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aspineline 's review for:
Atmosphere
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ TJR is BACK! I have been so-so on her last two releases, but I loved this book. Atmosphere is a sapphic love story set in the backdrop of 1980s space program. I read somewhere that Reid called this her ‘Titanic’ and I see the comparison. Joan and Vanessa, NASA trainees, must deal with the grueling challenges of training to become astronauts along with the sexism and homophobia that was (sadly, is) rampant in the organization and the overall culture of the 80s. The story has dual timelines—one on a present day mission and one that goes back several years to tell a love story, both of romantic love and familial love.
What I loved:
🪐 I always find the punchy structure of TJR’s books to be so easy to read. I fly through her books!
🪐 The current timeline had my heart pounding. My adrenaline was sky high lol
🪐 There were religious undertones in some deeply poignant passages—they really resonated with me
🪐 TJR writes characters and character growth so well. She made me HATE Barbara (honestly FUCK her). Joan was so easy to love and root for. And Frances!!! Oh my goodness, her relationship with Joan (and the scene at the diner with the PB&J and strawberry smoothie) made me tear up.
🪐 So many wonderful descriptions of falling in love. It was beautiful (and gut punchingly heart wrenching) to read about Vanessa and Joan’s story.
I did take off half a star because there were a lot of characters thrown at the reader in the first few chapters, which I found confusing. I also skimmed some of the astronaut jargon when my eyes started to glaze over. Props to TJR for such a thoroughly researched work, however; you could tell she spent so much time to get the nuances of the program. I just personally don’t find that as interesting.
Overall I’m so happy to have read this book, especially during Pride month 🏳️🌈 I will leave you with this—
‘Happiness is so hard to come by. I don’t understand why anyone would begrudge anyone else for managing to find some of it’ 🌈
What I loved:
🪐 I always find the punchy structure of TJR’s books to be so easy to read. I fly through her books!
🪐 The current timeline had my heart pounding. My adrenaline was sky high lol
🪐 There were religious undertones in some deeply poignant passages—they really resonated with me
🪐 TJR writes characters and character growth so well. She made me HATE Barbara (honestly FUCK her). Joan was so easy to love and root for. And Frances!!! Oh my goodness, her relationship with Joan (and the scene at the diner with the PB&J and strawberry smoothie) made me tear up.
🪐 So many wonderful descriptions of falling in love. It was beautiful (and gut punchingly heart wrenching) to read about Vanessa and Joan’s story.
I did take off half a star because there were a lot of characters thrown at the reader in the first few chapters, which I found confusing. I also skimmed some of the astronaut jargon when my eyes started to glaze over. Props to TJR for such a thoroughly researched work, however; you could tell she spent so much time to get the nuances of the program. I just personally don’t find that as interesting.
Overall I’m so happy to have read this book, especially during Pride month 🏳️🌈 I will leave you with this—
‘Happiness is so hard to come by. I don’t understand why anyone would begrudge anyone else for managing to find some of it’ 🌈