Taylor Jenkins Reid does it again! I’ll read anything she writes because her stories never fail to evoke that perfect blend of nostalgia and emotional depth.

Atmosphere is a stunning novel that follows the love story of two astronauts in the 1980s—intimate, expansive, and beautifully rendered. There are scenes that will absolutely choke you up (older Millennials, did anyone else flash back to Armageddon?).

The timing of the release during Pride Month feels especially meaningful, as the story thoughtfully weaves themes of identity and love into its powerful narrative.

TJR fans will not be disappointed—this one is another standout.

TJR does it again! I couldn’t get enough of this book and its characters. Reid is a mastermind at interesting character development, as well as writing about topics I have little knowledge on, and then wanting to dive headfirst into that time period/topic. 1980s NASA was an interesting setting & time period, but the way the affected the love story was my favorite part. Forever singing TJR’s praises, and recommending this to students and friends alike!

I truly felt all the feelings in this book and I loved it! I started out thinking I was just going to read about how strong women were able to join NASA but it was so much more. Joan Goodwin is the main character, an astronomer and professor who has a hard time breaking into the all boys club at her university when she is told that NASA is looking for women to join the astronaut group. When she is eventually admitted to the training crew we get an inside look at the comradery and competition that is rampant in such a charged institution.

There are personal relationships and professional tragedies that resonate with all the astronauts along with sexism and struggles that affect Joan and the other women. I admit that in the beginning I wouldn't have predicted a lesbian love interest but it was handled so well that I hope it won't turn off some readers. I felt a little about the astronauts like I would about the military, that these people become your family and you have to depend on them for your survival.

I can't say enough about hoe beautifully this book is written, we are transported to space and back to earth, we are brought high and then brought to tears, many tears.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I think Taylor Jenkins Reid has actually outdone herself- this may be her best yet! It's suspenseful and tragic and beautifully written. Anyone who reads this will fall in love with Joan and Vanessa.

Taylor Jenkins Reid is an auto-buy author for me. No matter what she writes, I’ll read it. I won’t always love it, but I’ll always give it a chance. I wasn’t really sure what to expect with this one, especially since I didn’t enjoy Carrie Soto. But I loved her other books, so I gave it a chance. I ended up being very surprised by how much I liked this!

The story follows Joan Goodwin, a quiet and brilliant physics professor who’s always looked to the stars but never imagined she could actually reach them, until she sees a NASA ad recruiting women for the Space Shuttle program. Joan joins a group of diverse, fascinating candidates to train at Johnson Space Center in 1980, forming strong bonds and finding a sense of purpose, and even love, along the way. But everything changes during a mission in 1984, setting off a chain of events that forces Joan to reexamine everything she thought she knew about herself and her place in the world.

The beginning was a bit overwhelming because so much was happening. I also wasn’t expecting the timeline to shift between the present and the past. It threw me off a bit, and I had a hard time focusing at first with the sudden switch to the past and all the technical terms being thrown around. Plus, I really, REALLY wanted to know what was going on in the future timeline. It felt like the book gave us a huge cliffhanger right at the start! But as the story progressed, I found myself getting more and more invested in the past timeline.

I loved all of the characters, except Barbara. She can go kick rocks. But everyone else was amazing, and I was rooting for all of them. TJR is just so good at creating characters you care about and stories that pull you in. I absolutely loved Joan and Francis’s relationship. I genuinely cared about what happened to Francis and found myself getting so frustrated whenever Barbara acted like a fool. Joan’s relationship with the other astronauts was also really great. She wasn’t competing with them. She was part of the team, and she showed up for them when it mattered.

And the romance? So well done. It was believable, beautiful, and genuinely moving. It never felt forced or super dramatic. It just unfolded naturally, and you could really feel the love between them. Their connection had so much depth, and it added an extra layer of emotion to the story that I wasn’t expecting.

The end had me crying a bit. It was emotional in the best way, so honest and real. I didn’t expect to be so affected by it, but it got me. This one really surprised me, and I’m so glad I gave it a chance. TJR just knows how to hit you right in the heart when you least expect it.

If you’re a fan of character-driven stories with emotional depth, strong relationships, and just the right touch of romance then definitely give this one a read. It’s not flashy, but it’s powerful in a quiet, beautiful way. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while.

Thank you so much to the publisher, NetGalley and the author for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

When I see Taylor Jenkins Reid I know I'm about to have my heart ripped out and then she will give me a warm hug. I loved it! I was waiting to see Mick Riva was one of the astronauts. This was a book about family sacrifice and ambition. it was a slow burn but the last 25% was everything I needed.

Another absolute must read from Taylor Jenkins Reid, which isn't a surprise. She should be an auto buy/must read author for everyone at this point, and the fact that she keeps churning out wonderfully written, engaging novels further cements her status.

I laughed, I cried, I loved it.

Loved everything about this book, OF COURSE!

Awesome beach read, I devoured it in one sitting by the pool.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC which I received in exchange for this honest review.

I was not expecting a Taylor Jenkins Reid novel to start off by giving me The Martian vibes, but I am *not* complaining. The situation in the space shuttle is used more as a framing device to the rest of the story than as a main plot point, but the tension of it was a great start to the book regardless. If you're expecting a nonstop thrill ride, though, that's not what this book is. Atmosphere is still very much a thoughtful character study and romance. It's also an exploration of what life was like during a specific moment in time in the 1970s and 80s: for queer people, for women, and for people working on the space shuttle program at NASA. I loved Joan as a character, and the way her relationship developed with not only Vanessa, her love interest, but also her other fellow astronauts including Griff and Lydia was really beautifully done. This book will appeal to so many people from fans of historical fiction to romance readers. It's Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best.

While this was a fun summer read, it was not as engaging as her previous novels. I felt like it was a bit rushed at times.

The latest from Jenkins is a TOTAL TRIUMPH. Shooting for the stars literally and succeeding. Her characters always pop off the page, but Joan and Vanessa are so realized and human,the love crackles, and tears were shed. No wonder this will continue to be the book of the summer.

TJR is an auto-buy, must read for me and this was no disappointment. Very few authors write about human nature, ambition, or love with as much nuance and compassion. Also, as someone who's always preferred to have their feet on the ground, I have a new appreciation for the sky.

I’m crying in the club right now. TJR has done it again!!!! I was so excited to see a new book from her and it did not disappoint. I love seeing her branch out from her Hollywood centric books even though I adore those. This was just too good.

Do I have a new favorite TJR book? Why yes. Yes, I do. Once again TJR has proven herself to be the undisputed queen of writing strong, complex female characters. This book is not just a love story between two women. It's a love story to all women, and the choices we make to get where we want to be. It's a love letter to space, to Sally Ride and all those who have gone before. And it's a love story to curiosity and knowledge, to the perseverance of the human spirit. And it is really f*cking beautiful. I know it's only June, but I'm calling it- this will be one of my top reads of the year.

DNF- just couldn't get into it. I may finish at another time, but just not the right book at the right time

I was fortunate to hear Reid speak about ATMOSPHERE before the release. She discussed the extensive research she conducted to write the book. As she says, she may not be completely accurate in all areas, but she creates a wonderful story.

I am not necessarily a fan of books related to astronauts and space, but this was so much more. It was a story about the relationships and the connections the groups of astronauts build as their teams are developed through their training, as well as romantic pairings, whether conventional or unconventional for the time.

I highly recommend ATMOSPHERE for fans of Reids, as well as fans of character-driven narratives, emotional depth, and building relationships. I believe fans of Jodi Picoult, Liane Moriarty, and Celeste Ng.

While it took a bit of time to get into the flow of the story, by the end Atmosphere had me tearing up. Joan's journey and growth throughout these pages was inspiring and I truly enjoyed my time reading.

surprise, surprise Taylor Jenkins Reid has done it again.

There’s not much I care less about than outer space. I understand absolutely nothing about it and you couldn’t pay me a billion dollars to get in one of those silly billionaires’ space shuttles. As a result, I was a little apprehensive about reading this tbh.

I started ATMOSPHERE two full weeks ago and was immediately overwhelmed with all the capital letters (“CAPCOM”, “STS-LR9”, “EECOM”) but I am very fond of the capital letters “TJR”, so like the brave astronauts in the book I gladly accepted my challenging mission and kept on trekking. It definitely started off a little stale (for me!) and I took quite a few breaks in the first 15ish percent. Thankfully, the daunting foreshadowing propelled me forward and as soon as I got to know the characters (and was able to keep them organized in my head) I truly fell in love with them and their story.

You’ll see a million lovely reviews for this buzzy book (if you haven’t already) and I don’t have anything profound to add to the conversation. I’ll just say this: have some tissues ready. It took me so long to read this solely because I knew the ugly crying was imminent and had to plan accordingly.

editing this to add: I can’t believe I forgot to mention quite possibly my favorite part of the entire book!!!! The relationship between Joan and her niece Frances absolutely melted my heart. I love my own nieces more than anything in this world and reading TJR’s flawlessly written words about this bond was so special to me.

And finally, I’ll stop talking and end with a quote from my littlest niece: “girl power is the best!”

A 2025 favorite, for sure!!

🏆CARRIE SOTO and EVELYN HUGO are tied as my TJR faves but ATMOSPHERE is definitely in the top three!

Thank you to Ballantine and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

TJR masterfully combined space exploration history with romance and somehow didn’t make it cheesy. Set in the 1980’s, Joan Goodwin is one of the first female engineers accepted to the NASA Space Shuttle program. As she goes through the program’s extensive training program, she grows closer to her astronaut cohorts. This includes Vanessa Ford who she finds she can finally be herself with. This discovery comes with pain as Joan feels she can’t achieve her dreams without losing the love of her life. Then there is her niece Frances who she helps raise amid a complicated relationship with her sister Barbara who is the young girl’s mother. When disaster strikes on a mission that Vanessa and Joan have essential roles in, both women and the rest of their crew learn the true risk of space exploration for themselves.

From the author’s note at the beginning to the story’s suspenseful ending, I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. TJR describes the work of NASA in an accessible way and doesn’t sugarcoat its intensity. Vanessa and Joan’s relationship was heartfelt and heart-wrenching as they were two government-employed women in love before the turn of the century. This book and the feelings they evoked will stay with me for a long time.

A little bonus for me was TJR’s subtle nod to our alma mater, Emerson College!

How does Taylor Jenkins Reid blow it out of the water on every single book?? Every book has such a different premise and they are all perfection. Five stars!