REVIEW: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

OUR REVIEW:

I freaking LOVED! this book. LOVED IT. I somehow got lucky enough to snag it through my local library before anyone else did and I inhaled it. Could not stop reading it. You could tell that TJR really researched all of the details of the novel and it seemed like she really loved Joan and her counterparts. I loved Joan. Her journey from dreaming about the stars to being among them and then help leading others in their journey through the stars was fascinating and wonderful and gripping. Equally powerful was her story of finding love in a way she'd never imagined or suspected--both with her niece, with her work, and with her lover. 

Cannot recommend this novel highly enough. I would love to see it made into a film. 

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SYNOPSIS:

Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s Space Shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space.

Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, who are kind and easy-going even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warm-hearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane.

As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined. In this new light, Joan begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe.

Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, everything changes in an instant.

Fast-paced, thrilling, and emotional, Atmosphere is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best: transporting readers to iconic times and places, with complex protagonists, telling a passionate and soaring story about the transformative power of love, this time among the stars.

REVIEW: Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

OUR REVIEW:

I've yet to meet a Taylor Jenkins Reid novel that I don't love and Carrie Soto is Back continues that trend. Carrie Soto is this badass tennis legend, made great by her hard work and talent, and by the training and attention to detail of her father/coach. This novel starts us off with her record being overtaken and her decision to make a comeback. It then plunges us into her past and into the making of her into a tennis phenom at the loving hands of her father, Javier. Their relationship is filled with love and opinion and adoration, even in the middle of some of their toughest moments. I truly loved her father--he wasn't perfect but the way Reid writes him, the love he feels for his daughter is all over every page. While he's largely responsible for making her into the intensely focused, stubborn, take no prisoners player she becomes, he's also kind and sees her trajectory, but also sees the bigger picture. He tries, in Carrie's adulthood, to encourage her to see beyond the moment, beyond tennis, but it is a hard ask for her and the vulnerable way it makes her feel, makes it difficult for her to see what he sees. She's created a shield between herself and the world out of necessity and it's difficult for her to live without it, except when it comes to her father. She loves and adores him; wants to please him and make him proud. As noted before, their relationship was not always easy, the deep love and respect they had for each other made me love them. 

While the love story of Carrie and tennis/her career, and the familial love between a father and a daughter, are a huge part of this novel, the addition of Bowe elevates everything. Their tension on and off the court, their friendship, and eventual love softens the edges a little. It humanizes Carrie even more than her comeback struggles and I think I just like that she finds someone who challenges her. 

I enjoyed everything about this novel and I'm truly not doing it justice by not writing about the attention to detail--pertaining to the game of tennis and sexism Carrie has to ignore, just to name two things--but I know that others who are smarter will give that the attention it's due. All I know is that I'm sad that I can't read it for the first time and I'm envious of all of you who can. 

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/3G2TrYL

Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two.

But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning player named Nicki Chan.

At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked “the Battle-Axe” anyway. Even if her body doesn’t move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.

In spite of it all, Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells her most vulnerable, emotional story yet.

REVIEW: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 

OUR REVIEW:

Malibu Rising is a deep dive into the Riva family over the course of 24 hours and had I not read Taylor Jenkins Reid before, and loved her, I might have been a smidge skeptical about this premise. But, it's Taylor Jenkins Reid. Annnnd I've enjoyed all of the novels I've read of hers so I jumped into Malibu Rising with two feet and I'm so glad I did. While the story itself is probably as old as time--failed relationships, longing, and hope for something better--it's the multiple perspectives and the pure love between the matriarch, June, and her children--Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit that made this a stand out. Her love, despite her flaws, made her someone I felt so deeply for. And of course, the dynamics between each of the siblings and their stories, intertwined with June and Mick's, had the pages turning.

Not only was this family drama one that I couldn't put down, but the pop culture references of the 80s and the side stories of the many others who popped into the storyline made this an unforgettable story.

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/3gZ1KJ9

SYNOPSIS:

Malibu: August 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over—especially as the offspring of the legendary singer Mick Riva.

The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud—because it is long past time for him to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth.

Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there.

And Kit has a couple secrets of her own—including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come rising to the surface.

Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them . . . and what they will leave behind.

REVIEW: Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I've yet to read a book by Taylor Jenkins Reid that doesn't completely capture and hold my attention so when I had a chance to sit down and read Daisy Jones & The Six I was hoping for the same reading experience. SPOILER ALERT: This reading experience was awesome. I sat down with this novel at the beginning of my weekend and let it steal hours away from my non-reading life so that I could read it.

I'm going to be honest with you, as always dear reader, and tell you that this isn't your typical contemporary romance or even general fiction work--though if you've read any of TJR's other works, you know that she doesn't write the typical. This particular novel is written like an interview so you get to know the characters and their stories through a question and answer format. You won't find exposition and the usual story arc but instead what you'll find is that you're picturing these characters and trying to match them up with a band that you're familiar with. I won't tell you which famous band I pictured but I'll tell you that the image I had was strong and it enhanced the way I visualized all of this going down.

So while this isn't really a traditional read, it was completely fascinating. I found myself really loving and rooting for some characters, exasperated with others, and completely amused by all of them at one time or another. I enjoyed feeling like I was a fly on the wall as these characters lived out their hugest dreams and struggled through their worst nightmares. And I definitely loved all the musician references and imagining what it would've been like to be a young musician living the lives they were living.

I enjoyed was the raw truths, the poetic lyrics, and the sometimes shallow and sometimes profound insights that these characters revealed. Strangely, or not, many of these things resonated with me and lingered in my head and I especially loved the lingering nostalgia and bittersweetness that seemed to hang around long after I was finished reading. I recently saw that Amazon picked this novel up to be a short series and I'm thrilled to see  what they do with it.

BUY IT on AMAZON.

Synopsis:
A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous breakup.

“I devoured Daisy Jones & The Six in a day, falling head over heels for it. Daisy and the band captured my heart.”—Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club x Hello Sunshine book pick)
Everyone knows DAISY JONES & THE SIX, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.
Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ’n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

OUR REVIEW:

You know what? I think my desire to put an ice pick to my heart via novels may actually be over, thanks to Taylor Jenkins Reid. Her work in crafting the story of Evelyn Hugo put the final and deadly puncture wound to my heart and I think I'm good now. I'm officially FULL of all the emotions. ALL.OF.THE.EMOTIONS.

I thought I was prepared for this novel.
I wasn't.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo lulled me into a safe and pleasurable reading zone and I was enjoying the characters and the concept and then at some point I was blinking back tears and it felt like my heart had expanded up into my throat and into my entire torso and I got to the end of the book and I just...gahhhhh...I felt so many things.

Evelyn Hugo was a complex character with such a self awareness, at the end of the novel, that I had a ton of admiration and sorrow for all that she lived with/through/for. Her story made me once again realize how fortunate I am to have what I have and live in the time that I do; it also made me remember how important it is to live MY life on my terms, and the terms of my family. Ultimately, it made me think and feel and I think that may be the highest praise I have to offer (other than my dad would read this and love it and then berate me for letting him read another novel that makes him FEEL the things he'd feel).

I realize that I haven't really told you the how or why behind my emotional reaction to this novel, but I'll let the synopsis and your own reading determine that. Just take my word for it--this novel was on the best of 2017 lists for a reason--you should read it.

BUY IT on AMAZON.

Synopsis:

In this entrancing novel “that speaks to the Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor in us all” (Kirkus Reviews), a legendary film actress reflects on her relentless rise to the top and the risks she took, the loves she lost, and the long-held secrets the public could never imagine.

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

“Heartbreaking, yet beautiful” (Jamie Blynn, Us Weekly), The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is “Tinseltown drama at its finest” (Redbook): a mesmerizing journey through the splendor of old Hollywood into the harsh realities of the present day as two women struggle with what it means—and what it costs—to face the truth.