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Atomic Hearts
A fateful summer of secrets and lies alters the trajectory of a young girl’s life in this glimmering debut about love, addiction, and the power of storytelling.
I’d been raised on secrets, I knew they weren’t a good idea.
Sixteen and living in a small Michigan town, Gertie is harboring a secret heavy enough to fracture her closest friendship. She and Cindy have been bonded since birth by the fact their fathers are addicts, but their unsteady home lives are a little easier when they’re together, sprawled on trampoline vinyl with pilfered vodka and dreams of moving to New York.
Everything was changing so fast. I didn’t know what was real.
After an accident involving a bonfire and an aerosol can sends Gertie to the hospital, she finds herself with nowhere to go but to Sioux Falls to live with her newly clean father. She sees it as a chance to escape the hometown drama she's caused, but it finds her all the same: parties without curfews, boys without boundaries, a compromising photo, tragedy back home . . . and her father, once again teetering on the edge of oblivion. Terrified of the consequences of being honest with Cindy, her sole refuge is the fantasy novel she’s writing, a portal to another world and the story of a young girl roaming a strange land, trusting her wits to survive.
I had to become a different person before I’d even figured out who I was in the first place.
Years later, when ghosts of the past surface, Gertie decides to write again about that explosive summer from the stabler shores of adulthood. Powered by the fierce imagination of her youth, Gertie finally allows herself the grace to tell a version of her story that she always hoped would be true.
Written with the feel and power of a ticking time bomb, Atomic Hearts is an unforgettable story of the ways we can be saved by friendship, love, and imagination.
I’d been raised on secrets, I knew they weren’t a good idea.
Sixteen and living in a small Michigan town, Gertie is harboring a secret heavy enough to fracture her closest friendship. She and Cindy have been bonded since birth by the fact their fathers are addicts, but their unsteady home lives are a little easier when they’re together, sprawled on trampoline vinyl with pilfered vodka and dreams of moving to New York.
Everything was changing so fast. I didn’t know what was real.
After an accident involving a bonfire and an aerosol can sends Gertie to the hospital, she finds herself with nowhere to go but to Sioux Falls to live with her newly clean father. She sees it as a chance to escape the hometown drama she's caused, but it finds her all the same: parties without curfews, boys without boundaries, a compromising photo, tragedy back home . . . and her father, once again teetering on the edge of oblivion. Terrified of the consequences of being honest with Cindy, her sole refuge is the fantasy novel she’s writing, a portal to another world and the story of a young girl roaming a strange land, trusting her wits to survive.
I had to become a different person before I’d even figured out who I was in the first place.
Years later, when ghosts of the past surface, Gertie decides to write again about that explosive summer from the stabler shores of adulthood. Powered by the fierce imagination of her youth, Gertie finally allows herself the grace to tell a version of her story that she always hoped would be true.
Written with the feel and power of a ticking time bomb, Atomic Hearts is an unforgettable story of the ways we can be saved by friendship, love, and imagination.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published August 5, 2025
46 people are currently reading
16604 people want to read
About the author
Megan Cummins
2 books70 followersMegan Cummins is a writer and editor living in New York. She is the author of the novel ATOMIC HEARTS (Ballantine) and the story collection IF THE BODY ALLOWS IT (University of Nebraska Press), which was awarded the 2019 Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction and longlisted for the Story Prize and the PEN/Bingham Award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 147 reviews
October 3, 2025
the epilogue was giving “girl who’s going to be okay” and idk how to feel about that
January 4, 2025
This heartbreakingly brilliant novel explores the long path to self-fulfillment, how we discover our place in the world, and what we owe to others along the way. That pathway is increasingly meandering, as Gertie drives far as she can from the people she is closest to, searching for home across state lines—showing up for the people in her life, failing to show up, showing up in all the wrong ways. Life’s moral complexities, personal betrayals, and simple mistakes chip away at her certitudes until, finally, meaning and solace appear in the unlikeliest of places. Gertie uncovers the troubling, intricate mystery of human connection, how we survive the worst of it and sometimes don’t. Above all, it lays bare how we often manage, despite enormous hurdles, to collapse the remote distances between us, and how each of us is a portal to worlds unseen. It's a MUST-READ.
August 20, 2025
4.5 stars rounded up.
In "Atomic Hearts", Megan Cummins delivers a powerful debut novel about secrets, addiction, and survival. We first meet Gertie at sixteen, growing up in small-town Michigan, her life defined by the chaos of growing up with a father who is an addict, a struggle she shares with her best friend Cindy. The two girls' bond is rooted in shared struggles and dreams of escape, but tested by the weight of growing up with addicted fathers, tragedy, and a secret that threatens to unravel everything. After Gertie is forced to live with her newly sober father in Sioux Falls for a summer, she discovers that even in a new place her ghosts will still haunt her. Years later, from the vantage point of adulthood, she revisits that explosive summer, attempting to rewrite her past with the grace and perspective of time.
Told in a dual timeline, the novel captures both the raw immediacy of adolescence and the reflective lens of adulthood. Cummins masterfully balances the harsh realities of addiction, fractured families, and coming of age with moments of resilience, imagination, and friendship. Hard to believe that this is a debut novel!
Gertie is a wonderfully believable protagonist: messy, flawed, loyal, and lonely. Her story - by turns moving, by turns infuriating, and always heartbreakingly real - echoed aspects of my own adolescence. A side note: the fantasy novel Gertie tries to write at sixteen works beautifully as an escape within the story. It was so compelling that I found myself wishing I could read that book, too.
Sometimes raw and unflinchingly honest about the struggles of adolescent girls and the dangers of unhealthy relationships, sometimes heartbreakingly tender, "Atomic Hearts" is not just about addiction. It’s about grit, survival, and the complicated ways we carry the people who shape us, even when they break our hearts.
A beautifully real coming-of-age story about resilience, love, and the cost of our choices.
Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
"Atomic Hearts" was first published on August 5, 2025.
In "Atomic Hearts", Megan Cummins delivers a powerful debut novel about secrets, addiction, and survival. We first meet Gertie at sixteen, growing up in small-town Michigan, her life defined by the chaos of growing up with a father who is an addict, a struggle she shares with her best friend Cindy. The two girls' bond is rooted in shared struggles and dreams of escape, but tested by the weight of growing up with addicted fathers, tragedy, and a secret that threatens to unravel everything. After Gertie is forced to live with her newly sober father in Sioux Falls for a summer, she discovers that even in a new place her ghosts will still haunt her. Years later, from the vantage point of adulthood, she revisits that explosive summer, attempting to rewrite her past with the grace and perspective of time.
Told in a dual timeline, the novel captures both the raw immediacy of adolescence and the reflective lens of adulthood. Cummins masterfully balances the harsh realities of addiction, fractured families, and coming of age with moments of resilience, imagination, and friendship. Hard to believe that this is a debut novel!
Gertie is a wonderfully believable protagonist: messy, flawed, loyal, and lonely. Her story - by turns moving, by turns infuriating, and always heartbreakingly real - echoed aspects of my own adolescence. A side note: the fantasy novel Gertie tries to write at sixteen works beautifully as an escape within the story. It was so compelling that I found myself wishing I could read that book, too.
Sometimes raw and unflinchingly honest about the struggles of adolescent girls and the dangers of unhealthy relationships, sometimes heartbreakingly tender, "Atomic Hearts" is not just about addiction. It’s about grit, survival, and the complicated ways we carry the people who shape us, even when they break our hearts.
A beautifully real coming-of-age story about resilience, love, and the cost of our choices.
Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
"Atomic Hearts" was first published on August 5, 2025.
July 24, 2025
4⭐️ I enjoyed this story of addiction, families, love and friendship. Written from a dual timeline, past, and future, it tells the story of Gertie. In the past Gertie is the struggling 16 year old child of addicts trying to find her place in the world. In the future Gertie still struggles with choices, relationships and guilt.
The characters of Gertie and her best friend Cindy were interesting and believable. Their friendship weathered the storm of secrets, betrayal, tragedy and heartbreak.
The author’s Epilogue explains that this is based on some of her life events with some changes.
Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
The characters of Gertie and her best friend Cindy were interesting and believable. Their friendship weathered the storm of secrets, betrayal, tragedy and heartbreak.
The author’s Epilogue explains that this is based on some of her life events with some changes.
Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
March 27, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this book!
From the moment I read the blurb, I knew this book would hit me where it hurts and wow did it. The writing itself wasn't exactly knock your socks off phenomenal with blurb worthy quotes and purple prose covering every page. It was raw, it was real, and when I say I have never read another book that mirrored my own life to this extent, I'm being serious. It feels strange even writing a review on it, because I feel as though I am writing a review of my own life. From the mother going to live on a boat with her boyfriend (my mom did this literally about 6 months ago) to the time her dad read her book over her shoulder (secondhand embarrassment for me) to the IRISH HUSBAND (anyone who actually knows me knows how much I talk about my Irish husband) at times I felt like the author was simply living in my walls. I fear I became fictional.
This book explores the possibilities, the actions and the consequences of not only ourselves but of those we love around us. It was simply perfect, doing things like addiction justice. It was hard to read at times just because of how real the feelings were, and how much I could feel for the character. I held on throughout, knowing in my heart that things wouldn't get better because that is simply how life is. It's full of this weird light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel feeling, yet is never achieved. I feel seen after reading this, and I hope that those who read it will have the same feeling afterward.
I'm sure I could say more, but I have to process everything I did just read.
From the moment I read the blurb, I knew this book would hit me where it hurts and wow did it. The writing itself wasn't exactly knock your socks off phenomenal with blurb worthy quotes and purple prose covering every page. It was raw, it was real, and when I say I have never read another book that mirrored my own life to this extent, I'm being serious. It feels strange even writing a review on it, because I feel as though I am writing a review of my own life. From the mother going to live on a boat with her boyfriend (my mom did this literally about 6 months ago) to the time her dad read her book over her shoulder (secondhand embarrassment for me) to the IRISH HUSBAND (anyone who actually knows me knows how much I talk about my Irish husband) at times I felt like the author was simply living in my walls. I fear I became fictional.
This book explores the possibilities, the actions and the consequences of not only ourselves but of those we love around us. It was simply perfect, doing things like addiction justice. It was hard to read at times just because of how real the feelings were, and how much I could feel for the character. I held on throughout, knowing in my heart that things wouldn't get better because that is simply how life is. It's full of this weird light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel feeling, yet is never achieved. I feel seen after reading this, and I hope that those who read it will have the same feeling afterward.
I'm sure I could say more, but I have to process everything I did just read.
December 29, 2024
Wow.
This book took me over a week to get through - not in a bad way at all, but because I felt like I had to carefully process every chapter.
Gertie is a teenager who has to become an adult much too quickly. She’s dealing with far more than a she should have to - both from her own doing, as well as from forces she can’t possibly control. There was so much thought put into this story, and the characters, and I cared deeply for every single one of them.
It’s not often that you can connect so deeply with a book but I felt like this story touched a part of me that not many do. I’m really looking forward to rereading this when the final version is published.
Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with the ARC of this book.
This book took me over a week to get through - not in a bad way at all, but because I felt like I had to carefully process every chapter.
Gertie is a teenager who has to become an adult much too quickly. She’s dealing with far more than a she should have to - both from her own doing, as well as from forces she can’t possibly control. There was so much thought put into this story, and the characters, and I cared deeply for every single one of them.
It’s not often that you can connect so deeply with a book but I felt like this story touched a part of me that not many do. I’m really looking forward to rereading this when the final version is published.
Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with the ARC of this book.
August 2, 2025
Atomic Hearts by Megan Cummins. Thanks to @randomhouse #ballantinebooks for the gifted copy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Living in small town Michigan, Gertie and Cindy are best friends, their friendship strengthen by the fact that both their fathers are addicts. After an accident, Gertie is left with no option but to go live with her dad in Sioux Falls where she finds drama with the local teens.
This was a great debut. I’m looking forward to more reads by this author. I love a good coming of age story. What I loved about this one is that it had serious topics and issues the main character was dealing with, such as a parent in the throes of addiction, but also regular adolescent drama as well. It shows the power of friendship, the love a child has for a parent, and the tragedy of children having to care for and protect their guardians as children, and then later as grown adults.
“Imagination, then, is the torch in the tunnel- not the light at the end of it, but something in your hand that you’ve lit yourself.”
Atomic Hearts comes out 8/5.
Living in small town Michigan, Gertie and Cindy are best friends, their friendship strengthen by the fact that both their fathers are addicts. After an accident, Gertie is left with no option but to go live with her dad in Sioux Falls where she finds drama with the local teens.
This was a great debut. I’m looking forward to more reads by this author. I love a good coming of age story. What I loved about this one is that it had serious topics and issues the main character was dealing with, such as a parent in the throes of addiction, but also regular adolescent drama as well. It shows the power of friendship, the love a child has for a parent, and the tragedy of children having to care for and protect their guardians as children, and then later as grown adults.
“Imagination, then, is the torch in the tunnel- not the light at the end of it, but something in your hand that you’ve lit yourself.”
Atomic Hearts comes out 8/5.
October 21, 2025
The first half was much stronger than the second. More a coming of age story as opposed to a girl dealing wither her father’s drug addictions, and a barely present mother, it was just missing that one extra oomph to really make this a great book.
Will most likely be Reese’s BOTM at least from what I’m hearing!
Will most likely be Reese’s BOTM at least from what I’m hearing!
July 3, 2025
oh fuck this just punched me in the chest. so good. that last chapter. so many lines and moments that hit hard. caring for people and having people who you care about is a heavy burden but wow is it special ?! being a young woman is hell and magic in its own way
August 6, 2025
***NOW PUBLISHED!****
10 stars if I could! I loved every word of this book, which is the debut novel of Megan Cummins. I was immediately drawn in to the world of 16-year-old Gertie and her best friend Cindy, both of whom have fathers who are drug addicts. In fact, their fathers are best friends, and the reason Gertie and Cindy became acquainted. It’s an unusual angle for a friendship story, but one which delighted me.
Neither Gertie nor Cindy lives with their father. Both live with their mothers (in Michigan), although Gertie is ostensibly on her own this summer since her mother is off in Florida on a boat trip with a suitor. When an accident involving a fire and an aerosol can put Gertie in the hospital, and Gertie somewhat accidentally sleeps with Cindy’s boyfriend, it makes for a good time for Gertie to spend the summer with her father (clean at the moment) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The summer will bring its own problems, with Gertie’s father largely absent and Gertie making friends with a big messy group of kids her age.
The book is made especially interesting by its being told in two timelines, the “past” of Gertie’s summer in Sioux Falls and the “future”, 15 or so years later in New York City. The past as Gertie remembers it comes back to haunt her in the future, and she is forced to take an honest look back at the summer that changed her life. Though it’s not a thriller, the book has a twist that shocks in its final pages.
Atomic Hearts has that intangible “magic” that only my favorite reads have. It was an absolute joy to read, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to all readers.
Much thanks to NetGalley and Ballentine Books for giving me access to this e-ARC, which will publish in August 2025.
10 stars if I could! I loved every word of this book, which is the debut novel of Megan Cummins. I was immediately drawn in to the world of 16-year-old Gertie and her best friend Cindy, both of whom have fathers who are drug addicts. In fact, their fathers are best friends, and the reason Gertie and Cindy became acquainted. It’s an unusual angle for a friendship story, but one which delighted me.
Neither Gertie nor Cindy lives with their father. Both live with their mothers (in Michigan), although Gertie is ostensibly on her own this summer since her mother is off in Florida on a boat trip with a suitor. When an accident involving a fire and an aerosol can put Gertie in the hospital, and Gertie somewhat accidentally sleeps with Cindy’s boyfriend, it makes for a good time for Gertie to spend the summer with her father (clean at the moment) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The summer will bring its own problems, with Gertie’s father largely absent and Gertie making friends with a big messy group of kids her age.
The book is made especially interesting by its being told in two timelines, the “past” of Gertie’s summer in Sioux Falls and the “future”, 15 or so years later in New York City. The past as Gertie remembers it comes back to haunt her in the future, and she is forced to take an honest look back at the summer that changed her life. Though it’s not a thriller, the book has a twist that shocks in its final pages.
Atomic Hearts has that intangible “magic” that only my favorite reads have. It was an absolute joy to read, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to all readers.
Much thanks to NetGalley and Ballentine Books for giving me access to this e-ARC, which will publish in August 2025.
December 29, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!
Focusing on the past and the present of the main character Gertie, this explores addiction, love, family and friendship. I thought each was done nicely with respects to the delicacy of the situation.
Gertie's family struggles with addiction and while I won't go into detail she does have a summer that would change her life forever. This showed a lot of the harsh realities of watching a family member suffer and the pain and emotion felt very real to me.
There was also the bonds she formed with other teens she met that summer and how they would play a roll in her life later on. What I thought would be a typical teen romance really was not that and by the end of the novel I really didn't care for this person at all.
Lastly, the friendship she had with Cindy. It all felt very real for me and I felt the anxiety as she hid a secret that could change their friendship. I was really happy to see it without stood both their struggles.
I'm always iffy about the advanced copy books I get but I felt that this one was a real winner.
Focusing on the past and the present of the main character Gertie, this explores addiction, love, family and friendship. I thought each was done nicely with respects to the delicacy of the situation.
Gertie's family struggles with addiction and while I won't go into detail she does have a summer that would change her life forever. This showed a lot of the harsh realities of watching a family member suffer and the pain and emotion felt very real to me.
There was also the bonds she formed with other teens she met that summer and how they would play a roll in her life later on. What I thought would be a typical teen romance really was not that and by the end of the novel I really didn't care for this person at all.
Lastly, the friendship she had with Cindy. It all felt very real for me and I felt the anxiety as she hid a secret that could change their friendship. I was really happy to see it without stood both their struggles.
I'm always iffy about the advanced copy books I get but I felt that this one was a real winner.
July 13, 2025
This is a coming-of-age story of Gertie McMahon, 16, who was stuck inside an unhappy home.
The story had two timelines from the past to the future. Gertie tried her best to take care of herself and help her parents regardless of her difficulties. She lived through the emotional turmoil of her past to understand her present situation.
It was easy to follow with well-developed characters and the plot seemed plausible. The author did a decent job of creating a hopeless situation that sadly happens too often these days. However, I found it to be overly depressing. I just wanted to free myself from this heart-breaking place. This is a book that could resonate with other readers much better.
My thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of August 5, 2025.
The story had two timelines from the past to the future. Gertie tried her best to take care of herself and help her parents regardless of her difficulties. She lived through the emotional turmoil of her past to understand her present situation.
It was easy to follow with well-developed characters and the plot seemed plausible. The author did a decent job of creating a hopeless situation that sadly happens too often these days. However, I found it to be overly depressing. I just wanted to free myself from this heart-breaking place. This is a book that could resonate with other readers much better.
My thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of August 5, 2025.
March 19, 2025
wow i really enjoyed this arc. thank you to NetGalley for providing me with it! this is a dual timeline story following a summer Gertie spent with her father as a teen and her life in the present day. it’s such a powerful story about love, friendship, family, and addiction. very glad to have read this. and i always appreciate an ending that makes me question everything i just read and gasp with shock.
February 26, 2025
A book of deep pathos about the stories we tell ourselves (or don't) in order to live, or at least to try.
August 3, 2025
Atomic Hearts (thank you #gifted @ballantinebooks @randomhouse ) is a beautiful coming of age novel about addiction, friendship, and the ways our past shapes our future.
After a bad accident involving a fire and aerosol can, sixteen year old Gertie leaves her small Michigan town to move in with her father, newly sober and living in South Dakota. She leaves behind her best friend, whose father is also an addict, in a summer that changes everything.
It's a novel about being a teenager- the crushes, the newfound freedom and responsibility, the friendships made that seem like they'll last forever. But in no way did it feel YA. And it shows the awful parts, too: the objectification of a girl's body, the powerlessness felt when those in charge aren't there when you need them.
We also see Gertie's life as an adult, a novelist caring for her mother who has multiple sclerosis and does not want treatment. She's writing about that summer, reflecting on the choices she made and what could have been.
Woven throughout Gertie's teenage years is the fantasy novel she's working on. It's not presented as a book within a book, more like her thinking and reasoning behind what will happen to Jamie, a teenage girl who falls through a portal to another world. A chance to escape, to find a hero and become one yourself, what it means to return home again. It's a brilliant reflection on the questions I struggled with as a teenager, the things I wished I could be.
The enduring power found in those we choose to love. The ways we get a second chance, and the times we don't. A powerful book that left me with so much to think about.
After a bad accident involving a fire and aerosol can, sixteen year old Gertie leaves her small Michigan town to move in with her father, newly sober and living in South Dakota. She leaves behind her best friend, whose father is also an addict, in a summer that changes everything.
It's a novel about being a teenager- the crushes, the newfound freedom and responsibility, the friendships made that seem like they'll last forever. But in no way did it feel YA. And it shows the awful parts, too: the objectification of a girl's body, the powerlessness felt when those in charge aren't there when you need them.
We also see Gertie's life as an adult, a novelist caring for her mother who has multiple sclerosis and does not want treatment. She's writing about that summer, reflecting on the choices she made and what could have been.
Woven throughout Gertie's teenage years is the fantasy novel she's working on. It's not presented as a book within a book, more like her thinking and reasoning behind what will happen to Jamie, a teenage girl who falls through a portal to another world. A chance to escape, to find a hero and become one yourself, what it means to return home again. It's a brilliant reflection on the questions I struggled with as a teenager, the things I wished I could be.
The enduring power found in those we choose to love. The ways we get a second chance, and the times we don't. A powerful book that left me with so much to think about.
August 14, 2025
SIX WORD REVIEW: Every triangle different in its way.
June 23, 2025
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I am a huge fan of coming of age stories and also books told in the past and future/present timeline so I knew this would be a good one. I just adored the main character Gertie and was always rooting for her. Her relationship with her best friend Cindy was so well described in this book that I could actually feel in real life the emotions between the two of them. The plot is very relatable as well in the way we are haunted by the ghosts of our past. What a fantastic story!
August 1, 2025
“Is a mistake made out of loneliness, or sadness, as bad as one made out of desire or envy?”
An absolute gut punch of a novel about friendship, addiction, family, and discovering who you are.
I really enjoyed this book. I could feel the teenage angst & uncertainty in the “past” chapters, and tue “future” chapters perfectly conveyed the adult years & navigating adult relationships after growing in an unstable environment. The last few chapters were so painful & wonderfully done.
Thank you to Ballantine, Net Galley, & the author for the eARC.
An absolute gut punch of a novel about friendship, addiction, family, and discovering who you are.
I really enjoyed this book. I could feel the teenage angst & uncertainty in the “past” chapters, and tue “future” chapters perfectly conveyed the adult years & navigating adult relationships after growing in an unstable environment. The last few chapters were so painful & wonderfully done.
Thank you to Ballantine, Net Galley, & the author for the eARC.
July 3, 2025
A sad yet uplifting coming-of-age story written with compassion. Atomic Hearts is a powerful story about family, friendship, love and addiction. Great read! Don’t miss it.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
November 29, 2025
Wow! What a pleasant surprise this debut was! ATOMIC HEARTS checked SO many boxes for me. Not only did it include some of my very favorite themes to read about like female friendship, family drama, and girlhood, it’s also highly character-driven—which I absolutely love. Gertie, the young female protagonist is messy, flawed, and super realistic. Just like any teenager, Gertie makes some risky moves, a few mistakes, and learns a couple of valuable life lessons. It was a pleasure to witness her growth while rooting for her all the way. This novel is gritty, heavy, and raw. I couldn’t get enough of it.
READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:
- Female friendship
- Family drama and dynamics
- Father-daughter stories
- Coming-of-age stories
- Girlhood and teenage angst
- Midwest setting
- Dual timeline
- Literary fiction
- Character-driven novels
I HIGHLY recommend the audio version of this novel as Helen Laser narrates and does a phenomenal job doing so. She’s quickly becoming one of my very favorite narrators.
Overall, this debut was a major hit for me. I’ll read anything Megan Cummins writes from here on out. Her writing style—especially the character development—is top tier. 4.5/5 stars for ATOMIC HEARTS! Highly recommend!
READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:
- Female friendship
- Family drama and dynamics
- Father-daughter stories
- Coming-of-age stories
- Girlhood and teenage angst
- Midwest setting
- Dual timeline
- Literary fiction
- Character-driven novels
I HIGHLY recommend the audio version of this novel as Helen Laser narrates and does a phenomenal job doing so. She’s quickly becoming one of my very favorite narrators.
Overall, this debut was a major hit for me. I’ll read anything Megan Cummins writes from here on out. Her writing style—especially the character development—is top tier. 4.5/5 stars for ATOMIC HEARTS! Highly recommend!
November 11, 2025
Atomic Hearts by Megan Cummins (book cover is in image) was a very emotional and hard read. Covering themes of adolescence, female friendships, and the lasting impacts of growing up with addicts. This was a stellar debut and cannot wait to see what this author brings us next.
Thank you @ballantinebooks and @netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.
Pub Date: Aug 05 2025
Rating: 4 Stars
#AtomicHearts
#MeganCummins
#BallantineBooks
#womensFiction
#yarisbooknook
#netgalley
Thank you @ballantinebooks and @netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.
Pub Date: Aug 05 2025
Rating: 4 Stars
#AtomicHearts
#MeganCummins
#BallantineBooks
#womensFiction
#yarisbooknook
#netgalley
August 8, 2025
This raw, vulnerable debut novel took me by surprise with its emotional resonance and deceptively simple prose. With its dual timeline narrative, Atomic Hearts is a coming of age story and also the story of a woman in the middle of her life who is still deeply effected by her past and by the events of one traumatic summer in particular.
At the start of the summer that comprises the bulk of the narrative, Gertie has betrayed her best friend Cindy, seriously injured herself, and become a burden to her mother who wants to focus on her new relationship. When her mother decides to go live on a boat with her boyfriend, Gertie has the option of staying with Cindy’s family, but she chooses to flee the state to live with her father instead. Gertie’s father has struggled with addiction her whole life but she’s under the impression that he’s gotten clean during her time in South Dakota.
As the summer progresses, Gertie makes friends with some teens and becomes involved with two very different boys, while feeling guilty about hooking up with her best friend’s boyfriend back home. At the same time, she’s constantly worried about her father, who has clearly started using again. The story is interspersed with bits of a fantasy novel that Gertie is writing, and while I sort of found them jarring and confusing, I did enjoy the way they functioned as a coping mechanism for the things Gertie was going through.
The relationships and events of that summer continue to weigh on Gertie’s mind in the sections narrated from the future. Adult Gertie has recently moved back to her home state of Michigan with her husband and her mother, who is ill and requires full time care. Gertie is still a writer and it becomes clear that the story we’re reading is being written by her in real time, so to speak. I love nested narratives as a trope, so this aspect really worked for me, especially when you consider the possibility that our narrator is unreliable or rewriting the details of the past in ways that help her cope with the present.
Above all, this novel reminds us that you can’t change or truly forget the past; you have to drag it along with you until bits of it fall away and you make peace with what remains. I am extremely impressed with the quality of the writing and the emotional depth of this debut— I can definitely see myself purchasing and rereading this. Will definitely be awaiting more from this author!
Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books | Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to be an early reader of this title, available now!
At the start of the summer that comprises the bulk of the narrative, Gertie has betrayed her best friend Cindy, seriously injured herself, and become a burden to her mother who wants to focus on her new relationship. When her mother decides to go live on a boat with her boyfriend, Gertie has the option of staying with Cindy’s family, but she chooses to flee the state to live with her father instead. Gertie’s father has struggled with addiction her whole life but she’s under the impression that he’s gotten clean during her time in South Dakota.
As the summer progresses, Gertie makes friends with some teens and becomes involved with two very different boys, while feeling guilty about hooking up with her best friend’s boyfriend back home. At the same time, she’s constantly worried about her father, who has clearly started using again. The story is interspersed with bits of a fantasy novel that Gertie is writing, and while I sort of found them jarring and confusing, I did enjoy the way they functioned as a coping mechanism for the things Gertie was going through.
The relationships and events of that summer continue to weigh on Gertie’s mind in the sections narrated from the future. Adult Gertie has recently moved back to her home state of Michigan with her husband and her mother, who is ill and requires full time care. Gertie is still a writer and it becomes clear that the story we’re reading is being written by her in real time, so to speak. I love nested narratives as a trope, so this aspect really worked for me, especially when you consider the possibility that our narrator is unreliable or rewriting the details of the past in ways that help her cope with the present.
Above all, this novel reminds us that you can’t change or truly forget the past; you have to drag it along with you until bits of it fall away and you make peace with what remains. I am extremely impressed with the quality of the writing and the emotional depth of this debut— I can definitely see myself purchasing and rereading this. Will definitely be awaiting more from this author!
Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books | Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to be an early reader of this title, available now!
November 19, 2025
This book was so authentically beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. A coming-of-age novel about how our past shapes us, by taking the reader through the past and the future of Gertie’s life. Dual timelines are my favorite because it really allows the reader to see how the character struggles through the years and how the trauma she endures makes her who she is.
Gertie’s journey was so complex and my heart ached for the struggles she went through in her life. This book handles some very heavy topics with a lot of care. The character development and self-discovery over the course of the book was heart mending. The rawness and honesty of her journey took my breath away.
Addiction, abandonment, betrayal, friendship, girlhood, the complexities of the human experience, and healing are all heavy themes throughout this incredible debut. I can’t wait to read more from this author in the future. I don’t give away 5 stars very easily, but this was such an important story that I will be thinking about for a long time.
Gertie’s journey was so complex and my heart ached for the struggles she went through in her life. This book handles some very heavy topics with a lot of care. The character development and self-discovery over the course of the book was heart mending. The rawness and honesty of her journey took my breath away.
Addiction, abandonment, betrayal, friendship, girlhood, the complexities of the human experience, and healing are all heavy themes throughout this incredible debut. I can’t wait to read more from this author in the future. I don’t give away 5 stars very easily, but this was such an important story that I will be thinking about for a long time.
September 2, 2025
I could not look away! This coming of age story is one of the best i’ve read and I can definitely see this being adapted to film.
Gertie can win an award for best protagonist with her grit, imperfections and loyalty. At 16, Gertie was yearning to find her place in life and was burdened by the addictions and abandonment of her parents. Due to this, Gertie’s story was filled with loss, loneliness, deep insecurity, abandonment, manipulation and grief. I felt what she felt and understood her actions even when I didn’t quite agree. I loved Gertie’s and Cindy’s unwavering friendship and how their shared pain connected them even more. I also enjoyed the addition of a Gertie writing a novel as her own life unfolded that tumultuous summer. Alsoooo the end🤯. Bravo Megan for such a remarkable and transformative storytelling.
Gertie can win an award for best protagonist with her grit, imperfections and loyalty. At 16, Gertie was yearning to find her place in life and was burdened by the addictions and abandonment of her parents. Due to this, Gertie’s story was filled with loss, loneliness, deep insecurity, abandonment, manipulation and grief. I felt what she felt and understood her actions even when I didn’t quite agree. I loved Gertie’s and Cindy’s unwavering friendship and how their shared pain connected them even more. I also enjoyed the addition of a Gertie writing a novel as her own life unfolded that tumultuous summer. Alsoooo the end🤯. Bravo Megan for such a remarkable and transformative storytelling.
August 31, 2025
I loved the first half of this book, then it bogged down for a while in Part 2. I struggled to keep going, but I never considered abandoning it. The main character, Gertie, suffers a lot of trauma and is really struggling to make her way. That is depicted quite well.
Part 3 was good, then The Epilogue confused again. I am not sure the jumping around in time helped, especially when it was lopsided to the past. And the novel Gertie was writing didn’t get much attention, and when it did show up, it wasn’t very useful.
I give this 4 stars because overall there is a lot to like about this book, and it is possible the confusion and the feel of narrative drag and epilogue which upends some things is just my viewpoint. For someone else it might strike them as brilliant.
Part 3 was good, then The Epilogue confused again. I am not sure the jumping around in time helped, especially when it was lopsided to the past. And the novel Gertie was writing didn’t get much attention, and when it did show up, it wasn’t very useful.
I give this 4 stars because overall there is a lot to like about this book, and it is possible the confusion and the feel of narrative drag and epilogue which upends some things is just my viewpoint. For someone else it might strike them as brilliant.
August 15, 2025
so incredibly beautiful - devoured and wishing I could read it for the first time all over again. Gertie is the protagonist you’ve always wanted and her story is the one you didn’t know you needed to hear ❤️
October 5, 2025
I think it’s a more “grownup” version of a coming of age (if that makes any sense). I really liked the way addiction was a central part of the book but didn’t become the whole story, after all being a teenager is a full time job.
It’s a book full of big feelings in a small world.
It’s a book full of big feelings in a small world.
August 24, 2025
The way this book is written makes you feel like you are sitting right with the main characters in the thick of it. I am left speechless, in tears and also happy all at the same time.
September 22, 2025
ATOMIC HEARTS is a beautifully written novel about a young woman coming to terms with her father's addiction challenges and her mother's choices in the wake of the break up of their marriage. The story moves between the protagonist's teen years and young adulthood managing her mother's deteriorating health. Both past and future stories deal with heavy subject matter, but Cummins' lovely prose and her protagonist's insightful voice and generous spirit make the novel an uplifting read about resilience and kindness in the face of heartbreak. Plenty of twists and turns make this debut novel a page turner.
September 2, 2025
There were too many stories within this story, and the narrator was obviously not from the Midwest because that is not how you (we) pronounce HyVee. Overall, I zoned out during the fantasy part and couldn’t identify with the rest. I wish I wouldn’t have spent an audible credit on this one!
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