Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid ARC from PRH Audio and Netgalley for an honest review
Book Blurb:
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.
My Review: 4.5 stars
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid took me on a ride through space, a ton of educational information and a whole lot of drama. I’m going to be honest; I was pretty meh about TJR’s last few books and was hesitant to read this at first. But dang, I’m so glad I did. How could I pass up a story about a woman in space! I absolutely loved this atmospheric (no pun intended) and immersive novel.
Joan Goodwin, the responsible sister has only dreamt of the stars but when her sister heard an ad that NASA was looking for scientists, physicists, pilots and more, she made a move. Joan finally found her people while at NASA and this mixed bag of astronauts became found family. With an unreliable sister who takes a backseat to parenting her own daughter, Joan takes the lead and has a fantastic relationship with Frances. I loved their aunt/niece bond.
Everly single character was so well drawn. Their honesty, their smarts, their flaws and their love for science was so realistic. I loved the LBGTQ+ addition in this book because it didn’t feel like the author was instructed to add an LBGTQ+, it just seems so right! There were a few love stories brewing which was an added bonus I didn’t expect.
This book reads very quickly and kept me invested and compelled to learn more about space.
Quotes I liked:
Space belonged to no one, but Earth belonged to all of them.”
“Just the act of falling in love was to agree to a broken heart.”
“To look up at the nighttime sky is to become a part of a long line of people throughout human history who looked above at that same set of stars. It is to witness time unfolding.”
“I feel like I could know you forever and still be curious about what you’re going to say next.”
“Being human was such a lonely endeavor.”
