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oxfordcommas91 's review for:
Atmosphere
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-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
A masterpiece that kept me absolutely hooked from start to finish. It's only June, so this feels like a bold proclamation, but I'd be surprised if I read another romance this year that stands up to Atmosphere in any meaningful way.
This book was bursting with heart and emotion from the very first page. Reid expertly crafted a space thriller inside of a story of two women falling in love against all odds. Atmosphere was political without being overtly so, and wove through the story discussions of the discrimination faced by both women and LGBTQ+ individuals at the height of NASA and the space race, no matter how skilled they were at their jobs. The story felt genuine and realistic while also having the needed element of optimism about love that is buried in every great romance.
As always, TJR's characters are rich and complex, and she really brings you along for the ride into their hearts and minds.
I also thought the plot about the action in space worked remarkably well and continued to propel the storyline along as we flipped back and forth from present day to the past, learning more about Joan, Vanessa, and all their competitors (I mean, ahem, colleagues...) at NASA. There was enough science to keep the story feeling authentic and intriguing without drowning the reader in overly complex details.
My only small qualm was that I would have preferred some sort of "tie up the loose ends" epilogue or some description of what happened to Joan and Vanessa after that explosive ending. But I also understand that TJR maybe wanted to leave it to her readers to imagine what came next, so it's not a hard knock for me.
I was personally so happy to see TJR return to queer protagonists and I will continue to shout how much I love this book from the rooftops.
This book was bursting with heart and emotion from the very first page. Reid expertly crafted a space thriller inside of a story of two women falling in love against all odds. Atmosphere was political without being overtly so, and wove through the story discussions of the discrimination faced by both women and LGBTQ+ individuals at the height of NASA and the space race, no matter how skilled they were at their jobs. The story felt genuine and realistic while also having the needed element of optimism about love that is buried in every great romance.
As always, TJR's characters are rich and complex, and she really brings you along for the ride into their hearts and minds.
I also thought the plot about the action in space worked remarkably well and continued to propel the storyline along as we flipped back and forth from present day to the past, learning more about Joan, Vanessa, and all their competitors (I mean, ahem, colleagues...) at NASA. There was enough science to keep the story feeling authentic and intriguing without drowning the reader in overly complex details.
My only small qualm was that I would have preferred some sort of "tie up the loose ends" epilogue or some description of what happened to Joan and Vanessa after that explosive ending. But I also understand that TJR maybe wanted to leave it to her readers to imagine what came next, so it's not a hard knock for me.
I was personally so happy to see TJR return to queer protagonists and I will continue to shout how much I love this book from the rooftops.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Abandonment
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Vomit, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Pregnancy