The Atlas Six (and sequels) by Olivie Blake is unlike any book I’ve ever read before. It’s about, as the title would imply, six main characters: Libby, Nico, Reina, Tristan, Callum, and Parisa. Set in a world with magic, where humans with powers are called either ‘medeians’ or ‘witches’, The Atlas Six explores deep, complex themes when the main characters are invited to a secret society to study… something.

The thing is, I can’t quite ever figure out what the themes are. The writing style is thoroughly academic, which I adore, but I’m not sure if I don’t understand it because I lack the reading ability or if it’s just academic to… be fancy. On a surface level, I know there’s the humanity and cruelty and greed and love and so forth, but the overall message of the book eludes me.

What I’m trying to say is: it’s a hard book to love. But I did love it. It’s filled with thoughtful lines and overly dramatic dialogue–but it was meant to be that way. The studies are meant to be difficult to understand, so I don’t mind. People are meant to talk differently, so I don’t mind. It’s still mildly insufferable.

The character motivations are equally elusive. The main conflict of the first book centers around the slowly unraveling realization that, to remain in the secret society, one of the Main Six has to die by the hand of the other five. So it asks: who? why? and, again, who? The reader asks: why? why? why?

Besides what drives them, though, I find the characters delightful. Libby feels the realest, Nico is sharp-witted, Reina is kind of a girlboss, Tristan is angsty, Callum is… something, and Parisa is definitely a girlboss. They all love and hate each other. I don’t really know how to describe them, but the author definitely does. Where the plot feels unclear and foggy, I find the characters very distinct and poignant.

Overall, The Atlas Six is a book to read if you are looking for a lot of complicated relationships and not a lot of plot, and only if you can stomach the way the characters speak and narrate.