Atlas of Unknowable Things is the first book I’ve read by McCormick Templeman, but judging by this one it won’t be the last!
Atlas of Unknowable Things starts off innocently enough, telling the story of Robin, a researcher working on her PHD. She is dealing with the fact that the man she thought was her friend stole her work and presented it as his own, and she is feeling angry, and betrayed.
Soon she is plotting to get her revenge by succeeding in her own research, and to further that research she applies to Hildegard College located in a remote area in Colorado. Even before she leaves for the college though, the atmosphere begins to become mysterious, and strange things begin to happen, and they only get stranger, and darker after she arrives.
I haven’t read a lot of dark academia yet, but I loved this book. I’ll be honest a lot of the time I wasn’t sure what was going on in the book, much like the main character. And I guess that makes sense since the story is told in first person from her perspective.
Most of the characters were not all that likeable, and they all seemed a bit similar in that their moods seemed to change almost at the drop of a hat. They all seemed mysterious, and at times, menacing, and it was not obvious which if any of them, were trustworthy. Much of the time it felt like the main character was isolated, and alone, and being gaslighted. It just added to the dark atmosphere of the story.
Most of the book is centered on the mystery of what happened to two people, a young girl who was believed to have been mauled by a bear, and the disappearance of one of the researchers who used to work at the school. Robin really didn’t do a lot of research into the paper she was writing, but everything was so steeped in mystery that it didn’t seem to matter much.
If there was one problem I had it was the death of one of the characters in the book. If you read I think you’ll know the one I mean. It seemed to be glossed over, with no one really feeling anything about his death, and I wondered how they could all be so cold, but also how they hid the body, and the vehicle he arrived in. This wasn’t dealt with at all, and no one came looking for him, even though he had family in the area.
There isn’t a lot of action in the book until the very end, but even so, the story still held my attention and kept me coming back for more. And the ending when it did come was completely unexpected.
If you like dark, mysterious stories with hints of the paranormal then you may enjoy this book like I did. I will be looking for other books by this author in the future.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Life, Tea, and Everything 