 | |
| Author | Taylor Jenkins Reid |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Ballantine Books |
Publication date | June 3, 2025 |
| ISBN | 978-0593158715 |
Atmosphere is a 2025 historical fiction romance novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The book centers on Joan Goodwin, a fictional astronaut in NASA's Space Shuttle program in the early 1980s.
Taylor Jenkins Reid is an American author who published her first novel in 2013. [1] From 2017 to 2022 she published The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo , Daisy Jones & the Six , Malibu Rising , and Carrie Soto Is Back , which are set in the same universe and together sometimes referred to as the "famous-women quartet". [1] [2] These four novels became bestsellers, aided by word of mouth (Evelyn Hugo went viral on BookTok in 2021, for instance). [2] [3] After Carrie Soto was published in 2022, Reid took a break from writing. [1]
For her next book, Reid sought to write one unlike her earlier works, which largely follow famous women living in California. [4] Reid conducted extensive research into the space program. [1] [4] She spent months living in Houston as part of this research. [4] Atmosphere is her ninth novel. [2] When asked in an interview why she included a lesbian love story, she replied, "Because there are a lot of different sides to me and it felt like, creatively, it was time to indulge this one. And also, because no one is going to tell me that love isn't love." [5] It was released on June 3, 2025, published by Ballantine Books. [6]
Atmosphere is set in the 1980s. The novel begins with a crisis: a malfunction aboard a space shuttle leaves most of the astronauts aboard dead or unconscious, with the exception of Vanessa Ford. Joan Goodwin is working as spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) in the mission control center, and instructs Vanessa that the ship must be landed. The novel then focuses on events taking place in the lead-up to this disaster.
The novel follows the life and career of Goodwin, a fictional astronaut in NASA's Space Shuttle program in the early 1980s. Joan Goodwin, who previously worked as an astronomer, begins training to go to space and grows close to many of the other astronauts in her program. She falls in love with another woman in the program, Vanessa Ford, though the two have to keep their relationship secret. Throughout the book, Joan also struggles with her relationship with her sister, Barbara, who is an irresponsible single mother to Frances. Joan often assists Barbara in caring for Frances.
At the end of the novel, Goodwin takes possession of Frances. The novel then returns to following the disaster that it began with. Ford ignores instructions from mission control that she should wait to attempt to land the spacecraft, hoping to save the life of another crew member. The ship survives re-entry to the Earth.
Atmosphere was widely anticipated. Book Riot deemed it "the biggest book of the summer." [7] Users on Goodreads voted it the top book to read in summer 2025. [8] The novel was Good Morning America’s pick for their book club in June 2025. [9]
Emily Martin in Book Riot felt that the book met the high expectations set for it and that it was Reid's best novel yet. [7] Lucy Scholes, writing in the Financial Times , opined that Atmosphere was not high-quality "literary fiction," but felt that the plot, characters, and story were "exactly" what made her a bestseller. [10] Various reviewers praised Reid's characterization and storytelling; [11] [12] Cory Oldweiler in the Minnesota Star Tribune felt the central love story in particular was "tender and well-crafted." [12]
Oldweiler criticized the choice to begin with a disaster, feeling that its outcome was too obvious to build any "narrative tension." [12] Scholes felt that the novel did not always engage on a deep level with the historical context, and arguing that Reid's message in response to intolerance faced by Ford and Goodwin for their lesbian relationship is that "love really can overcome all." Scholes concluded that the novel was "all rather saccharine, sanitised and oversimplified." [10] The Times' reviewer felt that Joan was too nice to be fully likable, and that progressive messaging was so explicit as to impede the work's readability, resulting in a book that lacked substance and fun. [13]
LAIKA Live Action announced that they had hired Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck to make a film adaptation of the novel. [11]