✨ Review ✨ Atomic Anna by Rachel Barenbaum
This is one of my FAVORITE books I've read so far this year!

Atomic Anna centers three generations of women - Anna, her daughter Molly, and Molly's daughter Raisa - across the 20th century. From the 1910s to the 1990s, these women struggle with the meaning of family and their obligations to society as they strive to prioritize their passions (science / comics / math & engineering). When Anna discovers a mechanism to time travel, she strives to right the wrongs of her life while keeping her family safe across the century.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Historical Fiction, Family Drama
Location: USSR, Philadelphia, Berlin, Chernobyl
Pub Date: April 5, 2022

Barenbaum delivers EVERYTHING I love best in historical fiction -- badass women, multiple timelines (in this case, via time travel), global historical context (WWII, Cold War, Chernobyl, and migrant communities in the U.S.). The book weaves in ethical discussions of atomic energy, violence and revenge, and the potential dangers of scientific research alongside questions of family and parenting, gender roles, and more. I loved that it tackled WWII and the Cold War through a Soviet perspective, and through a Russian Jewish woman who certainly wasn't a Soviet diehard - this provided a fascinating, thought-provoking take on these global political conflicts from the view of a marginalized scientist.

I was hooked from the first pages of the prologue and could barely put this book down. She so brilliantly uses time travel to create a nonlinear timeline where characters cross paths and shape each other's lives in surprising ways throughout the book. While I've read books where time travel is more science-based than magic-based, this world of time travel comes with many limitations, which ramped up the intensity of the suspense within.

VERY VAGUE SPOILER BELOW....
.
.
I was a little disappointed in the ending of the book. Everything seemed tied up a little too seamlessly, and I'd have loved for a little more nuance and complexity here.
.
.

Read this if you like:
⭕️ Time-travel stories, historical fiction of the 20th century
⭕️ Badass women in STEM
⭕️ Complex multi-generational family dramas

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and #netgalley for a digital and physical copy of this book!

The idea of this book had such great potential! Time travel, saving lives, stopping the Chernobyl catastrophe, a comic book that depicts real life, and a generation of women working together to change the past.

What I got instead was a big jumble of not understanding what was going on, science and math in the time travel that wasn’t explained-I wanted more on that, a comic book that was never fully developed to enhance the story. We were given a lot of great ideas but they never quite hit home in the completion department.

I was left feeling confused most of the book. I had a hard time knowing what the goal of the stories were. I was really mad at a certain incident at the end that I’m still mad about. At the final end-I was left underwhelmed. To top it off it was much longer at 450 pages than I felt it needed to be.

I really can see a great author with some great ideas, I just needed more clarification and better direction.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for an advance e-copy in return for my honest opinion.

dnf @ 58%

This started really strong with the prologue but as I read the succeeding chapters, everything just went downhill for me. I’m quite disappointed since the premise sounded so interesting. Three generations of women work together through time travel to stop the Chernobyl disaster? I thought I’d be hooked, and I was for a while. It was the writing the made me cave, I don’t know how to precisely describe it. This book was super easy to read, the writing was simple and this would have been something that would have worked in favor of the book for some but not to me. Yes, it was simple and it was quick, everything happened so quickly it fell flat. It was like the characterization was glossed over, the characters lacked depth and were really close to just talking heads to me. For a book that sounded so exciting, the execution was simple (maybe too simple) and it dragged. I did not find this to be a blend of scifi and family drama, it leaned more towards the latter more than anything. The science parts just breezed by. Another thing that threw me off was the dialogue, it lacked believability to me. I could say the same towards the characters’ actions and intentions (which could be pointed back to the lack of depth). Had I finished this, I probably wouldn’t have given a high rating either so I just didn’t.

What I did like but didn’t get to experience in full was how the comics were used in the story. It was a good weaving of storylines that were as of that moment, separate. I really liked the idea of this but the execution wasn’t doing it for me. I’m conflicted with whether or not I’ll come back to this, there’s a little chance. We shall see.

This was such a fantastic story! Right from page you, I was completely captivated! I loved the mix of science, strong females, and family! The story is told through 3 women (and three generations), and I enjoyed the perspectives! The time travel worked so well, and I just loved the whole plot!

Atomic Anna tells the tale of a brilliant scientist working to right the wrongs of her past and save her descendants from the fallout of her (and their) mistakes. The story is well-written, the family connections feel real, and the conclusion is everything you want from a fraught story like this. However, if this weren't an ARC, I would not have finished it. The beginning drags so hard for a story so exciting. The leading characters are painfully selfish which, while possibly accurate, lends to very little variety and they start to blend together, only adding to the feeling of dragging. To be honest, I was bored until the last third. It didn't help that the science was somehow equally well research and self-contradictory? I went into this hoping for an exciting sci-fi adventure with a heart of gold, but got a truly depressing and slow paced tale with mountains of science speak, but little actual science. That said, if you are wanting a more drama-centric story with a splash of sci-fi and a HEA, this one is for you. It was just a let down for this reader.

**Thank you Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the eArc**

Absolutely loved Rachel’s debut, and her second novel delivers the same excitement and page-turning experience. A juicy and epic—yet intimate! How does she do it??—tale with time travel, family, intrigue, Philly, Chernobyl, romance (y’all know I love it), and women in STEM. 💪 And also, COMICS! I LOVED this book. SO GOOD.

Atomic Anna is unlike any book I have ever read. It is a story of 3 strong women that must change a terrible horrible accident and save a world disaster from happening. From time travel, flawed strong characters, and told from different points of view, this story was amazing! I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

2.5 stars rounded up.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me access to this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book disappointed me because the promotional materials portrayed it as a work of historical fiction. I love historical fiction, particularly that set during the cold war, and the novel focused little on the historical details that are actually intriguing to me. Readers who enjoy science fiction and science ethics novels are the target demographic here.

This book deals with drug addiction, and eventually this became too much for me to bear as a reader. I wish I had a better understanding of the book before choosing to read because it just made me feel depressed.

I read Atomic Anna in one day - couldn't put it down! Rachel Barenbaum does a fantastic job of weaving the different strands and stories of three generations of strong women. Anna, Molly, Raisa and supporting characters Yulia, Lazar, Daniel, Yasha are all battling their own demons while trying to do what they think is right for their loved ones. It's at once a brilliant meditation on responsibility to family and society while also a fun, page-turning tale of time-travel. I loved it and can't wait to recommend this to friends. Book clubs will also find a lot to discuss here!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Grand Central Publishing for an advanced copy of this book of science fiction and family dynamics.

Time travel has always been a powerful idea for writers of speculative fiction. Go back in time an kill Hitler, or hunt a dinosaur, or see your grandparents. Few stories do the work of how a time traveller will accomplish these things. To kill Hitler, how does on get to Germany, does one join the party to get near. Hunting a dinosaur comes with its own risks. Meeting one's grandparents? Or in the case of Atomic Anna by Rachel Barenbaum, how do you meet both your daughter and granddaughter, and work with them to prevent both a family and a humanitarian tragedy. This is what makes Atomic Anna such a compelling read.

In 1986, dissident scientist Anna Berkova is asleep, her latest invention in her hands when the reactor in Chernobyl, goes critical and melts. The resulting energy sends Anna traveling through time, where she encounters her estranged daughter, Molly, dying from a gunshot wound. With her dying words Molly begs her mother to keep travelling to help Molly's daughter, Anna's granddaughter Raisa and stop a tragedy that will separate the family. The book moves to Molly in the 1960's in Philadelphia, and then to Raisa, a lonely math prodigy in the 1980's. And then the book starts moving.

The story is really very well done. The characters are all different, each made by the lives they have led, but damaged too from family, from themselves. Anna, Molly and Raisa are very well developed with a seperate voices that keep them different even if they are related. The science is interesting but does not overwhelm the story, nor does the idea of time travel get in the way. Which is good since with time travel you can fix many things, or make things happen easier, a plot device that Ms. Barenbaum does not do. She plays fair, careful reading will show the story, and while the ending might seem a little sudden, everything does make sense.

A time travel story with a large goal, but at heart about family and fixing those small wrongs, which over time can destroy the bonds between the members. A great read for science fiction fans, those that want a little more story in their speculative fiction, and for readers who want more stories with interesting female characters. I can't wait to read more by Ms. Barenbaum

Atomic Anna is an exciting ride! While deftly looping us through her time travel adventure, Atomic Anna strives to correct her failures both catastrophic and personal. Sometimes joyful, often tragic, the heroines redefine destiny and overcoming tragedy. Time travel and its opportunities and risks are deftly told through this intergenerational epic. I cannot wait to share Atomic Anna!

The concept here is quite clever and I enjoyed the weaving in of the comic book story into the primary plot. However, overall, this novel did not come together for me.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

Loved the writing style and the crazy engaging storyline! The author really puts you in the MC’s shoes.

Of course I love this book! I wrote it and poured my heart onto every page. I hope you love it, too.

I absolutely *love* this book! Barenbaum has written a stunning epic about three generations of time-traveling women using their heads and their hearts to change their lives and the history of the world. This is a gorgeously-written story of family, science, love, and an abiding faith in something better. I can't wait to recommend ATOMIC ANNA to every reader I know!