don’t envy me…fear me

oh my goddd this was a fucking fantastic (re) read!!!

It took nearly two months to get through this as I was picking up whenever and just reading and annotating at my own pace - I wanted to make sure I was fully immersed and paying attention whenever I read without any distractions. I also listened to the audio while reading along physically and thoroughly enjoyed the experience - excellent narration!

Without getting into the plot (aside from what’s in the synopsis), I’ll start by saying this was a great, (heavily) character-driven story that gripped me throughout! The first time I read this I devoured it greedily; this time around I paused and savored every delicious detail. Because of that, I picked up on SO much more this time around! I was able to connect more pieces of the puzzle and found myself seeing things in certain chapters that I’d picked up on in earlier chapters.

I enjoyed these characters so much! Each of them (except
Gideon 🥰) has something unlikeable about them (some more than others) but I still enjoyed each of them for different reasons. Each one is written so intricately and meticulously (even the side characters!), we have:

🔥 Parisa - the strong-willed telepathic seductress

🥃 Tristan - the broody illusionist with daddy issues

💫 Nico - the charming physicist

📚 Libby - the repressed physicist

🌱 Reina - the stoic naturalist

🔪 Callum - the callous empath

Although this was a re-read, the ending still had me reeling :&:/@/&;&:&@/!!!! If you’ve read the self-published versions (my initial read), I highly recommend reading the re-released, traditionally published version as there are more helpful layers and details surrounding the ending! Where the OG version left us with a “wtf!!???” ending, this version (dubbed by the author as Olivie’s Version) left us with a “wtf?!?!! Oh and here’s some extra explanations and tidbits to make you say ‘wtf??!??’ again”!

I adore Olivie Blake’s writing and fell right back in love with her style and prose! So as I await book two - The Atlas Paradox - I’ll be moving on to the rest of her backlist (loved Fairytales of the Macabre)!

Leaving you w some of my fav quotes:
they were binary stars trapped in each other’s gravitational field and easily diminished without the other's opposing force

there was nothing more dangerous than a woman who knew her own worth

beware the man who faces you unarmed - if in his eyes you are not the target, then you can be sure you are the weapon

the problem with knowledge is its inexhaustible craving; the more of it you have the mess you feel you know

WHAT??? GET ME BOOK TWO ASAP!!

parisa and tristan supremacy btw (Gideon, too)