Atmosphere Review

 For some reason, I keep reading books by  Taylor Jenkins Reid, although every time so far I have been left quite a bit disappointed with her writing. However, ‘Atmosphere’ seemed like it could be a fun one, so I decided to give it a chance. Unfortunately, I found it to have the same exact issues as almost all of the other books by this author I have read and I have read a few by now.

‘Atmosphere’ is set in the 1980s and it follows Joan Goodwin and her journey to being one of the first women in space, as she joins the NASA program. Throughout the novel, we are introduced to a myriad of other characters, although the majority of the story is told through Joan’s perspective through third person narration. The narration also switches between a crucial event in 1984 and then goes back and forth to get to that point, focusing on Joan’s story.

My first and perhaps the biggest problem with the story is Joan herself. There were a lot of compelling and interesting parts of her character, like the fact she is a gay woman in STEM in the 1980s fighting to be taken seriously in an awfully misogynistic society and her curiosity about the world around her. However, a lot of her characterization remained quite shallow and it felt very ‘not like other girls’, especially in her relationship with other women, except Vanessa. While Joan was an interesting person and it is understandable that she was the main point of view, there was so much more that could have been done with her to give her more depth and make the reader care for her and her story more.
One of those aspects was her relationship with her sister Barbara. Everything that Joan was Barbara was not and vice versa to the point Barbara felt like a caricature of a person, rather than a real woman. The fact that there was not a single redeeming quality Barbara possessed yet Joan was still ready to defend her until Frances, Joan’s niece and Barbara’s daughter was in danger was incredibly frustrating and got quite dull to read at one point. Perhaps this was a realistic depiction of such a relationship, but surely there was a way to make it a bit more interesting for the readers rather than Barbara being callous, selfish and hurting her sister and daughter and Joan forgave her and then they just moved on

until they could not.

Taylor Jenkins Reid attempted to depict what it would be like working at what was and still is undoubtedly a huge institution like NASA. In the book, this was also a historic moment where the first woman astronaut was going into space. But, there was actually very little in the book in the sense of actual space exploration or the importance of this moment. Yes,the readers learned about the shuttle these people would fly on to space and that they would have to know inside out. While this was never supposed to be a historical textbook about NASA, I expected a bit more depth and seriousness than was offered here. The conversations about women in NASA were present, but felt more like an afterthought rather than something that the author planned to include in her story from the start.

I would say that there were real discussions and conversations about the consequences of being in a same sex relationship at this time, especially when working in a government agency that requires a high level of clearance. While it was obvious that was where the story would go, there was simply no other path it could take while remaining authentic and honoring the real people that might have gone through this, so I didn’t mind it as much. The conflict did get resolved a bit too quickly for my liking, while we were approaching the ending.

The main draw of the story was the WLW component of the book, and the relationship between Joan and Vanessa. While this was telegraphed from the first moment Joan saw Vanessa, and I was just waiting for the moment this was to come to fruition, I did not mind it as much. In fact, this was probably the most successful part of the story. At times, it was a bit cliche and even cringe, but in my opinion, all the best love stories have a bit of that in them. I did enjoy reading about the effects they had on each other and the way they resolved the issues they were having in the relationships, and the maturity they showed was refreshing.

Still, the problem I had was the character of Vanessa. As mentioned, the story is in third person narration but through the character of Joan who is head over heels for Vanessa from pretty much the start. Therefore, I do not feel like I know Vanessa at all, as all of our knowledge of her came from the woman that was so in love with her that she could absolutely not be even a bit realistic. She seemed quite fascinating with her colorful past and perhaps giving Vanessa a bit more of a voice in the narrative itself, and allowing her to tell her story would have made that character more successful. I believe it would make the final chapter a lot more effective emotionally and it would complicate this woman. She is one half of the main couple and I simply believe she had deserved a bigger part of the story.

Speaking of other characters, there were so many of them that after a while I was struggling to follow who was saying or doing what. This was especially as many of them were introduced for one or many two scenes, there to say one thing and trigger one of the main characters and then just go away. As I was listening to an audiobook of this, it made matters even more complicated for me. I understand that a place like NASA would have thousands of people working there and that somebody like Joan would have to interact with a bunch of them, but I am not sure if the author had a good grip on all of them and convinced me that they were all relevant to the story she was telling here. Without spoiling anything too much, I suppose she did introduce all these people so the ending would be more effective, but unfortunately, she did not make me care enough for these people as there were simply too many of them without not enough characterization. It took me a while to even start differentiating all the men in their cohort and try to understand who was doing what.

In the end, I am as interested in space travel and NASA as much as the next girl that looked to the night sky and wondered what was up there in the stars. It is not my main hobby or interest, but I do enjoy reading about it occasionally. But sadly, once again Taylor Jenkins Reid has left me wanting so much more. She has very interesting concepts and undoubtedly does a lot of research for all her books, but what we are presented with at the end remains a pretty shallow amalgamation of tropes and underdeveloped characters that leave a lot to be desired both in the sense of story or any message that perhaps could have been sent.

I feel like I have given this author enough chances as this is my fourth book by her and I almost left with the same exact feeling and criticism. I do not believe I will be attempting any more.
I rated this one ⅖.