The Alexandrian Society is the most sophisticated and prestigious secret society in the world.
Only the best magicians are allowed to enter the dangerous and intriguing world that is, to put it
simply, the Library of Alexandria reborn. Every ten years, a new class of initiates are chosen to
compete for induction. They spend one year in training with access to the archives in order to
refine their craft, and five are chosen to spend the rest of their lives as members. When Atlas
Blakely approaches each of them with an enticing new opportunity beyond anything they’ve
experienced, they all must decide if they have what it takes to be the most dangerous medeians in
the world. And they will succeed. Well, not all of them.
Characters:
Libby: Student at NYUMA, just graduated. She has the power to manipulate physics and can
control matter with her mind. She’s unaware of just how powerful she is.
(I loved Libby! She was smart, driven, determined, and relatable. Her POV was also enjoyable to
read).
Nico: Goes to the same college as Libby and is her mortal enemy. He has similar powers as her,
but is a bit more aware of them. He’s handsome, smart, and rich, and knows it too.
(I liked his character as well, but his POVs were mostly focused on Gideon (his roommate who
he wants to protect, and not on the actual plot)).
Parisa: If Parisa could be described in one sentence from the book, it’s this: “If he was in pieces,
she would take whatever rubble remained for herself.” She’s a powerful mind reader who uses
seduction to her advantage and is perhaps the smartest of the six. (She was probably my favorite character of the main six, just because of how interesting her powers were. SPOILER: My favorite part of the book was when she and Callum had a fight in Nico’s mind, and she successfully fooled Callum into thinking he had the upper hand. She’s sly, cunning, and creative. One of my favorite character POVs I’ve ever read).
Callum: He’s the most dangerous, cunning, and powerful character in the whole book. Which is
exactly why he has a target on his back for most of it. He’s also rich and pretty, if that matters.
An empath that doesn’t feel, Callum is capable of manipulating people’s emotions. He’s basically
a walking nuclear code, capable of destroying the world.
(He was very mysterious and interesting, but sometimes his “edgy” lines were borderline
cringy).
Tristan: Like Libby, Tristan doesn’t know the full extent of his powers, and struggles to
understand why he has a chance of being inducted. He also has daddy issues, and that’s the
extent of his personality to begin with. However, the author does develop his personality a lot more throughout the book. He has the power of seeing through illusions, one that does prove to
be useful in the future.
(Great character as well, and he actually had a conscience to guide him).
Reina: She thinks she’s useless, as she’s only a naturalist, but her actual powers extend far
beyond that as she tries to form alliances and get to the root of what’s really going on.
(Her character was kind of boring for me, mostly because she didn’t really add anything to the
plot).
Okay, all these characters are pretty much in love with each other. But hate each other at the
same time. As the plot progresses, the way their dynamic changes is so interesting to see. From
trusting each other to being secretive to trusting each other again. That’s one of my favorite parts
of the book, and I feel Olivie Blake did an amazing job with developing their relationships,
especially Nico’s and Libby’s (Enemies to acquaintances? Friends?). The writing of the book
itself was also wonderful. It seemed so sophisticated, eloquent, and ornate. Perhaps my favorite
thing about this book was how much it challenged you to think. (Ex. the whole “most people
don’t know how to starve” conversation). I enjoyed reading the dialogue between the characters
as they struggled to discover themselves and their futures. My only problem with this book was
the pacing. It was very slow to begin with, so I had a hard time getting interested in it. However,
the second half was far more interesting and intense, especially after they figured out what would
happen when it came time to choose the next members. Overall, I would recommend this to high
schoolers and teenagers, as this book was a fun ride. 3/5.