Review: Atlas of Unknowable Things - McCormick Templeman

Gerne: Dark Academia, Mystery, Fantasy

Published: St. Martin's Press, October 2025

My Rating: 3/5 stars

"The philosopher and critic Tzvetan Todorov defines the fantastic as the hesitation between the supernatural and a mundane explanation of an occurrence. In a work of fiction, when a woman in the woods sees a monster and turns out to be crazy, then that is realism. If it turns out that there really is a monster in those woods, then that is horror. But if one can make an argument for either to be true, then that woman occupies the space of the fantastic."

Synopsis:

Historical scholar Robin Quain has been awarded residency to Hildegarde College; an isolated and prestigious academy, high in the Rocky Mountains. Known for its scientific excellence, sprawling botanical gardens and extensive library, Robin hopes the college’s resources will help her towards a breakthrough in her research on the historical significance of witchcraft and the occult.

She soon learns that Hildegarde harbours some dark mysteries and secrets inside its polished exterior. As Robin searches for answers, an unknown source sends her a series of cryptic messages that makes her question whether she’s the one doing the hunting, or whether someone is hunting her.

What I liked:

My experience with Atlas of Unknowable Things was split decidedly into two, with a turning point around the 60-70% mark.

To start things off: this had one of the strongest starts in any book I’ve read this year. I’ve been struggling with a slump recently, and haven’t been captivated by a books atmosphere and suspense from the start like this in a long time.

Atlas combines a bunch of elements and genre-motifs that I personally enjoy: actual dark academia vibes (without unnecessary romance), occultism, historical folklore, alchemy, botany, and a decent helping of scholarly mystery. The mystical vibes, combined with the isolated setting and the clear feeling that Robin is an outsider in her new environment, instantly give the book an atmosphere that’s equal parts enticing and suspenseful.

The best comparison I can give, is that this book felt like playing a cozy detective game, and at the time it was the exact vibe I was craving. For about 3 days, I couldn’t stop thinking about this book. I was with Robin on her hunt for answers, and couldn’t let go.

What I didn’t like:

When those answers began to trickle in however, the book took a turn for me. I will try to keep it spoiler-free, but I have to mention a “genre-switch” that I wish I’d known about going in.

In all the marketing and catalogues I’ve seen, Atlas has been tag as either mystery, horror, dark academia or a combination of those. An important tag missing from this list is fantasy.

For the first 70% or so, this reads as a mystery, with the supernatural folklore-elements being nothing more than that in the world of the story: folklore that happens to be Robin studying. After this point, the book swerves hard into the territory of supernatural fantasy. Whilst this in itself could’ve worked, the sudden left-turn broke my immersion completely. This isn’t simply a marketing-thing, where I’d have liked the genre to be communicated more clearly. It’s also internal, where the story doesn’t give you enough clues to set up that the twist.

Imagine reading an Agatha Christie novel, only to have Poirot reveal in the final chapter that a vampire killed the victim. It might be a surprising twists, but it doesn’t fit the context of the story that’s been set up. That’s how the twist here felt to me.

I actually went back and read the majority of the book for a second time, to see if I’d missed some of the clues. Still I came away with the feeling that this twist was rushes, unearned and doesn’t quite hold up in hindsight.

My second major gripe with the story is in another twist, that might be slightly more spoilery. The book heavily relies on one of my least-favourite tropes out there; creating an unreliable narrator through amnesia. The fact that a large section of the plot hinges on this trope almost made me throw the book across the room.

Overall, this started out só strong and ended in such disappointment. I’m landing on a 3-star rating, although my personal feelings lean perhaps a bit more towards the disappointment-side…

Thanks to St. Martins Press and Dreamscape Audio for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

You can find this book here on Goodreads.