Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid is everything I want in a historical fiction: emotional, empowering, and absolutely unforgettable.
Set in the 1980s, this story follows Joan, a woman who has always looked to the stars with wonder and ambition. When NASA opens its doors to female candidates, Joan seizes the opportunity and begins the grueling training to become one of the first women astronauts in history. Along the way, she finds a new kind of family among her fellow trainees and falls into a love she never expected… or was told she shouldn’t want.
TJR is a master of character development, and Atmosphere is no exception. Each character feels lived-in and real, and Joan’s journey, from quiet dreamer to strong, self-assured woman, is beautifully done. The 1980s setting is so vivid, and the challenges Joan faces as a woman in a male-dominated field, as well as someone learning to love authentically, are portrayed with nuance and care.
I especially loved the emotional complexity between Joan and her sister, Barbara. Barbara’s selfishness and abandonment of her own daughter, Frances, made my blood boil, but it made Joan’s eventual confrontation with her all the more satisfying. That moment of Joan standing her ground? POWERFUL.
The last 10% of the book had me absolutely breathless! I was on the edge of my seat, flipping pages as fast as I could. I laughed, I sobbed, and I felt everything in between. Atmosphere is a stunning, heartfelt story of resilience, love, and chasing the stars, literally and figuratively.
Highly recommend this one to fans of character-driven historical fiction with heart.
Thank you to NetGalley, Random House and TJR for the eARC!
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Blurb:
From the #1 New York Times bestselling 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.
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 easy-going even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warm-hearted 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, everything changes in an instant.
Fast-paced, thrilling, and emotional, Atmosphere is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best: transporting readers to iconic times and places, with complex protagonists, telling a passionate and soaring story about the transformative power of love, this time among the stars.
XOXO,
Jessica 💋
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
To be Published: June 3, 2025
Genres: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Romance
Pages: 352
Rating: 5 Stars
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