Living With B

Joan Goodwin’s always had her head in the stars. She’s a physics and astronomy prof at Rice, living her quiet little life with her niece, until she sees an ad for NASA’s brand-new Space Shuttle program looking for women scientists. She wants in.

In 1980 she gets picked from thousands of applicants and thrown into astronaut training with a wild mix of people: a Top Gun pilot, a laid-back scientist, a brilliant-but-cutthroat mission specialist, a kindhearted friend hiding secrets, and a magnetic engineer who can basically fly anything.

As they train, Joan finds not just purpose but love, and it forces her to rethink where she belongs in the universe. But then, during her 1984 mission, everything changes in an instant.

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My Thoughts

I’ve been a big fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid since The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Her writing is captivating, her characters feel real, and her stories usually hook me right away.

That said, Atmosphere didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I completely missed the little “A Love Story” under the title, and honestly, it felt more like a subplot in the summary than the main focus. I went in thinking this would be about NASA training as a woman, and being gay, in the ’80s. Instead, the book is really about Joan and Vanessa’s romance.

Not only was the plot primarily love-focused, but I also struggled to get into it. I pushed myself to 40% before deciding it was a DNF… though I did finish. Still, it never fully grabbed me. Joan and Vanessa are likable enough—Joan’s the baby gay, Vanessa’s the hard ass—but I didn’t feel much for them.

What I did enjoy was Joan’s complicated family dynamic, especially her relationship with her niece, Frances. Joan taking her in when her sister, Barbara, decides motherhood isn’t for her added the depth I wish we saw more of.

The ending is underwhelming. I would’ve preferred the ending I thought we were getting rather than a happily ever after we got. I don’t know… Maybe it’s just me.

Do I Recommend ‘Atmosphere‘?

I’d suggest other TJR books over this one. It needed to be clearer that this was a love story first, not a space story with a side of romance.

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