What a wild ride. Atmosphere starts like a thriller with barely enough time to buckle up before the action begins. Something goes wrong on the shuttle and our characters have to make some high pressure decisions. And then we put a pin in this setting while the story bounces back a couple of years to when these astronauts came to Houston and became a team, some of them becoming family. The tension remains strong as we flip between the two time settings, allowing the reader to catch their breath.

This is not hard science fiction, it's not science fiction at all. There's just enough technical information so you can understand the situation, but it's relayed in an approachable format and gives the reader a behind the scenes look at events we've only seen parts of.

Reader advisory- when you get towards the end, and you'll know when, give yourself some time and space to finish the book. It wrecked me and I couldn't deal with people.

Atmosphere is one of the best books I've read this year.

TJR can do no wrong! This one was a little cheesier than my overall preference (lots of space metaphors) but it was a page-turner with a show stopping ending that made it a winner. Readers won’t be disappointed if they are looking for an exciting story with a ton of heart.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing the ARC.

This book was a doozy for me. I am already an emotionally fraught person, and this book put me through the ringer. There was a lot of anxiety, and a lot of tears were shed in a lot of different ways. Happy, sad, hopeful? Honestly, I probably ran through most of the spectrum of human emotion with this book.

It is masterfully crafted. Jenkins' prose has always been well-developed and meaningful, but I love the backdrop of this story, and I love how she is able to weave in the science aspect of her main character without the story becoming overburdened by it. For someone who may not want to read about the science of space travel and Joan's experiences in the astronaut training program, I could see where they might find this story a bit of a drag in parts. But overall, I thought the inclusion of it in the story was very well done and it didn't overpower the characters or the story that was being told.

Joan is such an interesting character to me. I love how in Jenkins' books, her characters always feel real to me. It's the authenticity of her voice that really seals the deal for me. Joan is flawed and that makes her more human. The rest of the cast is equally as complex and compelling, and the reader can easily find people to root for or dislike because of their mannerisms. There is real skill in what Jenkins does in her books that make it seem like this story could happen to someone you know, and that the characters can embody the people around you, providing just another layer of making it feel real.

This book is amazing and honestly, I feel wrung out from reading it. But I wouldn't change my experience for the world.

I love TJR and this did not disappoint. It was different than some of her previous works, but in a good way. There was clearly a ton of research that went into this book on space, NASA and how the astronaut training program worked, in particular in the early 1980s. The book focuses on Joan, who becomes part of the astronaut training program. She has to learn to find herself and figure out who she is and what she wants. She also is dealing with her sister, who often dumps her daughter off on Joan as well.

There are two timelines and they do merge together at the end. At first, it was hard to keep the different characters straight (a bunch of names are introduced at the beginning) but as the book goes on, it does make more sense. I actually finished the book and then went back to read the first few chapters again and I loved it even more.

I kept wanting to read more and I thought the ending was done perfectly. I love strong female characters and this definitely had them. It was also an interesting look at how hard it was for women to enter male-dominated fields just 40 years ago.

However - unless I missed something - I did not see any Easter eggs or ties to any of TJR's previous books in this one.

Wow, this book is amazing and powerful. I loved everything about it. This is one of those books that you will always have stuck in your head. The way you start to see Joan (the main character) accept her sexuality, understand herself more as a person and the love she has for her niece is beautiful. I went through every emotion while reading this.


5 stars all day. Thank you for this arc and for this beautiful book. Everyone needs to read this. This book is the closest thing to perfection.

This is, without exaggeration, one of the most exquisitely written novels I’ve ever read. I suspected it would resonate deeply with me, but I wasn’t prepared for the emotional gravity of this story. I was in tears by the end. Taylor Jenkins Reid continues to demonstrate an extraordinary emotional intelligence and narrative mastery. I feel incredibly fortunate to have received an advance copy, and I’ll be advocating passionately for this book—it deserves nothing less.

I’m a huge TJR fan but this one did not work for me. The beginning was promising but then I just lost interest. The dual timeline ruined the pace of the story for me.
I gave it my best efforts, but I just couldn’t get into it. Very Martian-ish, but with a self discovery slant to it.

Still a huge fan, so looking forward to the next one. Have it 3 stars since the beginning was quite engaging.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5 blastoff stars

Taylor Jenkins Reid has really grown on me. She picks unique backdrops for her books and really brings them to life. This time, she has tackled women in the space industry.

We begin in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with Joan Goodwin as our strong female main character in this one. She’s an astronomy professor at Rice University. She’s picked that school so that she can be close to her niece Frances, who’s been a big part of her life since she was born. I really enjoyed this relationship in the book.

Joan starts to hear rumors that NASA wants to get women into the space program. It takes a few tries, but she’s finally accepted and wants more than anything to go to space. She trains in Houston with fellow candidates and sees the divide early – between nerds and soldiers. The pilots all have military backgrounds.

Joan has a calm, steady demeanor and really enjoys her time in Mission Control. As she continues to train, she’s finally tapped to go up on a mission. While a romance blossoms for her, life with her sister and Frances struggles. She builds strong relationships with her fellow astronauts, but there is also some friction and secrets.

The book is masterfully structured with alternating scenes of Joan leading the team in Mission Control while a disaster unfolds in space. Then, the next section goes back in time and details how Joan made it through the program.

I’m not a big science person, so I wondered if I would enjoy this one. There are not tons of detailed scientific explanations, so I wasn’t bogged down with that. This one does have the space program as a backdrop, but it is much more about human interactions, relationships, and the complexities of women entering spaces that were originally populated only by men. I applaud the tenacity of these characters!

And my rule is that if a book makes me cry, it must receive 5 stars. If I follow that rule, this book would have to get 10 stars because I ugly cried!

TJR is amazing, once again, developing deeply emotional, relatable, and loveable characters. She has a way of making readers capable of feeling so attached and invested in these character's life stories. This book was way more powerful than I anticipated it being, powerful in a thought provoking, inspirational, want to go out and kick ass now kind of way.

I love a plot around women fighting for their place in their hard earned careers - this one specifically with NASA. I began the book with little knowledge about space (honestly freaks me TF out) and ended the book very intrigued about ALL of the facets, not just the people that go into space, but the ones behind the scenes too, and she captured (what I feel were believable) emotions of that career path so well.

This is also only the third book I've cried in 0: happy tears? Sad tears? Both? I will leave that stone unturned for future readers!
It is hard not to compare TJR's books...I am a diehard DJ&T6 and T7HoEH fan forever, but this one I would give 5 stars for character development, and overall 3.5 stars because it did take until about halfway in for me to not be able to "put it down" compared to her others. It was a bit of a slow start and I wanted just a little bit more action throughout the story itself. Above all, the character development was amazing and all throughout reading, I wanted to see how their stories played out - I think that is what had a hold on me the entire book, not necessarily the storyline itself.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! I'm always excited to read anything TJR!!

Atmosphere hits so many buttons: historical fiction, space, romance, women’s equality. And yet, somehow, it never comes across as preachy or trying too hard. I loved this class of astronauts and wanted the world (and stars) for them.

I had a few minor quibbles. I am not sure that the structure of the book worked entirely in its favor. Knowing how certain events turned out prevented me from connecting with some characters in the past as much as I would have liked. Joan occasionally felt too good to exist, and Barbara too one-note villainous. Despite this, somehow, the ending hit hard enough to leave me crying in public. I didn’t want to stop reading, and I’m sad the book is over. I hope we get another book with this cast.

I really enjoyed this book about NASA's 1980s space shuttle program and felt like it truly captured the challenges and triumphs of the program and the people who worked in the field. The main character is complex and likable and the supporting characters are well developed. It's a heartfelt and moving story with plenty of well researched science for those who want to geek out and plenty of emotional depth for readers looking to connect on that level. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Random House/Ballantine for this ARC of 'Atmosphere, A Love Story' by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

As a NASA and space program enthusiast I guess I was swayed by that element of the blurb but it turned out that this was more a love story than a NASA story and I am probably not the target audience.

The NASA bits are well done and the Shuttle scenes are great but they're too few and far between. This is mostly about the relationship between the two main characters - Joan and Vanessa - and Joan's family, especially her niece and her emotionally stunted an immature sister. I'll admit to speed reading a lot of the interstitials between the action on the Shuttle.

As well as quite rightly and effectively visiting how difficult it was and remains for women to thrive in a male-dominated sector, the book serves as a really powerful reminder about how difficult it was to be a gay person in life in general but especially in military or military-adjacent careers and a salutatory warning that the very hard fought gains in LGBTQ+ equality are under attack again.

I'm sure this will be a massive bestseller but it's a romance-driven novel rather than a space-driven one.

Taylor Jenkins Reid knows how to hook you from the start! I hadn't expected a lot of things going into this book, but I wasn't disappointed with what I was met with. While it was entertaining, this book was extremely informative. I loved seeing the research coming to life through Joan. I will in fact be looking at the stars tonight! Joan was such a delicate and intricate character. Her thoughts were so original, but you could see that she was extremely vulnerable as well. She was written to be complex, yet open-faced. As the reader, I loved being in point of view because I could see some parts of myself in her. I can also see other characters such as Carrie Soto and Evelyn Hugo shining through the characters of this book. I like to think that the way they are all so connected was intentional on TJR's part. Other than informing readers about the stars, TJR did not hesitate to inform us about the struggles women faced then in the 1980s and now. She had also addressed a few more underlying issues we are currently facing in our time. I can always appreciate that about her writing. And in true TJR fashion, this book left me wanting more (as in I was bawling my eyes out during the last 15% of this novel), and I can only believe other readers will feel the same as I do.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me the privilege of reading this book.

I appreciate NetGalley for the chance to read and review Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the works by this author, with Carrie Soto is Back being my favorite. This novel tells the story of two women selected by NASA for a potential journey into space. They confront bias and stereotypes to demonstrate their capabilities and endurance required for success in outer space. The narrative centers around Joan, an astronomy professor with a lifelong passion for the stars. One of the fellow astronauts she encounters is Vanessa. Together, they discover more about themselves than they ever anticipated. The conclusion is incredible, so be ready for it!

I loved this book. The characters are well drawn and the reader cares about all of them. When tragedy strikes, it's hard not react as though these are real astronauts. The bittersweet ending is both miraculous and sad, but it's completely in line with the tone of the rest of the book.

An 80s love story set in space - “Atmosphere” is the much anticipated release from superstar Taylor Jenkins Reid.

We follow a group of astronauts on a mission in Dec. of 1984 and things go horribly wrong, creating a life or death situation.

I’ve read nearly all of TJR’s books and some of them remain my very favorite books of all time, but this one felt a little flat to me. It was still entertaining, although I think would have been more compelling with a different ending.

Wow, TJR really took us on a journey with this one! It starts off with such a wild ride and then you go back in time to see how these characters ended up where they are. There was a lot of build up and family dynamics. One thing I really appreciate about this author is her way of creating characters living and experiences relationships during the time period she writes about. There was a lot of space talk in this one so some of that was confusing for me, but I was impressed because I believe this author did so much research to make sure that the details of this were accurate. The ending took me on a wild ride. I was kinda surprised at the very end. But I did like it!

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid completely swept me away—this is easily a five-star read and one of my favorites of the year. Set against the meticulously researched backdrop of NASA’s 1980s shuttle program, the novel beautifully balances the awe of space exploration with the intimate, emotional journey of Joan Goodwin as she navigates grief, ambition, and the complexities of love and identity. I adored the nuanced relationships, especially the touching bond between Joan and her niece Frances, and the gradual, heartfelt development of Joan’s romance with Vanessa. Reid’s writing is immersive and powerful, making every character feel real and every moment resonate, from the camaraderie among the female astronauts to the raw exploration of sexism and found family. I received an ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, and I can’t recommend Atmosphere enough—it’s a moving, uplifting, and quietly thrilling story that lingers long after the final page.

Soooo good! TJR knows how to pull you in and keep you hooked. Did I want to be an astronaut when I grew up?!? Absolutely, I did! I learned so much through this book. It spoke to an inner dream of mine. I also loved the realness of the characters and all the emotions that go along with that. I was invested the entire way through. Already know it’s a top favorite for the year. 🤩

An intimate and devastatingly real love story for the ages. Atmosphere took my breath away. This book captures so much love and so much pain. Between mother and daughter, niece and aunt, colleagues, women, astronauts and the stars. Taylor Jenkins Reid does such masterfully painful job of weaving timelines to induce maximum shock and agony in her readers with this one. She really does an incredible job of encompassing all that is good in the world, and taking readers through the visceral experience of feeling what it’s like to lose it all. Atmosphere is for the space lovers, the word lovers, the love lovers, and everybody in between. This book is one that will stick with you for long after you read it, and leave you in absolute SHAMBLES while you’re doing so. It captures the devastation of prejudice and what homophobia and othering our neighbors and colleagues and family can do. “Happiness is so hard to come by. I don’t understand why anyone would begrudge anyone else for managing to find some of it.” Compassionate and powerful reads such as this one are so important in times like the ones that we are living in now, as this finding its way into the right hands has the power to quietly change minds and hearts.