Atmosphere: A GMA Book Club Pick: A Love Story
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • From the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six comes an epic new novel set against the backdrop of the 1980s space shuttle program about the extraordinary lengths we go to live and love beyond our limits.
The stunning hardcover of Atmosphere features beautiful endpapers and a premium dust jacket!
“Thrilling . . . heartbreaking . . . uplifting . . . the fast-paced, emotionally charged story of one ambitious young woman, finding both her voice and her passion.”—Kristin Hannah, author of The Women
“NASA? Space missions? The ’80s? This is a collection of all the things I love.”—Andy Weir, author of Project Hail Mary and The Martian
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time, NPR, People, Good Housekeeping, them, Marie Claire, Elle, Seattle Times, Book Riot, Library Journal, Chicago Public Library, She Reads, Denver Public Library
Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s space shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space.
Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, who are kind and easygoing even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warmhearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane.
As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined. In this new light, Joan begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe.
Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, it all changes in an instant.
Fast-paced, thrilling, and emotional, Atmosphere is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best: transporting readers to iconic times and places, creating complex protagonists, and telling a passionate and soaring story about the transformative power of love—this time among the stars.
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Readers say *Atmosphere* offers an immersive, emotional love story set against a nostalgic 1980s NASA backdrop, highlighting women breaking barriers i...
⭐️ Wow. This was bad.
Unpopular opinion here, such has been my theme for the 'trending' reads last few years, but I am a little appalled with this one.
I had high hopes: a scene set in 1980s, love story, women in space and NASA. I was excited to see how this scene was set and only 15 pages in I was going, "wait, what?"
The space, astrology, astronaut bit was way overdone. This is a complex topic, but I fear that the author's lack of knowledge in this area shone through in her writing. Yet, also, the jargon was WAY overdone at the same time? Half the time I was reading I felt myself skimming over the formalities because it was just...too much. It took away from the actual storyline rather than adding to it, and I was mentally bogged down by all the extra details that didn't propel the story along: constellations, the color of the earth, how the spaceships worked, etc.
Also. Unpopular take...why were Frances and Barbra even a thing? I understand the relationship between Fran and Joan was intended to add dimension to Joan's character, but it fell flat for me. Barb was probably the 'best' fleshed out character in this whole thing, which says a lot since she is the worst person in the book. But even the trope of "aunt wants the niece and her incompetent sister who thinks the world owes her something is the mom she never wanted to be" just felt "blah" to me.
And, I have to come right out and say it that; this was not well marketed to be a sapphic romance. Same sex couplings are not my thing, though I still came into this with having a shred of hope. I read another sapphic romance earlier this year (Priory of the Orange Tree) and enjoyed it well enough for what it WAS: an adventure story with complex characters, dynamics, and lore that did not rely solely on the fact the MFC were in love. I cannot say the same for this book. I feel as if the author was pushing agendas on the reader with how individuals "like them"( 'people like us' was used a LOT in this book rather than being upfront with saying 'we're gay') are segregated against, sexism in the workplace with random side characters like Jimmy, and conversations about God and religion and a bunch of other things that fell short on me. Now, I tried to rationalize this down to the fact the story is set in the 80s, so obviously times were different. But I just fear that I was not the intended audience for this sort of approach to complex topics like these.
Furthermore, the whole 'gay' bit was all that we talked about. Joan's internal monologues about Vanessa were pages long and very repetitive, and she had her gay awakening at a strip club of all places. And we somehow had to know that she gets hives when she gets excited. I just felt so detached from her as the main character that it all just felt...annoying.
And I have to come right out and say it: the other space crew members dying had no emotional impact on me. Starting the story with this scene was a bold move, and intended to be more emotive once we got their individual backstories. But they were BORING. We know Lydia is a superficial, 'misunderstood' egotistical bitch, there's a Texan cowboy, and a misinterpreted male love interest that has rejection being his only calling card. And that's all I know. And, conveniently, Lydia, the only other female aside from Joan and Vanessa, lives to see the end. And I don't see the value in that since we never got an epilogue that validates her redemption arc after learning Vanessa sacrificed her literal job at NASA to save her.
And I have to say this too, and don't hate me for it. Vanessa and Joan should have ACTUALLY broken up and Vanessa should've died in the end. Having a morbid and tragic ending would have made this whole story so much more impactful, and would have made readers have the intended reaction of "No! That isn't fair! They deserve love and happiness too and they were ROBBED of it!" Ending things the way it did felt too 'fairytale' and almost rushed. We never even got the reunion nor the confirmation that Vanessa and Joan continued living their life together.
Trivial observations were dialogues lacked depth and 'said' was way overused (a pet peeve of mine as a storyteller and writer), random side notes about strawberry shakes and PBJ sandwiches was redundant rather than endearing, the 'OG' astronauts group had to be drunk or slightly buzzed (Joan had to drink a lot of beer in order to finally realize she was attracted to women) to have any real connections or conversations, and the timelines written were not well paced. We jumped back to present day when the accident happened and then back in time 7 years preceding at an unpredictable pace, and for having Joan and Vanessa together for 3 years...they really lacked any real chemistry.
I am disappointed, as I know TJR's other books are very well recommended and her writing is a subject of continual praise in the book community. And I hate to say, being as it is this is the first book I've read by her...I doubt I will read another.
Unpopular opinion here, such has been my theme for the 'trending' reads last few years, but I am a little appalled with this one.
I had high hopes: a scene set in 1980s, love story, women in space and NASA. I was excited to see how this scene was set and only 15 pages in I was going, "wait, what?"
The space, astrology, astronaut bit was way overdone. This is a complex topic, but I fear that the author's lack of knowledge in this area shone through in her writing. Yet, also, the jargon was WAY overdone at the same time? Half the time I was reading I felt myself skimming over the formalities because it was just...too much. It took away from the actual storyline rather than adding to it, and I was mentally bogged down by all the extra details that didn't propel the story along: constellations, the color of the earth, how the spaceships worked, etc.
Also. Unpopular take...why were Frances and Barbra even a thing? I understand the relationship between Fran and Joan was intended to add dimension to Joan's character, but it fell flat for me. Barb was probably the 'best' fleshed out character in this whole thing, which says a lot since she is the worst person in the book. But even the trope of "aunt wants the niece and her incompetent sister who thinks the world owes her something is the mom she never wanted to be" just felt "blah" to me.
And, I have to come right out and say it that; this was not well marketed to be a sapphic romance. Same sex couplings are not my thing, though I still came into this with having a shred of hope. I read another sapphic romance earlier this year (Priory of the Orange Tree) and enjoyed it well enough for what it WAS: an adventure story with complex characters, dynamics, and lore that did not rely solely on the fact the MFC were in love. I cannot say the same for this book. I feel as if the author was pushing agendas on the reader with how individuals "like them"( 'people like us' was used a LOT in this book rather than being upfront with saying 'we're gay') are segregated against, sexism in the workplace with random side characters like Jimmy, and conversations about God and religion and a bunch of other things that fell short on me. Now, I tried to rationalize this down to the fact the story is set in the 80s, so obviously times were different. But I just fear that I was not the intended audience for this sort of approach to complex topics like these.
Furthermore, the whole 'gay' bit was all that we talked about. Joan's internal monologues about Vanessa were pages long and very repetitive, and she had her gay awakening at a strip club of all places. And we somehow had to know that she gets hives when she gets excited. I just felt so detached from her as the main character that it all just felt...annoying.
And I have to come right out and say it: the other space crew members dying had no emotional impact on me. Starting the story with this scene was a bold move, and intended to be more emotive once we got their individual backstories. But they were BORING. We know Lydia is a superficial, 'misunderstood' egotistical bitch, there's a Texan cowboy, and a misinterpreted male love interest that has rejection being his only calling card. And that's all I know. And, conveniently, Lydia, the only other female aside from Joan and Vanessa, lives to see the end. And I don't see the value in that since we never got an epilogue that validates her redemption arc after learning Vanessa sacrificed her literal job at NASA to save her.
And I have to say this too, and don't hate me for it. Vanessa and Joan should have ACTUALLY broken up and Vanessa should've died in the end. Having a morbid and tragic ending would have made this whole story so much more impactful, and would have made readers have the intended reaction of "No! That isn't fair! They deserve love and happiness too and they were ROBBED of it!" Ending things the way it did felt too 'fairytale' and almost rushed. We never even got the reunion nor the confirmation that Vanessa and Joan continued living their life together.
Trivial observations were dialogues lacked depth and 'said' was way overused (a pet peeve of mine as a storyteller and writer), random side notes about strawberry shakes and PBJ sandwiches was redundant rather than endearing, the 'OG' astronauts group had to be drunk or slightly buzzed (Joan had to drink a lot of beer in order to finally realize she was attracted to women) to have any real connections or conversations, and the timelines written were not well paced. We jumped back to present day when the accident happened and then back in time 7 years preceding at an unpredictable pace, and for having Joan and Vanessa together for 3 years...they really lacked any real chemistry.
I am disappointed, as I know TJR's other books are very well recommended and her writing is a subject of continual praise in the book community. And I hate to say, being as it is this is the first book I've read by her...I doubt I will read another.
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