I adore Kristin's writing style, as well as her character building. This story had me gripped from the beginning, and didn't let me go AT ALL. I can't recommend this book enough, and will definitely be suggesting this to all of my friends!

The "Atlas of Us" by Kristin Dwyer should be on every bookseller's shelf. I went into this book expecting a love story with an interesting backdrop of community service in the [what] mountains. What I found was a beautiful tale of a "bad kid" learning how to process grief as she discovered who she was, and how she was stronger for it. In the process, she found a family in other "bad kids" who also were trying to find their own paths. And, of course, a romance that was so realistic and sweet and raw in all the most important ways. I have found such real-feeling romances to be so rare in YA, but Dwyer nails it every time. We did stock this book this spring and are pleased that we did. We will happily put anything of Dwyer's on our shelves. Our community serves a wide breadth of readers, including a number like those portrayed in this book. Thank you, for writing a book for them.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

OMG!!! This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

I highly enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. Kept me listening.

I received a copy of this audiobook through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

I grabbed this book because I loved the cover and it was available as a "listen now" so I didn't have to get any sort of approval for it. It wasn't until after I downloaded the book that I realized the copy available wasn't the voice actor version of the audiobook. The version I had was AI generated for review purposes only, which certainly lent something to the experience. It confirmed for me that I would never want to pay for an audiobook with AI generated audio because it has some serious drawbacks, namely unnatural pauses (and a lack of pauses in some places they should really exist).

This book is a good example of why you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover (but I'm still gonna). Although I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting from this book, what I got wasn't it. And sure, I could have read the blurb first, but that would have ruined my 23 year long blurb non-reading streak. I was definitely expecting a heavier romantic storyline than I was treated to. I struggled to feel a strong connection with the characters. Me no longer being a teenager and having a more privileged childhood than they did may have contributed to that, but I'm not sure.

Overall I give The Atlas of Us 3.7946 out of 5 stars because although it wasn't what I was expecting and I didn't feel particularly connected to the characters, I was still mildly invested in the story itself and wanted to see where it went.

Couldn't get into this one. The writing is lovely, but I just didn't click with the characters. I think plenty of folks with connect with it though.

After Atlas James’ father died of cancer, she completely lost her way. She didn’t graduate high school and has no plans moving forward. One day she finds her father’s bucket list with his desire to hike the Western Sierra Trail written on it. She joins a camp run by her father’s best friend to hike and maintain the trail with fellow teens. Everyone is given a nickname on the trail, so Atlas becomes Maps. She joins a group run by King and Books, with fellow hikers Sugar and Junior. Maps completely hides her past and identity even when she begins to make friends, but she soon realizes that she needs to quit running from the past and face it so she can heal and move on.

I had a really hard time getting into this book. I was sent a digital voice-generated audiobook as an advanced copy instead of a human reading, so I think that heavily contributed to it. It’s not a knock against the author or the book, but it did make the audio experience less than pleasurable. I enjoyed Atlas/Maps as a narrator. This story is largely about grief and navigating life when you feel lost, and the range of emotions she deals with throughout the book felt very genuine. I didn’t like the romance subplot with King, though. I didn’t feel a connection between them while reading, and I don’t think it contributed much to Atlas’ life in terms of helping her move on with life and deal with her grief. I also feel like this book was just way too long. The chapters after Atlas returns from the trail felt mostly like filler. Overall, this spreads a message of hope and healing, and I think teens would really enjoy it. Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Audio, and Kristin Dwyer for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A journey of self discovery and they our past doesn’t define us. This is a late ya romance that has grief, found family, personal growth, and love.

Through the traumatic experience of losing her father to cancer, Atlas is filled with many big emotions and doesn’t know how to handle them. She copes by acting out and is losing the battle. As a final act she goes to a community service camp that hikes trails, helps clean up, and reports on the forest wellness. Give nicknames Atlas become Maps and uses that and her team to help her truly grieve over the cards she has been dealt.

This was heartbreaking story of grief, depression, loss, failing, and so much more.

Alas loses her father and so many other things all around the same time and falls into depression. This story is about her finding herself and her will with help on her journey.

This is definitely a book that will make you feel all the things!

This book focuses on grief and an 18 year old navigating the death of her father. The characters on her hiking trip were unique and balanced some of the sadness in the book. The romance piece was enjoyable for a YA book. The MMC needed to confess something and the FMC continued to interrupt several times so this miscommunication piece added unnecessary conflict.

The Atlas of Us is one of the most emotional books I’ve ever read. As someone who has lost her father at a young age, Maps’ story resonated with me so much. Dwyer does an amazing job of putting the journey of grief into words that even if you haven’t experienced it, you will feel every emotion from Maps. I loved her story and I loved their found family and how they all came together. It’s such a beautiful story of grief, pain, finding yourself, being misunderstood, and love. I can’t recommend Kristin Dwyers books enough, they always leave me an emotional wreck. No one makes me cry the way she can!

This book was beautiful and absolutely heart wrenching. And I expect nothing less from this author. I had the absolute joy of reading and obsessing over her first book, and I was so excited when I got the opportunity to read this one early on NetGalley,

Dwyer is consistent in her ability to merge the angst of being a teen and young adult, with grief. Her ability to poetically emphasize the pain and frustration of going through loss is unmatched, and I will autobuy her books every single time.

Atlas of Us is all about processing grief and finding yourself. It’s one part Happiness for Beginners and one part Dawson’s Creek. Every one of the characters we meet is a bit broken and on a journey to understand themselves and their relationships to others better, Atlas is processing her father’s death from page one and it’s heavy. But the beautiful way that her relationship with her father can still help her to grow and change, while also growing through her new relationships, is absolutely gorgeous.

And King, our swoony turtured MMC is great, He is caring and kind, he’s a leader and he see Atlas in such a beautiful light. He’s a character that will definitely stay will me.

Not to mention the side characters are also really intriguing, and her friendships with them give her a steady, solid ground for her to grow from.

Anyway, read this book and fall in love with this amazing characters. You will laugh and you will SOB but you’ll love it.

🌶️🌶️For those who need to know, there are a couple of open door scenes between Atlas and King. I didn’t have any problem skipping them.

Having read Some Mistakes Were Made and finding it beyond my expectations, I was equally nervous and excited to pick up Dwyer’s second book. I hate putting the pressure on a read, but also knew to expect to cry and fall for her writing style again.

Kristin beautifully captures the tragedy and emotions from losing a parent as a teen. Through Atlas’ time on the trail, to finding her found family in the friends she travels with, to Maps + King finding one another I was in awe of the feels. Her struggle to cherish the memory of her father, yet find it in herself to move forward was something I believe so many readers will connect with in a personal way. I constantly found myself wanting more, delighting in the push and pull of each character’s growth.

I love that this story showed it’s possible to find yourself even when you lose someone else, how life is full of beginnings and endings within our lives.

This is one of the books that will stay with me, and I’m honored to have gotten to read an early copy thanks to NetGalley + HarperTeen! The copy I received was just the synthetic voice & I can imagine the finished audiobook will be even better, the pacing of the audio made this one a joy to read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Audio for the advanced audio copy of this novel.

I really enjoyed this novel despite it making me cry a few times. It deals with some heavy topics for teens like grief, anger, and all the other emotions that we go through when we lose someone close to us. It gave an accurate depiction of how sometimes we all deal with what life deals us in different ways.

I think teens could definitely relate to the story even if they've never experienced the loss of a loved one.

This was a tough book to put down at times. I kept needing to know what happens next.

I was so excited to listen to this book. I definitely think it will resonate with my students, but I had a hard time really relating to the characters as the book was an auto-read- which I have not experienced before. The story line is great and YA readers will react well.

I will definitely be buying this book to read, as I think that will make it a win for my kids. With the right reader, this will be a must read.

This was such a lovely story about grief, love and adventure. I loved the setting in the mountains and how nature worked to soothe each hiker and let them heal. I appreciated the different forms of grief shown, from sadness to anger to complete isolation. This was a really powerful story about real and raw emotions. Very well written and would recommend to anyone with a heart.

Kristin Dwyer is the Queen of angsty, YA romances that torture you in the most enjoyable way. I loved “Some Mistakes Were Made, her debut novel. “The Atlas of Us” is heart-wrenching and so authentic. This story demonstrates the human experience of navigating grief at a pivotal time in one’s life and the importance of finding love and friendships along the way. I loved the juxtaposition of hiking through a real mountain trail paired with the emotional journey of the main character. The romance was sweet and real. The friendships were so much fun!

🏕️ Slow Burn Romance
🏕️ Hiking
🏕️ Navigating Grief
🏕️ Found-Family Friendships
🏕️ Camping in the Mountains atmosphere

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Another crying book from Kristin Dwyer. Loved every page. Her sharp wit bled onto the page through her characters’ dialogue and her ability to explore guilt, grief and anger in such a tangible way was perfection. Bravo.

Netgalley robo-voices are not the thing. Get the actual audiobook and then you'll enjoy!

The Atlas of Us is Kristin Dwyer's sophomore novel and there is no slump to be found. The novel is perfectly paced, beautifully written, and gloriously painful. It's a 10/10 for me!

Synopsis THAT DOES NOT DO THIS NOVEL JUSTICE: Atlas James has lost her way.

In a last-ditch effort to pull her life together, she’s working on a community service program rehabbing trails in the Western Sierras. The only plus is that the days are so exhausting that Atlas might just be tired enough to forget that this was one of her dad’s favorite places in the world. Before cancer stole him from her life, that is.

Using real names is forbidden on the trail. So Atlas becomes Maps, and with her team—Books, Sugar, Junior, and King—she heads into the wilderness. As she sheds the lies she’s built up as walls to protect herself, she realizes that four strangers might know her better than anyone has before. And with the end of the trail racing to meet them, Maps is left counting down the days until she returns to her old life—without her new family, and without King, who’s become more than just a friend.

Kristin Dwyer has done it again!!! This achingly beautiful story of dealing with grief will speak to so many. The slow burn romance and friendships will leave you begging for more. Not to mention, the beautiful writing and the heart wrenching quotes sprinkled throughout this amazing book!
The audiobook narration was well done and beautifully complimented the story.

Book Title: The Atlas of Us
Author: Kristin Dwyer
Narrator: Digital Voice Galley
Publisher: Harper Audio- Harper Teen
Genre: YA/Teen, Romance
Pub Date: January 9, 2024
My Rating: 3 Stars
Pages: 336

Atlas James has lost her way .She is trying to put her life back together by working on a community service program rehabbing trails in the Western Sierras.
Story deals with grief, as well anger, sadness, depression, and the journey of finding oneself
Story got my attention; as a high school guidance counselor I know many teens experience this, I like to read Young Adult stories as I often recommend them to my students.

I am a big audiobook fan and have listened to many early stories that the narrator is a digital voice galley. I am usually surprised as to how good the digital voice portraits the characters; however, that did not happen in this story. The digital voice took away from the story. I suggest reading this story. Although I am sure the professional audiobook narrator will do a good job in performing Atlas.

Want to thank NetGalley and Harper Audio – Harper Teen for this advanced Audio Edition. This Voice Galley was created only for early review use and does not reflect the audiobook, which will be voiced by a human narrator. Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 9, 2024.