4.5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

It's 1984, and a NASA trip to the moon collides with disaster. It is up to Mission Control to get their astronauts home. For Joan Goodwin, it is hard to keep your voice calm when the love of your life is onboard. As the novel bounces from the present to the past, the quest for the moon and Joan and Vanessa's romance kept me turning the pages.

It is a truth that must be universally acknowledged that every time I believe I have found my favourite TJR novel, she writes another book. Proof that an author's main goal in life is to devastate their readers' time and time again emotionally. Joan is the character that we follow and see how the story unfolds. Her difficult relationship with her sister, Barbara, and her endearing role as aunt to her niece, Frances, align with her enrollment in the space shuttle program. There were a lot of positive discussions about women to be found in the novel, as Joan and Vanessa both aim to be the first women in space.

If I had a little quibble, it is that the book does start a little slow, but that feeling didn't last long because I stayed up past my bedtime to find out what would happen next.

Publication Date 03/06/25
Goodreads review 28/06/25

From the aspects of space to the friendships and relationships. This book has everything. I couldn’t put it down.

Taylor Jenkins Reid is back with another amazing book! I was a big follower of NASA and their shuttle program and was lucky enough to see one of the last shuttle launches. It was a bucket list wish of mine so when I heard the premise for this book I was excited to read it. I have been to Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Center so iI enjoyed being able to visualize some of the details in the book. For a space nerd it was compelling to follow Joan, Vanessa and the other astronaut candidates in their group for the space program. Their group formed great bonds and developed strong friendships and it was interesting to see which assignment each of them eventually received. The book has a stressful and electrifying beginning and then circles back to how we got to those circumstances. Another engaging aspect of the book was Joan and Vanessa’s slow burn relationship. It was so authentically described and evolved in an organic captivating way. It was great to see Joan discover her true self and to have the strength to acknowledge it especially during the time period of this book in the early 1980’s. The story had excellent pacing and descriptive writing. I’m impressed at the amount of research that would have gone into writing this book. This is definitely another exceptional book from this author and I’m also happy that I read this during PRIDE month.

Tears. Big ugly tears in public. This book touched me in ways I never would have expected from a story of 1980’s astronauts. This is not a romance book, this is a love story in every sense of the term. Joan is so full of love and wonder and curiosity and grit. Love of family, love of friends, love of the world, and a love unfurled within her and without her that touches the smallest of moments and the brightest of stars. Beautiful story.

Delighted to include this title in the June edition of Novel Encounters, my column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction for the Books section of Zoomer, Canada’s national lifestyle and culture magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)

No one tells a story like TJR and Atmosphere easily falls into one of my favourites by her.

It’s about the first woman in space in the ‘80s….but it’s also about so much more. I found it was perfectly balanced to give just enough background info on what you needed to about going to space and becoming an astronaut without information overloading. The plot was nicely woven throughout but all of that.

Joan is a badass. I loved her character. Her relationship with her niece was my favourite part and that plot line absolutely broke my heart.

The love story is raw and real. And beautiful.

Flawlessly narrated in audio. Just try and listen to it without sobbing. Impossible. So stunning.

5⭐️ and another you’ll see on my list of faves from the year!

I have read every other Taylor Jenkins Reid book and this is one of my favourites. The way she writes her characters and gives them their own personality while holding up the plot is incredible. I will always be a TJR fan and this book just confirms it.

Once again, TJR delivers a compelling narrative centered around strong, resilient women navigating the complexities of modern life. Set against the backdrop of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Atmosphere captures the cultural shifts of the era as women pushed boundaries in career ambitions, sexuality, motherhood, friendship, and sibling bonds—Atmosphere dives deep into what it means to grow, change, and challenge societal expectations.

If you loved Taylor Jenkins Reid’s last four novels, this one will absolutely be your for you! The character development is beautifully done, and it’s clear TJR put in serious research—every detail feels intentional and authentic.

That said, the story started off a bit slow for me. I found myself waiting for the emotional punch, which did come (and hit hard!), but the ending felt a tad abrupt. Another chapter or two would’ve given it the space it needed. Still, it’s a powerful read that lingers with you.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely. It’s a thoughtful work of historical fiction that captures women’s ongoing fight for recognition, equity, and advancement in a male-dominated world. TJR spotlights these themes with both heart and nuance.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Randomhouse Canada for the opportunity to read and review this one.

I thought this was a story about women astronauts defying the patriarchy and making it where no woman had gone before. It was that… but it was also a story about friendships and found family, finding love and finding your true self, and an endlessly deep love for a child that has your whole heart.
The relationship between Joan and her niece was just as powerful and all changing as her love for Vanessa.
The story is told between now, when a mission is going wrong, and flash backs throughout Joan’s life that got her to this point. My only complaint is how abruptly the story ended.

Reading this book didn't physically take me to outer space, so why does it feel like I touched the stars?

An all too brief and sudden burst of intoxicating love, Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid burns bright as it soars towards a greatness we once reserved for The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

Two women, with the weight of the world on their shoulders, fight to carve out a corner of history where their love story can take off. Joan and Vanessa's courageous tale is a down-to-earth demonstration of the everyday heroics women face, with a splash of space travel to get that heart pumping. Their emotional journey is one that will resonate with every reader.

Taylor Jenkins Reid has demonstrated time and again with novels like Malibu Rising and Carrie Soto Is Back that she can weave epic love stories that graze the core of the human soul. However, there is something particularly gut-wrenching about her All-American forays into sapphic storytelling. She captures a fictional snapshot of an iconic moment in American history from the perspective of women who possess a great capacity for love and growth.

Leading lady stargazer Joan is no different as she aims her sights on space travel with grace and kindness as her compass, faltering only when the universe gives her a reason to stay on Earth. Joan is a people person, uplifting everyone on the crew with her calm, inclusive demeanor. It allows many of the side characters in this NASA ensemble to feel just as alive through their encounters with Joan as she coaxes a softer side out of them.

Her best work happens with the blunt, promotion-hungry Lydia, who initially believes she will have to stop at nothing to be the first woman in their group to go to space. Joan never forces change directly on Lydia, but her ability to draw out the truth behind the brainiac's competitive, male-forward nature is far more fascinating. Joan's separate journey to uncovering her sexuality after so many years of believing she understood her place in the world is equally enthralling.

There's no better protagonist to lead this mission to victory.

Vanessa is the perfect foil to that objective, ruling over Joan's quiet presence with unruly hair and a knowing smile that practically undresses Joan in every group outing. Their chemistry is a fireball of unsaid confessions and unbearable tension. When the two women finally collide, it's enough to put down the book and shout, "Housten, we have lift off!"

Each relationship, romantic or otherwise, is tender-hearted and dynamic, drawing the reader in and keeping them engaged throughout the story.

Regardless of the route this book takes on its journey, the dialogue pulls you in, and the author maintains a strong enough hold on the fictional world of NASA space travel. However, her out-of-this-world character developments have us eager to look elsewhere for entertainment. Joan's time with her beloved niece could easily clash or overpower the slow-burn romance at the center of this story. Instead, Jenkins-Reid plays them off each other, using two powerful love stories to prop each other up.

It is a balancing act that is cruel and calculating in its victories, too. The novel utilizes time jumps to keep us enthralled by the outcome of Joan and Vanessa's mission to become the first female astronauts. It is in these time jumps that we are shattered and put back together over and over again. As the book expertly develops relationships between Joan and her crewmates, it stands to tear them down just as quickly to demonstrate the merciless hand of God that is outer space. This story fires on every cylinder, offering a healthy dose of found-family themes and positive, women-forward discussions where the women's achievements and struggles take center stage. All while keeping its eyes on the sky and the possibilities that lay beyond the horizon.

Atmosphere is a cosmic love ballad for space nerds who look to the stars for that once-in-a-lifetime love. Its smooth dialogue and sharp tongue will break your heart over and over, then make you laugh out loud on the very next page. When the grand finale of this thrill ride appears, the book slams shut, leaving the reader breathless and disoriented.

The unconventional ending rushes at you so suddenly and violently that you have this urge to be angry with the author for not delivering a traditional happy ending. However, it is all the small moments of happiness collected throughout this tale that make the journey far more valuable than the destination.

Atmosphere is a ride you will give anything to experience again.

Atmosphere is a solid, well-researched novel that blends Taylor Jenkins Reid’s trademark emotional storytelling with the high-stakes world of space exploration. While it didn’t quite blow me away, I found myself drawn into the story and especially appreciated the relationships at its core.

Joan is a compelling protagonist, and her connections with Vanessa, Francis, and her sister gave the book real heart. The dynamic between the astronauts was another highlight; watching them slowly shift from strangers to something resembling a found family was both satisfying and believable.

It’s clear Jenkins Reid did her homework when it comes to NASA and life as an astronaut. The technical details never overwhelmed the story, but instead added authenticity and depth.

If you’re already a fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid, Atmosphere is worth picking up. It might not be my personal favourite of hers, but it’s still an engaging and heartfelt read with strong character work and a fascinating setting.

4.5/5 stars

Atmosphere is women’s fiction set in the 1980s. The story focuses on NASA and the space shuttle program.

The main character is Joan, an astronomer and astronaut at NASA. We also get some of Vanessa’s POV. She is an aeronautical engineer and pilot at NASA.

The book starts with Joan at Mission Control in December 1984. Then the book goes back to 1980 and shows how she joined NASA. The story goes back and forth between that mission and what she experienced in the space shuttle program.

This is women’s fiction. It’s about women joining NASA in the 80s. The book features strong female characters. It was absolutely fascinating seeing women joining the space program and everything that entailed.

This book features an epic love story. Atmosphere features the a beautiful romantic love story. However it is also features an incredible relationship between an aunt and niece.

The relationship between Joan and her niece Frances was the absolute best. I just loved the relationship that she had with her niece. It is such an important part of the book.

This book has the best LGBT rep, including what it was like for women to be lesbians in the 1980s. But more specifically what it was like at NASA. This was such a big part of the book.

This book is about friendship. The friendships between the group that joined the space shuttle program at the same time was so fun.

There is also a lot about the relationship between sisters. The relationship between Joan and her sister Barbara was really interesting.

This is such a beautiful and emotional story. I had tears rolling down my cheeks. The end is so powerful and heartbreaking. However I do wish that there was another chapter or an epilogue. I definitely wanted more. But overall it is a wonderful book. I definitely recommend it.

4.5⭐️

Taylor Jenkins Reid never misses! She has an uncanny ability to transport you to different times and places, and have you fall in love with perfectly imperfect characters. If you enjoyed The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo or Daisy Jones & the Six, then you will love Atmosphere! This book follows Joan, a female astronaut recruit at NASA in the 1980s. It has such a thrilling start and then you go back in time to learn how the characters got to that point. There are so many amazing characters and the love stories are absolutely beautiful. You can tell how much time and detail Taylor put into this book because the descriptions of the stars and space are incredible. This was such a great novel and I cannot wait to see what she writes next!

Thank you to Taylor Jenkins Reid, Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.


My Favourite Quotes:

“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.”

“Happiness is so hard to come by. I don’t understand why anyone would begrudge anyone else for managing to find some of it.”

“My God, who could care about the stars when there was her to look at?”

“I was circling two hundred miles above the Earth, and all I wanted was to get home and see you. Do you understand that? Do you understand that I don’t care how big or small this world is, that you are the center of mine? Do you understand that, to someone, you are everything that matters on this entire planet?”

An easy incredible 5 stars for me. When I wasn't reading this book, I was thinking about this book. The first chapter captured my attention and made my heart pound. My heart also broke and healed throughout the story. I smiled, giggled and cried. This is top notch TJR!

To say the new Taylor Jenkins Reid book Atmosphere is out of this world would be an understatement. There are a few undeniable truths about TJR. She knows how to write women with extraordinary depth. She has a gift for taking an area you didn't know about and makes you care about it. And somehow, with each book, she only gets better.

Atmosphere follows Joan Goodwin, a pioneering female astronaut in the 1980s, and is reminiscent of Gravity and The Martian but in a wholly unique way. Trust me when I say your heart will be racing from the very first chapters. The tension ebbs and flows but is palpable throughout the novel. I couldn't put it down, but I also didn't want it to end.

As for the main character, Joan Goodwin? I simply fell in love with her. We journey with her from her early dreams of traveling to space, her time as a NASA trainee, and finally as an astronaut, to a fateful mission in 1984 that changes everything. I was deeply impressed by the level of scientific and technical information presented in the novel- it was a great balance of detail and storytelling, but it wasn't overwhelming.

What truly grounds the novel, though, is Joan’s inner world: her relationships, her ambitions, her struggles as one of the first female astronauts and the emotion toll of balancing her personal life with her professional one. TJR doesn’t just tell a story about space- she explores the emotional gravity of being a woman in an era, and in a field, that demanded so much. The nonlinear structure, jumping between past & present, really tethered this from being primarily just a book about space.

At its core, Atmosphere is a love story- aren't all TJR's books?- but whether it's a romantic love story, a story about family, or a love of space, it's up to the reader to decide. Filled with so much emotion (I cried at the end) and expertly written, this novel is undoubtedly one of the must-read books of the summer. Thank you Random House and Netgalley for my arc.

WOW this book! I loved it. A book with space drama and a fantastic love story that kept me turning the pages. Joan and Vanessa’s journey was realistic and well written. I loved the structure of the book, starting near the end and working our way back to the end through flashback sections. There was a great mix of “nerdy” science but not too much to make it overwhelming for non sci-if fans. Grab your Kleenex, this one made me tear up multiple times. I had all the feelings while reading this, tense, happy, sad and satisfied. Perfect for fans of TJRs other work.

Wow.

This book is very well researched and while there is technical jargon, I didn't feel overwhelmed by all the lingo. The pacing is good, even though the story spans several years.

All the characters are well developed, and if they are not when we first meet them, they evolved throughout the story, as would happen in real life.

My only issue with this book is the ending. It needs an epilogue, set 40 years (current day) in the future. Just five or ten pages, going more into depth with the characters. Did Joan spend her nights with her telescope in the back yard? Did Vanessa fly her prop plane in the mornings? What about Frances? Was she inspired to work at NASA too?

After becoming so attached to all the characters, I want to know.

What I DO know, is that I really enjoyed this book, and am very grateful to have read it.

Thank you Taylor Jenkins Reid and Doubleday Canada for the digital arc! Prepare to see this book everywhere! It’s fascinating to follow the women who enter the space shuttle program as they try to balance all the challenges that life throws at them. These women exhibit strength, knowledge and courage as they literally change the world. TJR has a way of brining characters to life, almost like they are your friends. There may have been a few tears shed while reading this book! Add this to your TBR!

I’m not gonna lie the beginning of the book really had me questioning if I was going to like it since it started super slow, but around the 15% mark it does pick up significantly. The story was very interesting and kept me hooked until the end. The only thing I wasn’t a fan of was the switch ups between the past POV and current POV, but other than that the romance was *chefs kiss*, and I would highly recommend!!

I never really know what I will get when I pick up a book by this author as they are all so different, but experience tells me I will love it, and “Atmosphere” is no exception. The theme of this novel is love and it includes romantic love, the love for a child and the love of science and space. Set in the 1980's around the Space Shuttle Program, it also clearly demonstrates the sacrifices astronauts must make, particularly the first women in the program. I really enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital advance reading copy. 4.5/5 stars.