The Atmospherians is predicated on the hyperreal: the performance of masculinity, the construction of virtual identities, the signification of wokeness. Alex McElroy’s debut novel is the wicked satire we wish didn’t look so horribly familiar after closing the book, a brutal look at the absurdities and contradictions of contemporary life.

Sasha Marcus is a disgraced social media influencer who is totally #canceled. Dyson is her long-time best friend, a failed actor who struggles with bulimia. Together, they form The Atmosphere: a cult dedicated to reforming problematic white men in a world plagued by “man hordes.” Things, as they often do, go wrong.

The novel works for me because it resists simplification. Although the actual narrative events are impressive in execution, more enthralling to me was McElroy’s own commentary on this cultural moment, which is wickedly satirical and self-aware.

The Atmospherians by Alex McElroy manages to be both completely serious and completely funny at the same time, the same sentence. What a delight to read. It’s very good at threading a path between the serious and the satirical and the narrative voice rollicks forward. It’s perfect that Mat Johnson has blurbed this novel—like his work it’s in that rare category of satire that uplifts the reader instead of leaving her drowning in a pool of nihilistic cynical despair. Lovely.

This is a book that people will adore or completely give up on. I'm not quite in the latter, but I only stuck with it because it was for Netgalley. The writing is good and the premise is used well, but I just couldn't put myself into the world. Is toxic masculinity out of control? Oh definitely, yes. Would the entire world turn on a celebrity because someone who was openly harassing her committed suicide just because he said it was her fault...? I really, really doubt it. And the idea of man hordes seemed like something out of Stephen King (or Monty Python). Too ridiculous to be scary or taken seriously.

People will (and do, judging by the other reviews!) love this book. But it's definitely not going to be a sure-thing.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After Sasha's life falls apart following a social media distance, she and her high school friend Dyson decide to start a cult to combat toxic masculinity.

I was offered this ARC by the publisher, apparently based on some other book I had read. I was on the fence about accepting it because I read every book I download and I wish I had passed. This one sat for months before I finally got around to reading it. It just wasn't my thing. I skimmed the last 25% because I was checked out. I am giving it a 3 because I don't think it a horrible book, I just think I didn't get it.

2.5

From the book blurb I thought this was a book I was going to love. Cults, social media, wellness, wokeness, and toxic masculinity? The tech world as its own cult? Count me in! But it ended up falling flat to me and I’m not sure why. I didn’t connect with it and days later I don't have much to say about it. The ending was underwhelming and the change in narrator annoyed me. I think this book was trying for too much (I get that it’s satire) and didn’t leave enough room for anything to breathe or land.

Thank you Atria for the ARC.

THE ATMOSPHERIANS by Alex McElroy is a witty debut novel! The main character, Sasha, a disgraced influencer helps her childhood friend Dyson start a cult called The Atmosphere. Right away I loved the unique premise and the super contemporary setting and situations in this book. There were several really funny parts that made me LOL. This book speaks to several relevant issues of our current times such as toxic masculinity, performative culture and self preservation in the public sphere. I really enjoyed this novel and I’m excited to read more by McElroy in the future!
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Thank you to Atria Books via NetGalley for my advance review copy!

Sasha and Dyson, who have failed in their previous choices in life, establish a "camp" to help men relieve themselves of their toxic masculinity. In order to accept this premise, the reader has to buy into the fact that there is a pandemic of toxicity, which I had a hard time wrapping my head around. Still, there was some very good writing here, some hilarious moments, but when the narration switches from first to third person, my attention began to wane. Wish I'd liked it more.

4.5 This book surprised me, I was worried that it would be too outrageous to be believable but it was the best of a satire and a commentary on modern culture with characters, i cared about and rooted for. a smart book that leaves you questioning your assumptions. worth the read

I had difficulty finishing this book - overall, my expectations were not at all consistent with what this turned out to be. I was expecting some thing funny and interpreted satirical to mean “light but with deep meaning.” In actuality, this was an incredibly dark book, touching on topics that I simply wasn’t prepared for it to tackle. It definitely was written well and I don’t think it’s a bad book, it just wasn’t for me and I would caution reader to its darkness and recommend more focus on that in it’s marketing.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

McElroy's The Atmospherians is a terrifying and humorous glimpse into a cult whose aim is to reform men away from the toxic masculinity they have learned to perform. Sasha is a former wellness influencer whose career was undone when one of her online trolls commits suicide. With no job prospects, no family to rely on, and her abandonment by her now ex-boyfriend and best friend, Sasha is left with nowhere to go until her childhood friend Dyson arrives with an idea to start a cult. A tense and tongue and cheek analysis of the worlds of social media, marketing, fame, capitalism, and masculinity.

The Atmospherians is a dark satire centered on toxic masculinity, beauty, and social media.
Sasha was doing well for herself as an influencer with her Instagram page, Abandon. It doesn't last long, and Sasha becomes a pariah and faces public humiliation for a social media troll's death. She hides away in her apartment, and all of her friends, and even, her boyfriend stops taking her calls. They don't want to ruin their social media reputations associated with her.
After months of hiding from protestors, Dyson, her childhood friend, comes to her with an offer to start a cult. With not much to go on, she accepts and enters the world of helping Dyson rehabilitate men. The two of them create the Atmosphere at an abandoned summer camp in rural New Jersey. It's not the best circumstances for Sasha to help Dyson take in men with questionable and violent backgrounds. However, she understands Dyson's need to recompense for the neglect and abuse from his father.
By creating this space, can Dyson rehabilitate these men to make up for what happened to him? Can Sasha make the world safer for women against harassers?
Overall, The Atmospherians is witty and disconcerting. There are moments of extreme violence and bodily harm. The point being, harmful messages of beauty standards are dangerous. Moreover, it's a warning of how men's harmful actions continue to plague society.
Alex McElroy (They/Them) created a unique storyline that will have you thinking about The Atmospherians much longer after reading it.

3.5 stars. The Atmospherians is a satire of a cult, but also deals with themes of mob mentality, social media presence, and masculine toxicity. The novel tells the story of Sasha and Dyson, friends since elementary school. Dyson is a failed actor, never making it past "atmosphere" parts - blending into the background. Sasha is a disgraced social media influencer. Dyson suggests they start a cult to reform men, and very few things as planned.

"Sasha Marcus was once the epitome of contemporary success: an internet sensation, social media darling, and a creator of a high profile wellness brand for women. But a confrontation with an abusive troll has taken a horrifying turn, and now she’s at rock bottom: canceled and doxxed online, fired from her waitress job and fortressed in her apartment while men’s rights protestors rage outside. All that once glittered now condemns.

Sasha confides in her oldest childhood friend, Dyson—a failed actor with a history of body issues—who hatches a plan for Sasha to restore her reputation by becoming the face of his new business venture, The Atmosphere: a rehabilitation community for men. Based in an abandoned summer camp and billed as a workshop for job training, it is actually a rigorous program designed to rid men of their toxic masculinity and heal them physically, emotionally, and socially. Sasha has little choice but to accept. But what horrors await her as the resident female leader of a crew of washed up, desperate men? And what exactly does Dyson want?"

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Atmospherians is really good. At the core of it this book is about starting a cult but it has layers and layers of satire. It satirises influencers, wellness culture, male responsibility and attitudes, internet trolling and cancel culture. The description makes it sound a bit like (brace yourself for a horrid term) “chick lit”, and this does the book a disservice because it is, in my opinion, a nuanced and dark work of literary fiction. The writing is consistently great, the characters nuanced and interesting, and the story propulsive. I wished that man hordes had been explored more, I think that a whole book could be written just on this idea that men are subject to shared compulsive behavior, almost shared delusional thinking. They might compulsively was someone’s car for hours or they might kill a beloved pet and they have no memory of the event. I considered that this might be happening because some men have had their toxic male identity so undermined by e.g., me too, that they have all this pent up energy with nowhere to go, so much so that it unconsciously seeps out in a sort of tandem testosterone groupthink. No explanation is really given in the book and I’d love to hear McElroy’s thinking on this. Overall though, I really enjoyed this and would absolutely recommend it to anyone that likes dark and smart stories with a science fiction edge.

So this girl after being sexually harassed by a random dude who thinks that just because she posts most of her life online it is okay be abusive. One moment of weakness made her post a reply to this abusive creep on Instagram where she might have said something like “world would be better place without you”. I’m not supportive of that behavior and tone, but imagine the level of harassment she was facing. Days later this dude committed suicide blaming her for his end. That’s when Sasha’s life turned into a living hell. Because suddenly the abuser, the flag bearer of white man, turn into a martyr and other white men started to Harris her more and more. Friends and family were acting no different than middle aged white males.

One day, her best friend decided to save her from her misery and asked her to join him on a mission to create a cult that was supposed to save men from themselves. Sasha found herself in the middle of very men she was running away from. You heard about all the other cults: how they fail miserably at the end. This cult faced the same thing and Sasha found herself in the hands of another cult that used her past to make her a poster child. Thankfully it stopped before it could do more damage. Sasha ended up coming best to her OG cult, but this time tables were turned...

Sasha created something no one could bring down. She appeared to go back to herself before the incident, but the big question is “was this what she wanted”. If you are into millennial drama with contemporary themes, you might enjoy this one. After all, we are all part of a cult one way or the way in these days. Only thing is they might be called cults...

Are we at peek satire novel yet? I feel like it is such a fine line to walk and few books do it well. Too big and it's a farce, too subtle and it's not believable and you are left wondering if it is satire or not. This one mostly hits the mark. It's another book about social media fall out so it seems fairly topical. Add in cults and you feel like someone shook a bunch of hot topics in a hat and drew out a bunch. That said, it was a compelling book and you did keep wondering what Sasha was going to do next.

I was interested in the synopsis but aster the third chapter I had serious doubts about the book. I just couldn’t interest myself in the characters or the plot. It wasn’t funny or engaging or interesting. I finished the book, but it fell flat for me. This book is not my cup of tea.

What a fascinating book. I was impressed by the storyline and the characters were all well written and complex. Where there are complex storylines combined with intriguing characters the reader experience is magnified tremendously. To have a book that is well written as well as entertaining is a delight. Reading is about escaping your world and entering another one. Here I forgot about my own life and was immersed in the world created by the author. I would recommend this book.

What a wild, weird, and absolutely memorable story. Definitely worth a second, third, fourth read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Alex McElroy for allowing me an ARC of their debut novel. Will definitely be purchasing a physical copy when it comes out.

I REALLY enjoyed this book. In the age of social media, influencers, and cancel culture, this one hits on so many topics including the consequences of online bullying, eating disorders, suicide, masculinity, and acknowledgement of white privilege in very interesting ways. Most of the characters were pretty infuriating and some of the topics were kind of insane, but McElroy expertly weaved flashbacks, gurus, cult life, and self-development into a semi-dystopian masterpiece. Highly recommend this one to social media junkies, those interested in cults, and anyone with an open mind about the inevitability of the path we’re on in this country.
TW: EDs & suicide

A dystopian novel of being canceled. Written before it was a badge of honor to be canceled by the do gooders of social media. Funny, witty, and a page turner all so true today. Timely and recommended.