PLOT SUMMARY:

The son of working-class Czech immigrants, Christopher “Atlas” Novotny is a talented painter who arrives at Harvard on a full scholarship. Raised amid hardship, he is unprepared for the privileged world introduced to him by his freshman roommate, Lucien Orsini-Conti.

Born to wealthy European diplomats, Lucien plays the part of the confident, sophisticated bon vivant. Where Lucien is bold and brash, Atlas is timid and introverted. Growing up a lonely outsider, Atlas is insecure, impressionable, and in awe of his brilliant roommate. But is Lucien all that he seems?

Sensing a willing disciple, Lucien introduces Atlas to a glittering new world of lavish parties and elite social clubs. When Atlas struggles to afford his new lifestyle, Lucien offers a solution, convincing the naïve artist to become a forger, passing off fakes to galleries and dealers.

But Lucien’s charismatic facade conceals something darker and more sinister. As Lucien’s behavior grows increasingly unstable, Atlas is forced into escalating risks with devastating consequences.

GRADE: C

REVIEW:

Lucien by J.R. Thornton suffers most from how it was marketed. Billing it as The Secret History meets The Talented Mr. Ripley sets up expectations the novel simply doesn’t meet. The comparison feels misleading, and ultimately works against the book rather than for it.

The story follows Christopher—renamed “Atlas” by his enigmatic roommate, Lucien—who comes from a modest background and finds himself immersed in the rarefied world of Harvard. There’s an interesting premise here: the tension between his upbringing and this new, elite environment. But instead of digging into that contrast in a meaningful way, the novel drifts. Much of it revolves around Atlas attending parties, with the central plot feeling thin and underdeveloped.

As literary fiction, the book seems to lean heavily on style and dialogue, but this is where it falters most. The conversations are long and frequent, yet rarely compelling. There are no standout lines or moments of insight, and at times the dialogue feels surprisingly shallow. If the intent was to portray a certain emptiness or privilege among Harvard’s elite, that idea never quite sharpens into something purposeful, it just comes across as dull.

Honestly, I likely would have DNF’d this if I hadn’t been listening to the audiobook. The narrator does a lot of heavy lifting, bringing some much-needed energy to an otherwise flat reading experience.

I also found myself hesitating over the perspective. When an author from a wealthy background writes about financial struggle, there’s always a risk it feels more like performance than lived understanding. Here, that distance occasionally shows, making parts of Atlas’s experience feel less authentic than they could have been.

Overall, Lucien has the bones of an intriguing story, but it never quite comes together in a satisfying or memorable way.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley & Harper Perennial for the audiobook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

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