Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Atmosphere

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

166 reviews

bmpicc's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

LGBTQIA+, coming of age (later in life), mainly romance with a hint of space.

Even though the ending wasn't a surprise for this reader, it brought me to tears. **Awkwardly at the circulation desk, but hopefully I didn't scare any library friends away!**

Why 4 stars? I could have used less Barb. If you've read it, you'll understand.

"To look up at the nighttime sky is to become a part of a long line of people throughout human history who looked above at the same set of stars. It is to witness time unfolding."

Content Warnings

spindere11a's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

Fucking WOW.
Never in my life have I read a story more simultaneously heartbreaking AND heartwarming, but also empowering (and also funny..,ASCANS 🤣)
Perfect. 💜

(But…
How can 1984 *possibly* be *historical fiction* ?! 😭 That’s even worse than hearing Nirvana on a Classic Rock music station LOL)

Content Warnings

mmccombs's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Cheesy as hell but I loved pretty much every moment of it! Astronauts, lesbians, a historical setting, what more could a girl want?! I really enjoyed these characters and their chemistry had me giggling and kicking my feet, it was swoony and silly and fun. The NASA component was also exciting and adding that extra layer of plot to keep me hooked. The audiobook was fantastic and added a lot to the experience, the prose was definitely served well by it. While predictable and sometimes over sweet, I had a thoroughly good time and counted down the minutes until I could get back to reading it again.

Content Warnings

lolajh's review against another edition

3.0

emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I was really excited to read this book and explore the crossover of not only a lesbian romance but also being female astronauts in the 80s, but I feel like both of these concepts ended up feeling half-baked. The romance was definitely more focused on, which took away a lot of individuality from the two main characters in regards to their career and what is communicated to be their dreams. Constant time skips trying to squeeze four years worth into a relatively short book I feel skipped over so many important things in the development of both Joan and Vanessa’s careers as well as their romance that made both aspects feel half-assed.

I think especially going back and forth from 1980 to 1984 and skipping a lot to eventually catch up with the latter timeline messed with the flow of reading this. So many things were glossed over and there wasn’t a natural development from either of the characters, only mentioning core points in their relationship like them getting into severe verbal arguments,

and when they each get hired for their respective space shuttle missions, the lead up to them is ruined a bit by making it explicit at the beginning of the book that they end up getting their dreams of going to space. This could have been fine if there was just more content provided about it, especially Joan’s mission which was hardly even a chapter and it was just her throwing up all the time. We also never see these characters individual from the other, apart from the first half of the book where it’s leading up to Joan discovering she’s a lesbian. When they get together, even apart they always overtake each other’s minds in both characters’ perspectives, which was very distracting especially in pivotal moments like them actually getting to go to space!

I felt like the second half of the book remained basically the same until the end.

Joan and Vanessa are together but a secret, they go on their missions and remain a secret, and then it ends. The only thing that changes between them is development with Frances, who Vanessa gradually becomes attached to and Joan ends up basically adopting. I thought this plot point was a really nice touch to the story and the only thing really properly finalised by the end, except it’s unknown if Vanessa would end up having a bigger part to play if the pair of them moved in or told Frances they were dating. Joan and Vanessa’s actual relationship was not finalised. They were still together by the end but kind of still a secret and there was no pivotal moment in the book where the workplace explicitly found out about them and some accepted them and some didn’t, which I think would’ve showed a good test of characters among the side cast as well as a show of resilience to Joan and Vanessa, possibly causing for more delving into the sexism and homophobia of the workplace and their relationship becoming a sort of turning point perhaps. Nothing really changed upon the ending, and that’s what’s stumped me.

It’s also very difficult for me to not compare this to the author’s other works like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. That book blended the romance and outer world and plot so perfectly, and when this is practically a remake with lesbian romance among coworkers that received a much different development throughout their stories, it’s hard to not rate this book as subpar compared to Evelyn and Celia’s story. The passion and complex inner character of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was missing from this book’s plot and main characters, and I think it could’ve been fixed merely with just more time spent with the characters. Not skipping as much across time and rushing the story, making it longer, not having to squeeze four years into one book. When it’s known that the author can write such beautifully complex and passionate stories across time skips that flowed a lot better than Atmosphere, it’s hard not to be a bit disappointed.

Content Warnings

afrenette's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

rhyme_not_reason's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

chl0b1's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

TJR does it again. A captivating story of two incredibly unique, driven women, as they navigate NASA’s space shuttle program and into the atmosphere. What an amazing idea for a book and so, so well executed. Throughout this, you can tell just how much time, thought and research has gone into this book - a LOT. These characters are so lovable and flawed. I loved that we flipped between two timelines as we discovered more about the characters and how their relationship developed. The tension built up so beautifully, and the love story was so brilliantly and beautifully told. It had me laughing out loud and sobbing in equal measure. I absolutely loved it ❤️

Content Warnings