Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Not only do we get different time periods from the 40s, 60s, to 80s, but also different points of view. Manya/Molly travels into 1986 to warn her mother Anna about Chernobyl. Then the story backtracks to 1961 to Philadelphia where Molly is grappling with her adoptive parents’ secrecy regarding her birth mother Anna. Molly copes by drawing her own comic series featuring her birth mother as Atomic Anna. We learn the back story of Anna’s scientific genius back in 1938. The time travel was really interesting in that it felt like realistic fiction. When the “unified field theory” was explained in the book it actually made sense. We then find Anna searching for her granddaughter Raisa in the 80s. The long line of scientific genius within the female line of the family was so wonderful in that they each had a different area of expertise. The power of each character is made greater by the other characters. As you time travel through the pages, empathy and respect builds for all three women. This was such a nice read that felt dramatic but also fulfilling. I felt smarter by the end and the science and math discussed in the story are still an enigma to me. Atomic Anna puts a realistic yet dramatic spin to women in STEM pioneers.
dnf @ 58%
This started really strong with the prologue but as I read the succeeding chapters, everything just went downhill for me. I’m quite disappointed since the premise sounded so interesting. Three generations of women work together through time travel to stop the Chernobyl disaster? I thought I’d be hooked, and I was for a while. It was the writing the made me cave, I don’t know how to precisely describe it. This book was super easy to read, the writing was simple and this would have been something that would have worked in favor of the book for some but not to me. Yes, it was simple and it was quick, everything happened so quickly it fell flat. It was like the characterization was glossed over, the characters lacked depth and were really close to just talking heads to me. For a book that sounded so exciting, the execution was simple (maybe too simple) and it dragged. I did not find this to be a blend of scifi and family drama, it leaned more towards the latter more than anything. The science parts just breezed by. Another thing that threw me off was the dialogue, it lacked believability to me. I could say the same towards the characters’ actions and intentions (which could be pointed back to the lack of depth). Had I finished this, I probably wouldn’t have given a high rating either so I just didn’t.
What I did like but didn’t get to experience in full was how the comics were used in the story. It was a good weaving of storylines that were as of that moment, separate. I really liked the idea of this but the execution wasn’t doing it for me. I’m conflicted with whether or not I’ll come back to this, there’s a little chance. We shall see.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!
This started really strong with the prologue but as I read the succeeding chapters, everything just went downhill for me. I’m quite disappointed since the premise sounded so interesting. Three generations of women work together through time travel to stop the Chernobyl disaster? I thought I’d be hooked, and I was for a while. It was the writing the made me cave, I don’t know how to precisely describe it. This book was super easy to read, the writing was simple and this would have been something that would have worked in favor of the book for some but not to me. Yes, it was simple and it was quick, everything happened so quickly it fell flat. It was like the characterization was glossed over, the characters lacked depth and were really close to just talking heads to me. For a book that sounded so exciting, the execution was simple (maybe too simple) and it dragged. I did not find this to be a blend of scifi and family drama, it leaned more towards the latter more than anything. The science parts just breezed by. Another thing that threw me off was the dialogue, it lacked believability to me. I could say the same towards the characters’ actions and intentions (which could be pointed back to the lack of depth). Had I finished this, I probably wouldn’t have given a high rating either so I just didn’t.
What I did like but didn’t get to experience in full was how the comics were used in the story. It was a good weaving of storylines that were as of that moment, separate. I really liked the idea of this but the execution wasn’t doing it for me. I’m conflicted with whether or not I’ll come back to this, there’s a little chance. We shall see.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars