Sometimes I am wary to pick up a book that I know will have an emotional impact on me. However, paradoxically such books always become my favorite. The Atlas of Us explores the depth of human emotion (in this case intense grief) and the resilience of human spirit. It is also about friendship, new beginnings and love. The main character is an 18 year old girl named Atlas (aka Maps) whose father recently died of cancer. Maps has the hardest time dealing with grief. She drops out of high school, has uncontrolled anger and sadness, and overall becomes rudderless. She ends up in a program for troubled kids who set off on a month long hike in the Sierra mountains. There, on the trail her father dreamed of hiking again, Maps slowly learns her way back to herself and builds new relationships. I truly loved this book. It is raw, it made me cry, it also had a beautiful love story (both the love between parent and child and romantic love). Highly recommend. What a great way to kick off the reading year!
I received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The US publication date is January 9, 2024.
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