why nobody talks about it? Every where I look on booktok everyone is talking about how Nico and libby are such a good ship. 😭😭 I want to know if he is still alive because please I think I need spoilers to finish this book
It’s like Libby suddenly disregarded her prior two books of character growth and decided to choose power instead, which meant killing Nico when the spell went wrong (after everyone decided they wanted to do the experiment after skirting around the decision for the whole book). It was such a poorly planned and executed book, if you can skip it… I’d save my time if I could do it over again. 😂
I tried skimming back through the last 4-5 chapters again thinking i'd missed something important. Such an anti climax. Cant beleive i re-read 1 and 2 again in preparation for this 😭
Agreed
I am so sad right now.... i really loved the first one the second one was okayish. But the last one was so dissapointing. What happend to all the cool characters.... 😢😢😢
Truly what a disappointment. 😅
I have never been more disappointed by the last book in a trilogy in my life. I was very annoyed!
I will not be reading this after my disappointment in book 2. Honestly, I am waiting for someone to upload a summary spoilery video
Same cos I’m not rereading it. 😂
I was so disappointed by this which is a shame as book one was five stars and two was four stars! This was two stars for me!
I’m relieved I’m not alone in my two star rating.
I had to get this on audiobook and force myself to listen to it in the car. I could not get through it! Im pretty sure I only have a vague idea of what happened bc of how little this book kept my attention. I was hoping to come here and find another awesome summary video, but alas, you suffered juat as much as i did!