Atmosphere: A GMA Book Club Pick

Loved!!!

Couldn’t put it down . Great work!

While I enjoyed the depiction of the struggles that women faced during the 1980s, the book was fairly predictable.

Good story, but not into the Lesbian narrative. It did describe the late 70’s to mid 80’s correctly.

You know this book is going to break your heart by the time you’re a tenth of the way through it, but you read it anyway. Atmosphere starts out with an emotional hammer blow to the chest, and while you’re reeling it changes course and makes your head spin, leaving you dangling while the narrative leaps into the past. Written in a dual timeline, the storyline alternates between the present and the past – or what counts as such for the characters, since the book takes place entirely in the 80s – beginning in 1984 as they are faced with a life-changing crisis and then bouncing back to 1980 when the characters first become acquainted. As the book progresses, the reader comes to know the entire cast more intimately, which serves to make the crisis unfolding in the “present” even more wrenching. This book will make you experience a wealth of emotions. You will laugh or smile countless times, and not only because there are parts that are funny but from sheer delight. You will feel sadness, anger, and heartbreak. If you are a member of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, there will be so many parts of this book that touch you that you may find some of it difficult to read. You will fall in love with so many of the characters and deeply loathe at least one. One friend told me that at one point they felt like they wanted to scream, and honestly, I’m not sure you could encapsulate the emotional impact of this book any better than that, or give it a greater compliment. As women loving women, of course we desire women. Like many of you reading this review right now, I could speak at length on the characteristics of women that I find erotic or sensual. But one of the most incredible things about loving a woman is the way that they love. It’s beautiful and it’s tender and it’s sweet and it’s fierce, and every once in awhile you come across a book that captures that perfectly. Atmosphere is one of those books. But it’s worth noting that while Atmosphere is in fact the love story the cover claims it to be, it fills this billing in more than the romantic sense. Atmosphere is a love story for the stars and space exploration. It is a love story for science. It is a love story for friendship and the ties we forge through shared mission and shared adversity. It is a love story for family, and the love of a parent for a child – even if they did not give birth to them and don’t fill a traditional role. The romance is between two women, but you don’t have to be a queer woman to understand the love and feel moved by it. It’s worth noting that – unusually for me – this review is multi-medium. I read the book first, and it blew me away. I’ve been traveling this week, and my schedule has been wonky, so it took me far longer than it normally would to read it, but I finished it Thursday night. A friend and I had been discussing it off and on for a few days, and they were profuse in their praise of the audiobook. So, somewhat rarely for me as it isn’t my preferred medium, I picked up the audiobook that night. It took me less than twenty-four hours to finish it (which is unheard of when it comes to me and audiobooks), and I have to agree that it is not only incredible in its own right but adds an emotional depth to the experience that is well worth the investment in both time and money. Having already read the book, of course I knew how it ended, but the last ten minutes of the audio version still had my stomach in knots. If that isn’t a testament to the quality of the narrators’ performance, I don’t know what would be. I’ve read some truly outstanding books this year, and this book is easily among the top five of my fiction reads for 2025. Atmosphere is the sort of book you’ll recommend to all of your friends and mutuals: “This book will absolutely gut you. You’ll love it.”

I had to catch my breath after reading this - first because I was struck by the compelling mystery, second because the characters were so beautifully crafted that I was sad to lose them by finishing their story, and third because the power of the love theme was profound. It made me think deeply about my own values.

I really loved this book. A love story set against the US Space agency in the early years. I love everything space related but especially when it includes female protagonists and a love story, added a new layer to what we know about the space program. Thank you Taylor Jenkins Reid for this beautiful, fascinating book.

I was excited to read a book about a woman pursuing her dream of becoming an astronaut in the 1970s. The premise seemed like the perfect fit for me. However, as soon as the lesbian sex scene started, I decided to put the book down. So disappointing. Does everything have to be woke these days?? I wish there had been some sort of warning about the content. Unfortunately, this was not the kind of book I was hoping to read.

Reading Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid was an emotional experience I didn’t expect. I found myself completely swept up in the love story, and by the last two chapters, I was in tears—happy, hopeful, and a little bit heartbroken all at once. “In all of her time spent watching others, she hadn’t picked up on this part of falling in love, that someone could look at you as if you were the very center of everything. And even though you knew better, you’d allow yourself a moment to believe you were worthy of being revolved around, too.” That line made me pause and reflect on my own life—the times I’ve doubted whether I deserved to be someone’s “center,” and how powerful it feels when someone makes you believe you are. This book reminded me of the beauty and vulnerability in letting yourself be loved, even if it’s scary. Atmosphere isn’t just a love story—it’s a reminder to let yourself be seen and cherished. I’ll be thinking about these characters, and this feeling, for a long time.

The writing is superb, the characters are well developed, the suspenseful plot kept me turning pages. Throughout the book I teared up, choked up, and/or cried. I especially enjoyed learning about astronauts and the space program.

This beautifully-written novel is a love story to women everywhere who have found the courage to break barriers in all aspects of their lives - social, physical, emotional and intellectual. This story gets to the heart of what it means to be a woman in science during the 1980s, a seminal period for NASA and our space program. Heartwarming, believable and begging to be made into a movie. Well done!

Another excellent book by TJR now I have to painfully wait for her next

As a writer of love stories~with a different bend~I enjoyed all aspects of this work. Written with passion, pain, the reality of the way the world turned in ‘80’s, and enough pathos to reach deep into one’s heart, I say brava to Taylor! Well paced, perhaps a bit jumpy from POV but easy enough to catch up. Solid read.

A good read. She’s a phenomenal storyteller but I feel like I’ve read/heard/seen this story before. It felt a little unoriginal…a little “for all mankind.”

I loved this book so much. The human relationships combined with independent goals of doing something so hard, without sacrificing the relationships that are really important, these things spoke to me.

I started this book today, and finished it in five hours. Taylor Jenkins Reid has done it again. I sobbed through out the book but the ending pieced me back together. Now where do I go from here?

Beautifully written. Moving. Engaging. Did NOT want it to end but was thoroughly satisfied with the conclusion. Cried rare happy tears. Well done! Thank you!

Just do yourself a favor and read this book. Everything about it was just amazing.