Megan Cummins "Atomic Hearts" follows the story of Gertie as she reflects on the events of a pivotal summer as a teenager. Traveling back and forth between past and present the reader experiences Gertie's emotions as she tries to rewrite the past as an act of healing.

Cummins does a wonderful job writing the emotional inner-life of a teen girl, there were moments in the book where I felt as if I was reading my own diary. Exploring dark issues like drug addiction, bullying and sexual harassment with nuance and grace Atomic Hearts is an effecting story of what it takes to survive.

Gertie was a lovable character, as a reader I wanted to take her under my wing and get her a good therapist, and the side characters of Cindy, Ciaran and Gertie's father were lovingly rendered.

There were some moments in the narrative where I felt themes were being explained repetitively and the action was slowed down as a result. The story within the story structure dragged a little for me as a reader, but that felt more like a personal preference on my part instead of a problem with the overall arc of the storyline.

I would recommend this book to anyone that likes coming of age narratives and books about the writing process.

I really enjoyed reading this and had that element that I was looking for from the perspective of relationships. I was hooked from the first page and thought the characters were realistically done and was glad it was so well done. Megan Cummins has a strong writing style and am excited to read more.

This book was okay! It was more of a YA book with all of the coming of age storyline. I guess it was aimed more at adults due to the addiction, but overall it was decent.

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

Thank you to Ballentine books and Random House publishing along with NetGalley for the Arc. I enjoyed this story, it was a dual time line from present and past. It deals with addiction, friendship, and teenage issues. The FMC Gertie is an author and the story is told in her writing a book from one summer. I did like most of the main characters. I think Gertie reminded me a little of me in my teen years. I felt for her and what she was going through. Loved Megan's writing, I felt like she gave enough detail without it being repetitive or boring. I felt the story came together nicely and the ending was satisfying and nice close to the story.

Atomic Hearts is a striking coming-of-age tale that captures the messiness of youth, the deep bond of friendship, and the complex, often painful relationships that shape us. The narrative is poignant, wrapped in themes of forgiveness, self-discovery, and the difficult yet powerful act of telling the truth, especially when it feels like the hardest thing to do. It’s an ode to finding the courage to face your past and rebuild yourself with the strength you never knew you had.

I love how Atomic Hearts doesn’t shy away from the complexities of addiction, the ache of guilt, or the pain of growing up too fast. Yet, amidst the darkness, it finds moments of hope, redemption, and grace. Gertie’s journey to find her voice, both as a writer and as a person, is profoundly moving, offering a sense of catharsis for anyone who has ever felt weighed down by their past.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Focusing on the past and the present of the main character Gertie, this explores addiction, love, family and friendship. I thought each was done nicely with respects to the delicacy of the situation.

Gertie's family struggles with addiction and while I won't go into detail she does have a summer that would change her life forever. This showed a lot of the harsh realities of watching a family member suffer and the pain and emotion felt very real to me.

There was also the bonds she formed with other teens she met that summer and how they would play a roll in her life later on. What I thought would be a typical teen romance really was not that and by the end of the novel I really didn't care for this person at all.

Lastly, the friendship she had with Cindy. It all felt very real for me and I felt the anxiety as she hid a secret that could change their friendship. I was really happy to see it without stood both their struggles.

I'm always iffy about the advanced copy books I get but I felt that this one was a real winner. Five stars from me and I look forward to more from this author in the future.

Wow.
This book took me over a week to get through - not in a bad way at all, but because I felt like I had to carefully process every chapter.
Gertie is a teenager who has to become an adult much too quickly. She’s dealing with far more than a she should have to - both from her own doing, as well as from forces she can’t possibly control. There was so much thought put into this story, and the characters, and I cared deeply for every single one of them.
It’s not often that you can connect so deeply with a book but I felt like this story touched a part of me that not many do. I’m really looking forward to rereading this when the final version is published.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with the ARC of this book.

What a truly beautiful story, platonic love lost and found again.
Atomic Hearts is not your typical coming of age book, it gives depth on a teenage point of view on a crummy home life, a terrible tragedy, and what feels like an end of the world secret being exposed.
Realistic imagery and lively commentary I really felt my teenage self heal in a weird way.
One of the many things that I enjoyed is Gertie’s dedication to making her book, while being thrown to the wolves time and time again. The one thing I did not like is Gabe because I did date a person with Gabe’s persona and I wished nothing but the worst for his character.
I do hope when Atomic Hearts debuts it gets all its flowers.

I felt all the feels! This powerful book had me thinking about families, friendships, addiction, dreams, and more as I read it. I enjoyed Megan's writing style and thought the story moved at a great pace. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved this novel--from the prose and tone to the complexity of the plot, from the depth of the characters to the structure Cummins uses for this storytelling, I was riveted until the final page.