Finished: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid on audiobook

I think I’m about halfway through right now and again, I’m in love with the characters. Each character’s well-developed and multifaceted. The characters get into big trouble before you know them well but as the author moves back and forth in time using a dual timeline structure you get more and more attached only to remember that they are currently not okay in the present. 

Lydia is super funny, I know she’s not supposed to be the comedic relief, and maybe it’s because I know way too many Lydias in my life, but I just found myself cracking up while I was listening to the interactions she had with the other characters. I wish I had the composure that Joan has while dealing with her. I think I’m mature enough now to not say the things, but my face would betray me, it says all the things. Oh Lydia!

Okay I finished the book. It was so good. I didn’t know much going into the book. The love story was unexpected. I cried, I cried several times. I ugly cried in the car. Also, I get fucking irritated with inequities. And fuck the inequities in this book. Just let people live, let them tell each other they love them without putting their careers in jeopardy; without putting their lives in jeopardy. 

It did remind me that they are good people in the world. Many of the characters accepted, and loved Joan for who she was, all parts of who she was. Actually, now that I think about it while I was reading I loved those characters for that, but now I’m angry with them for not doing more. I wish there was at least one advocate, or ally, or someone who allowed her to speak freely about all parts of herself, instead of just accepting her in silence. But I guess in reality there isn’t always that person. Fuck. Maybe that’s part of what makes the characters realistic. In the end I guess one person, one person allows her to speak her mind and profess her hopes. But maybe at that point it’s too little too late; only when they think it’s over do they acknowledge what she stands to lose. 

At one point Joan says, “It was not easy but oh was it good.”  I’m gonna walk away thinking about that. Carrying that with me when things are hard. When my three-nager throws a tantrum that lasts an hour because I peeled his orange wrong. When work feels like I’m bashing my head against a brick wall, but knowing that positive results are around the corner.

This was my third Taylor Jenkins Reid book and I’ve really enjoyed them all. I don’t currently have any more of her books on my TBR but I’ll definitely grab one if I find one on my Buy Nothing group or in a Little Free Library.