Book Review: The Atlas Of Us by Kristin Dwyer

The Atlas Of Us by Kristin Dwyer

Published: February 29th 2024 by Harper Teen
Rating: ★★★★★ (5 stars)
Genres: Young Adult // Contemporary, Romance
Quick Thoughts: Delicate, atmospheric and all-consuming . . . putting how much I love this beautiful story into coherent words is the hardest thing to do. This is my book of the year—of the century. An absolute masterpiece.

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This was not gifted to me via the Publisher. There was no obligation to post/give this book a certain rating. I remain entirely impartial.

Note: This book deals with grief, loss of a Parent and has themes younger readers should take caution with.

About This Book:

Atlas has lost her way.
In a last-ditch effort to pull her life together, she’s working on a community service program rehabbing trails in the Western Sierras. The only plus is that the days are so exhausting that Atlas might just be tired enough to forget that this was one of her dad’s favorite places in the world. Before cancer stole him from her life, that is.
Using real names is forbidden on the trail. So Atlas becomes Maps, and with her team—Books, Sugar, Junior, and King—she heads into the wilderness. As she sheds the lies she’s built up as walls to protect herself, she realizes that four strangers might know her better than anyone has before. And with the end of the trail racing to meet them, Maps is left counting down the days until she returns to her old life—without her new family, and without King, who’s become more than just a friend.

First Thoughts

I read Kristin’s first book, Some Mistakes Were Made, straight after I got Covid for the first time, and formed a sort of emotional bond to the story. It got me through some real tough moments. I’ve found myself waiting (mostly impatiently) for another book from Kristin, and so when I heard about The Atlas Of Us, and that it was very much entwined with dealing with grief, I knew it was going to crush me in the best way possible.

My Review

The life Atlas James knew ended when her dad died. Try as she might, she can’t help the rebellion that bubbles within her, turning her life into turmoil and testing her mother’s patience. But in a last effort to turn the tide, she enrolls in her dad’s best friend’s community service program that rehabs trails in the Western Sierras. Everyone in the program leaves their old names behind and gets bestowed a nickname, and for Atlas, she becomes Maps. On her trail on team Blue are Sugar, Junior, Books, and King—the boy she cannot tear her eyes from as they begin exhausting work and adjust to life in tents and washing in the river, too tired to think most days.

On the trail, Atlas feels like she can leave behind Atlas and fully embrace Maps. Maps doesn’t have a dead dad, and she has had a great life—memories of prom, an upcoming stay at college—things that Atlas doesn’t. But slowly her walls start to crumble. This trail was something her dad wanted to do with her before he passed, and it’s as if the ghost of him is there with her, this deeply rooted need to do it for him, be better for him. Through it, King becomes someone she finds her guard lowering most around. King who looks at her like she’s not trouble, who helps her through anxiety attacks and kisses her in tents underneath the stars. Atlas’s trail buddies become her family through the weeks, and suddenly pretending to be perfect seems fickle around them. They love her, broken pieces and all. But when it comes time to part as the trail comes to an end, a secret threatens to derail all the good Atlas thought was beginning for her and the family she found amongst the treeline—but once she’s taken the time to heal, can more than the broken pieces of her heart be brought back together?

Overall, The Atlas Of Us was delicate, atmospheric and all-consuming, sweeping into my life like a hurricane and stealing my breath with every turn of the page. It’s been one of the most hard things I’ve ever had to do, putting how much I love this story into coherent words. My heart ached with Atlas, and I walked through her grief alongside her as she broke, healed and found happiness in the reflection of the river without drowning in it. Kristin is a magician at writing a magnetic love, and the way Maps (Atlas) and King were together was nothing short of beautiful. The careful way he showed her love was utter sorcery. I adored the found family aspect of the book, and Sugar, Junior, Books, Maps and King are cemented in my heart forever. This book healed a part of me that I didn’t know needed it, and the sobbing at two a.m. when I finished it was worth every tear. I will read anything Kristin writes for life. This is my book of the year, of the century—without a doubt a masterpiece and five star read.