This book was very well written and researched. I found the contributions of the women as computers and pilots fascinating, and the blatant sexism they faced, made me want to scream. 

As someone who experiences anxiety, I could really relate to Elma’s struggle to acknowledge her issues. Her fear of being discovered taking medication hurt my heart and made me appreciate how steps have been taken in today’s society to break that stigma, though there is still a ways to go. 

I liked the diversity of the characters, and how Elma’s way of thinking began to be shaped by her friends of colour. I also thought Nathaniel was a dream of a husband.

The only criticism I have is that the book started really tense and strong, really making it appear to be a science fiction book, but it didn’t continue on with that tone which was a bit disappointing. I would have liked more apparent diverges from the main timeline. It’s more of a historical fiction book than a science fiction, which I do still love, it just wasn’t what I was expecting when I picked it up. 

If you liked Hidden Figures, you’ll like this. 

This was a wonderful alternative universe story. I very much enjoyed the main character being smart, seriously smart, but having anxieties around social situations. Having a main character with real normal problems made the whole story feel more real. This is a wonderful alternative history, and I will be picking up the next in the series.

The Calculating Stars is a really well-written slice-of-life report of the life of a brilliant mathematician in an alternate history defined by a meteorite impact. Even the technical parts kept me engaged, and the bits where the book seemed to slow down never lasted too long. While not the main plot, the story deals with sexism and racism, and I feel like I actually learned some things at the end.
I'm glad I finally got around to reading this book thanks to T & Fie!
(Note to my future self: for emetophobia reasons I will probably not want to reread this.)

I was looking forward to some science-y goodness after reading a bunch of cozy mysteries. If you liked Hidden Figures, this is a fictionalized offshoot.
I'm not sure how I really felt about this one. We follow the adventures of Dr. Elma York,  a WWII WASP pilot and mathematical savant in the immediate aftermath of a meteorite hitting the East coast USA, setting up our alternate history of how humanity gets to the moon.

Dr. York, or Mrs. Nathaniel York as others would name her, struggles to become accepted into the ranks of astronauts to forge the way to colonize the moon. Along the way, she deals with all the sexism inherent in that organization, and some anti-semitism as well. Imagine women training in underwater situations requiring them to wear makeup and bikinis instead of appropriate flight suits.

She is not perfect, however, and suffers from anxiety.  Being the wife of the lead engineer of the newly formed International Aerospace Coalition (IAC), which replaces NACA, and gaining recognition as the "Lady Astronaut", she breaks down over public speaking, and we see the stigma of taking anti-anxiety meds at the time. I wonder how much of an issue that would be today?
It's also used as leverage against her by her arch enemy, Colonel Parker Stetson, hyper-confidant, hyper-masculine, women-should-never-be-in-the-military test pilot. She reported him for sexual harassment (not to her, but to other women), back when she was a WASP, and he's had it in for her ever since. I actually think the most interesting part of the book is where she learns about medical issues HE'S having and then blackmail can go both ways.

Also addressed in the book, although other characters other than Elma aren't' really focused on, is the inherent racism of the time. When the meteorite hits, the people flowing westward who are accepted as refugees are overwhelmingly white. Elma realizes this.  She sees what is going on as well with the black women in her flight club who are also ignored for astronaut training despite being completely qualified.

One thing that was touched on, but probably not focused on quite enough was the environmental catastrophe to come.  The bulk of humanity knows it's going to get left behind to die, and there's a few little protests/complaints from the population,  but the total focus is still on the space program. Nothing is ever touched on with earth science to try to mitigate what's about to happen.

Another thing I thought was "unrealistic" was that Elma's husband was so 100% supportive of her career efforts.  I expected some microaggressions from him as well.

I think the thing about the book that was obvious was the story wasn't going to be wrapped up by the end of book one. The plot about Elma's trials and tribulations of getting to be an astronaut was slow. This just wasn't a page-turner for me. I've read reviews that the second and third books in the series were better, so I'll be reading The Fated Sky right after this. 

I really wanted to like this book more than I did, and I put a large part of that down to the blurb. The blurb implied, at least to me, that MORE of the story would take place in space. In actuality, the blurb gives away the whole book,

and the final line of it makes up about 10 pages of actual space adventure

so I wasn't very excited to learn that I was done with the book when I felt like the story I had been waiting for was just getting started.

Some of the conflict feels a little forced, but overall I liked Elma as a lead. I agree with other reviews that say Nathaniel is too "perfect" as a partner, it feels like a bit more conflict between them would have made for more tension.

It's a very easy read, even the maths and science doesn't feel too heavy. If you're looking for something that you can get through without much difficulty, this fits that bill. But it's definitely more of an emotional "character battles the system" story than a "women goes into space" story, so if you're looking for something more adventurous there are probably better fits out there.