Reviews - Atmosphere | The StoryGraph

You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

20.3k reviews for:

Atmosphere

Taylor Jenkins Reid

4.54 AVERAGE

alison22's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring tense 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: Yes

treed1114's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous emotional medium-paced

astorycollector's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

sharing's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

kellylhaslam'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: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I really enjoyed this book, and it's probably the best thing I've read this year. What I love more than anything in a good story is when it makes me feel things. I was deeply moved, inspired, and uplifted by this story and its characters. In addition, the book featured strong character development as well as hyper-suspenseful moments both at the beginning and end. So, I felt the novel was very well-rounded and offered a lot to the reader.

The backdrop of the story is NASA in the late 70s and early 80s. There is a whole cast of characters but there are two female astronauts (Joan and Vanessa) who are featured prominently. They develop a relationship that slowly evolves into something deeper. Reid's skillful writing is to be applauded. This love story was so beautiful and tenderhearted that it can be appreciated regardless of one's sexual identity. In addition, Reid captures all the nuances of coming to understand and become aware of one's sexual identity as well as the flavors of the time period when concealment was easiest, expected, and even required.

Joan's niece (Frances) was another significant character in the story. At times, I wondered about the relevance of her inclusion in the story, but it offered an interesting non-NASA storyline and also had an interesting development towards the end. I was again very moved by what transpired. This would not have been possible without the methodical storybuilding and investment in character development.

Overall, I found this to be such a triumphant and heartfelt read. There were certainly exciting moments, but I was perhaps most drawn to the strong and fully developed characters, as well as the emotionally smart and vulnerable writing of Reid. On top of that, the novel touched on the magic and beauty of the universe and our meaningful place within it.