Review: Atmosphere - Taylor Jenkins Reid

Review: Atmosphere - Taylor Jenkins Reid - June 2025

This is honestly one of the hardest reviews I've had to write, and anyone who follows my reading journey knows that's saying something. I'd been practically vibrating with excitement for months, counting down the days until I could get my hands on Atmosphere. When Amazon showed it was sold out everywhere, I nearly had a meltdown – but then my incredible friend swooped in with a BookHero NZ voucher for my birthday (shoutout to the best gift-givers!), and I finally secured my precious copy.

Here's where things get complicated, and you know I'm always brutally honest with you all: I went into this book with very specific expectations. I was absolutely convinced this would be a heart-wrenching deep dive into the 1986 Challenger disaster, packed with the kind of emotional devastation that would leave me sobbing into my tea at 2am. Instead, Atmosphere took me back to the early 1980s, following Joan Goodwin as she joins NASA's groundbreaking program to include women scientists and astronauts.

Joan's character resonated with me immediately – she's thoughtful, reserved, completely obsessed with the stars, and content with her academic life until that fateful NASA advertisement changes everything. The supporting cast is brilliantly diverse: we've got Top Gun pilot Hank, easy-going scientist John, the fierce and ambitious Lydia, warm-hearted Donna with her hidden secrets, and the absolutely magnetic Vanessa Ford, who can fix any engine and steal any heart.

And here's where my expectations completely derailed the experience: when we finally reach December 1984 and mission STS-LR9, the moment I'd been waiting for felt surprisingly glossed over. The disaster that I expected to be the emotional centerpiece became more of a catalyst for the real story – Joan and Vanessa's complex relationship. This book is fundamentally a romance novel dressed up in NASA uniforms, and I spent most of my reading time waiting for drama that simply wasn't the focus.

Don't get me wrong – if you're craving a beautifully written sapphic romance with a unique historical setting, this absolutely delivers. Taylor Jenkins Reid's writing is as gorgeous as ever, and the relationship development is genuinely compelling. But if you're like me and going in expecting Apollo 13 levels of space-related tension and tragedy, you're going to feel a bit lost in space (pun absolutely intended).

My advice? Clear your head of any preconceptions before diving in. This isn't the book I thought I was getting, but it might be exactly the book you need. And can we please talk about this cover? Total cover crush doesn't even begin to cover it – this edition is absolutely stunning and definitely earned its spot on my bookshelf purely on aesthetic merit.

Atmosphere reminded me why managing expectations is so crucial when you're as hyped about a book as I was. Sometimes the best reading experiences come from the most unexpected places, and sometimes you just need to accept that the book you wanted isn't the book you got – and that's okay too.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4mlj0XS