There is something about Taylor Jenkins Reid’s writing style that just glues my fingers to the page. I loved “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” and “Daisy Jones & The Six”, but this story was even better and more compelling. Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop thinking about these intriguing characters and their stories they each represent. And this is the greatness of Reid’s writing style: I was so madly impressed by the sheer amount of talent and skills that I didn’t even realize how many pages I read. These endearing characters had me smiling, laughing, sweating, and at the end, bawling my eyes out. Now getting personal, but there were so many different ways I saw my partner and myself in this story. So all I can say is that representation matters and this story is unbelievable!

I gave this one to my seventeen year old, who is a huge TJR fan. She read it in one sitting and was up to 12:30am finishing it. This is hat she had to say:

This was one of the best books I’ve ever read. It has a really unique storyline that keeps you interested and I loved the writing style of telling the story through two separate time periods. The characterisation was really good as I found myself easily invested in the characters and their lives. I really recommend this book to anyone who wants a mix of romance and adventure.

Well, I sobbed. So there goes my cohesive review. TJR knows her craft SO well.
It is quite remarkable how she can take just about any topic and weave a terrific story steeped in facts seemingly without much of an effort. Her storytelling flows beautifully.

I can't remember the last time I cried so much at a book. 🚀

🌌 Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
🔭 Out: 3rd June 2025

THANK YOU Penguin for this early copy. There was no obligation for a gushing review but it's coming anyway. Good God this book is incredible.

A sapphic love story between two astronauts involved in the 1980s space shuttle program? Need I say more? 🌟

Like Daisy Jones and The Six, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Carrie Soto is Killing It (my top three TJRs btw), Atmosphere transports you to a vivid world. This time filled with NASA training, stars and a deep love for space, David Bowie and Bert and Ernie. I'm constantly in awe of how Jenkins Reid starts laying out these characters in their small gestures and jokes, and before you know it they're these fully formed people walking around in front of you.

When I received this proof, I expected Jenkins Reid to deliver another firm favourite, but what I didn't expect was to be genuinely SOBBING at 2am and having to put the book down to wait for my eyes to stop being blurry. I'm not kidding, I was a mess.

If you're a queer space nerd like me, you have literally no excuse not to pick this up when it's out in June.

TJR has done it again! Atmosphere totally consumed me from the very first chapter. I knew it was going to be good but I didn't realise how much I'd fall in love with Joan and her passion for the stars.

Atmosphere is an ode to space, to human progress at a time when exploring amongst the stars had finally become possible. The novel details Joan and her fellow astronauts experience training with NASA, building bonds with each other along the way. There's loved up Donna and Hank, kind Griff, self-reliant Lydia and Vanessa Ford - the woman Joan can't keep her eyes off of. The story operates over two timelines, splitting Joan's progress through NASA and years later when her friends are in a perilous situation in space whilst she's on the ground in mission control. I was on the edge of my seat throughout these incredibly tense scenes.

The magic thing about TJR is how she makes fiction seem so incredibly real and this is no exception. The discussions on sexism and the challenges women faced at NASA aren't glossed over and the discrimination of the LGBTQ+ community is at the forefront when reading this love story. Such a powerful book that I'm certain took an incredible amount of research.

Joan's relationship with her niece, Frances, was one of my favourite elements of Atmosphere. I loved the representation of a aunthood and what it's like to see a child you love growing up and evolving. Some truly thought provoking and beautiful sentences on this topic were scattered throughout the novel. I found myself highlighting so many sections.

A heart wrenching story (I cried a lot) that shows the power of familial and romantic love over all odds.
A wonderous novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the eARC.

I've read Daisy Jones and Evelyn Hugo before this but I think this might be my favourite Taylor Jenkins Reid book! I loved all the characters and their relationships with each other. The switches from past and present worked really well. I did feel a little lost about some of the scientific terms at first but understanding them is not integral to following the plot.

It got a little repetitive in the middle but the ending made up for it.

Absolutely brilliant. I am lucky enough to have read this early and cannot express how much I enjoyed it. A fantastic story with great characters and some very heartfelt and poignant messages. I couldn’t put this down and really didn’t want the story to end, one of my favourites of the year so far, can’t wait to see it published!!

Another amazing book from one of the best authors of the moment. Though I thought the start was a bit overwhelming with so many characters to get to know, the pacing adjusted and this was such an amazing read - and I don't even have any special interests in astronomy. A must read for 2025.

I think TJR fans will love this. It falls outside the TJR universe which is a change. No references at all to previous characters in her other novels. I guess in some ways it reminds me of Carrie Soto… a love story set against a particular backdrop. For Carrie it was the professional tennis circuit, for Atmosphere it is NASA astronaut training. I mean, you can’t say TJR is afraid of a challenge!
Ok so this isn’t one for space nerds. It’s much more live story between two astronauts on the space training program.
It was very readable and I think will have great success.

Joan never felt like she was fitting in. Since childhood she was more interested in stars and mathematics than boys. When Nasa started advertising for Women to be trained as Astronauts, she took her chance. Meeting like-minded people for the first time, Joan is finally able to work in a field she loves while finding out who she really is. But Space is the most dangerous place and when you are close to losing your chosen family, you have to find out just how courageous you truly are.
I loved the setting of Nasa in the 70s-80s and following along with these cadets. The middle lost me for a bit, concentrating too much on the family dynamics than the Mission. Nonetheless it felt as if Jenkins Reid looked into my mind and took everything I am slightly interested in. First Golden Hollywood, then Tennis, now Space Travel. We're just connected like that. This might be my favourite Jenkins Reid novel to date.

This book had me so emotional by the end that I could hardly speak. It is an emotional rollercoaster, buckle up because you won’t want to stop reading but you really really will feel like you’ve been put through the wringer by the end of it.

It’s a new kind of world we find ourselves in with Taylor Jenkins Reid’s latest novel. She has departed from her usual style and evolved into something more mature, considered and ambitious (and yet her previous novels were brilliant too). It’s not her usual historical moment focus and although it’s a romance it’s contemporary with almost a literary fiction-esque undertone. If you removed the Author from the cover I would swear blind this was a Jodie Picoult novel by the end of it.

Incredibly careful attention to detail, characterisation, setting and research, make this book such a treat (until it rips your heart out). The gruelling and rigorous training for the astronauts, the sacrifices for love and family that must be made, the risks that they take and ultimately, the service they’re giving, are all uncovered in this novel, probably the first of its kind.

It’s an immersive portrayal of the culture of NASA in the 1980s. You won’t believe it, given it wasn’t that long ago, but it’s true. There are brilliant supporting characters creating a cast of unforgettable women and there is a very authentic representation of the challenges faced by women in STEM. Combined with the art of tension building, the ambitious scope, and structure of the novel, this is just one incredible book. If it doesn’t make it to the big screen, it’ll be an injustice in literature.

What can I say. This author never disappoints and I have loved everything of hers I have read. Atmosphere is similar to Carrie Soto is Back for the fact that like that book you didn’t have to understand or play tennis to enjoy the book, with this book you don’t have to be a space nerd or a NASA geek to understand and love this story. It’s a love story at its heart.
Set in the 1980s Joan Goodwin has always wanted to be an Astronaut. She gets her chance in 1980 and starts her training with a group of exceptionally skilled candidates. Being a woman makes it doubly hard as always the few women on the team have to prove themselves time and time again. Joan’s younger sister Barbara is an unwed mother and Joan has spent a good proportion of her life with her niece Frances. Joan has never had a real boyfriend and while in training she forms a bond with fellow trainee Vanessa. This is the 1980s and same sex relationships are forbidden in the majority but Joan and Vanessa manage to keep their love to themselves.
The book opens with most of the crew we come to know, aboard the 1984 space mission, something catastrophic has happened and it is from here we switch back and forth from the beginning of their training to the unthinkable end.
I really loved this book and hope it sells well.

#Atmosphere. #NetGalley

A beautiful story set during an exciting but troubled time for humanity. These characters are all so well written and Joan and Vanessa will live in my heart for a long time

This was just the book I needed to finish the year with - just a really great story. Taylor Jenkins Reid really is the master of this and she didn’t disappoint. It’s not super literary, but also is well written, there are twists and shocks, and well developed, lovable characters. I enjoyed the 80s setting and the space vibes, and it was well researched but didn’t dive so deep into the science of space that it felt like a wiki page. I loved the romance also, and the ending was satisfying!

So exciting to have a new TJR! I have very little interest in space but I absolutely loved this - as the subtitle says, it’s a love story above all. I cried for the whole last ten minutes and didn’t know what to do with myself once I’d finished it. One of those books which makes you want to relive it all over again and stay with the characters for longer.

Taylor Jenkins Read does it again! One of my favorite authors . And ne er musses. She picks the most interesting subjects and reeerschs the heck out of them and even if you’re not really interested in them her writing style changes that. It was so fun and interesting to see her take on the “space” world after her recent DJATS and tennis books. Very cool