leepetterson0's review against another edition
4.0
Ask the Passengers is a beautifully written book that follows the life of Astrid Jones, a senior in high school struggling to feel at home in her small town of Unity Valley. There, she battles fitting in and coming to terms with her identity. Her unaccepting and emotionally abusive household sets up a strange dynamic for Astrid. She often feels unwelcome and as if love is taboo and forbidden. She sends her unneeded love up to passengers in airplanes flying overhead while lying down on a picnic table in her backyard. This is one of many places where Astrid finds her calm, along with her humanities class where she can truly be herself, or the closest thing she can in her small-minded, conservative town.
The book truly captures the feeling of constantly hiding and lying to the world. Astrid finds herself in a position of feeling like someone she isn’t. Being born in a city and replanting oneself in a small town is not easy, I can speak from experience. I can almost sympathize with Astrid with her constant feelings as if she is confined and reduced living in a small town.
One night, as a plane passes overhead, she asks a passenger….
“Is it okay to lie in order to be happy?”
Which sent me down a rabbit hole of thinking. My notes include; “we all say we’re fine and okay and give the appearance of happiness to others….but does one feel happy then? Does happiness come from honesty? Because honesty requires other people and happiness can only come from yourself”
I see myself in Astrid, although she is fictional, I hold her high up on my “characters I can actually relate to” list. Moving from a big city to a small town is never easy, regardless if you’re young or old, especially when it comes to coming to terms with yourself. Getting outed in a small town is not fun. What A.S. King captures almost perfectly is the dread and fear of going back to school after revealing to all your classmates what you’ve been hiding for years. Personally, I felt the humiliation and anxiety that Astrid felt, but maybe it’s because I was in that same boat my 8th grade and freshman year…. Although I was not outed because I was caught at a gay bar I can still empathize with her. I understand the bucket of feelings that getting outed comes with.
I did however, dock a star because of the stereotype that was seen in Dee. Dee is a sex-driven, lesbian. As if that isn’t a popular, standardized turn-on in society.
Along with that, Dee’s character. King never established to the reader if she was a villain or a hero. Good or evil. When it came to Astrid, Dee used actions of rape as a form of love and affection. Astric, clearly uncomfortable, made many attempts to stop Dee from getting too far. In the parking lot of Atlantis, Dee gets furious with Astrid for saying “No”. In the end, they end up together as if she somehow quit her vulgar behaviors just for Astrid, who she was madly in love with. And on that same note, how did Astrid remain in love (for the most part) even though Dee pushes the line of sexual harassment?
Regardless of that, I loved it. I loved, loved, LOVED the passengers' stories but I guess I’m a sucker for cliche stories. It puts the feeling of that sudden rush of love and exhilaration and feeling like you are the only one together. I loved King’s imagination and creativity when it comes to the passenger POV.
What I took from this book is the idea of having self love and self worth. Astrid sends love up to the passengers of overhead planes because she believes she does not need all the love that she has. She feels unloved and unheard in her family. Knowing your worth and that you deserve love is a difficult process and is not just a step by step plan. This book flawlessly exhibits that journey of discovering yourself and your worth.
The book truly captures the feeling of constantly hiding and lying to the world. Astrid finds herself in a position of feeling like someone she isn’t. Being born in a city and replanting oneself in a small town is not easy, I can speak from experience. I can almost sympathize with Astrid with her constant feelings as if she is confined and reduced living in a small town.
One night, as a plane passes overhead, she asks a passenger….
“Is it okay to lie in order to be happy?”
Which sent me down a rabbit hole of thinking. My notes include; “we all say we’re fine and okay and give the appearance of happiness to others….but does one feel happy then? Does happiness come from honesty? Because honesty requires other people and happiness can only come from yourself”
I see myself in Astrid, although she is fictional, I hold her high up on my “characters I can actually relate to” list. Moving from a big city to a small town is never easy, regardless if you’re young or old, especially when it comes to coming to terms with yourself. Getting outed in a small town is not fun. What A.S. King captures almost perfectly is the dread and fear of going back to school after revealing to all your classmates what you’ve been hiding for years. Personally, I felt the humiliation and anxiety that Astrid felt, but maybe it’s because I was in that same boat my 8th grade and freshman year…. Although I was not outed because I was caught at a gay bar I can still empathize with her. I understand the bucket of feelings that getting outed comes with.
I did however, dock a star because of the stereotype that was seen in Dee. Dee is a sex-driven, lesbian. As if that isn’t a popular, standardized turn-on in society.
Along with that, Dee’s character. King never established to the reader if she was a villain or a hero. Good or evil. When it came to Astrid, Dee used actions of rape as a form of love and affection. Astric, clearly uncomfortable, made many attempts to stop Dee from getting too far. In the parking lot of Atlantis, Dee gets furious with Astrid for saying “No”. In the end, they end up together as if she somehow quit her vulgar behaviors just for Astrid, who she was madly in love with. And on that same note, how did Astrid remain in love (for the most part) even though Dee pushes the line of sexual harassment?
Regardless of that, I loved it. I loved, loved, LOVED the passengers' stories but I guess I’m a sucker for cliche stories. It puts the feeling of that sudden rush of love and exhilaration and feeling like you are the only one together. I loved King’s imagination and creativity when it comes to the passenger POV.
What I took from this book is the idea of having self love and self worth. Astrid sends love up to the passengers of overhead planes because she believes she does not need all the love that she has. She feels unloved and unheard in her family. Knowing your worth and that you deserve love is a difficult process and is not just a step by step plan. This book flawlessly exhibits that journey of discovering yourself and your worth.
larissaleest's review against another edition
2.0
It was boring... like all the time. No peaks, just a monotone and average story. The writing isn't bad. The concept of "sending love to the plains" and their passengers is nice... but didn't really stand up to my expectation of it.
poachedeggs's review against another edition
3.0
I'm quite a fan of A.S. King, having enjoyed [b:Everybody Sees the Ants|9711714|Everybody Sees the Ants|A.S. King|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337213907s/9711714.jpg|14600231] and [b:Please Ignore Vera Dietz|6665671|Please Ignore Vera Dietz|A.S. King|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320541615s/6665671.jpg|6860540], but I need three hits before I can 'become a fan', and this book didn't make it.
This is an 'issues' book, which isn't too much of a problem in itself since the other two books also revolve around weighty 'issues'. But I can't get a read on Astrid's character beyond her confusion about her sexuality, and her self-professed geekiness. She doesn't actually seem like a good person (), nor does she seem a good friend (). The Issue becomes the thing by which she is defined, though ironically, she refuses to come 'out' because she struggles with being defined by just that.
This is an 'issues' book, which isn't too much of a problem in itself since the other two books also revolve around weighty 'issues'. But I can't get a read on Astrid's character beyond her confusion about her sexuality, and her self-professed geekiness. She doesn't actually seem like a good person (
Spoiler
there's this part where she essentially cheats on her girlfriend by kissing a college girl, but nothing is made of thisSpoiler
she doesn't communicate all that well with her supposed best friend, who is also gayglendaleereads's review against another edition
4.0
I'm new to A.S King but this is the second novel I have read by her and I really enjoyed it. I felt for Astrid throughout the whole novel, even though I really wanted her to grow a pair and WOW her mom is a total bitch and I still don't understand why and felt that King could have developed that story line more because it was very confusing and she def had the space to expand because the book didn't even make it to 300 pages, but despite that I really did love this book and I can't wait to read more of her writing.
darbysalge's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
aminodumpster's review against another edition
4.0
I remember trying to read this book as a younger teen, not soon after figuring the whole kissing-girls-sounds-awesome thing. My English wasn't good enough to understand it back then and so it sat on my To Read list until now.
I wish that I had read this a few years earlier, while I was still a teenager. I think that I would've gotten more out of it when I was going through the same hardships that the characters were going through.
Astrid really resonated with me--her sense of humor, inner musings, philosophizing. Yeah, she's *quirky* in the early-2010's-John-Green way, but I liked her.
What else? The writing style was right up my alley. The passenger interjections were great. The ending was very satisfying...save for one thing.
There is a scene, about halfway through the book, where Astrid does a very morally questionable thing and it never gets properly brought up or dealt with. It was kind of the typical dipshit teen behavior that made her feel more like a person to me, and it did somehow fit the general theme. Still, I was dissatisfied by it just being left there, untouched.
The love interest, Dee, was not the greatest person and she should've gotten more attention. I understand what the author wanted to do with her, but it was handled awkwardly. She felt very...flat, one-dimensional even.
But overall? Pretty good book. I might even re-read it one day and I don't typically do that. The times might be a bit different now, but I think that 2023 teens might find it as relatable as I would've found it in 2014 when I had first attempted to read it.
I wish that I had read this a few years earlier, while I was still a teenager. I think that I would've gotten more out of it when I was going through the same hardships that the characters were going through.
Astrid really resonated with me--her sense of humor, inner musings, philosophizing. Yeah, she's *quirky* in the early-2010's-John-Green way, but I liked her.
What else? The writing style was right up my alley. The passenger interjections were great. The ending was very satisfying...save for one thing.
There is a scene, about halfway through the book, where Astrid does a very morally questionable thing and it never gets properly brought up or dealt with. It was kind of the typical dipshit teen behavior that made her feel more like a person to me, and it did somehow fit the general theme. Still, I was dissatisfied by it just being left there, untouched.
The love interest, Dee, was not the greatest person and she should've gotten more attention. I understand what the author wanted to do with her, but it was handled awkwardly. She felt very...flat, one-dimensional even.
But overall? Pretty good book. I might even re-read it one day and I don't typically do that. The times might be a bit different now, but I think that 2023 teens might find it as relatable as I would've found it in 2014 when I had first attempted to read it.
kaylakaotik's review against another edition
3.0
Ask the Passengers is a typical coming of age novel. Astrid’s a teenage girl with a mom that’s too busy to pay attention to a daughter she can’t mold her own way, a dad that’s there but still pretty absent, a sister that only seems to care about herself, and friends that pressure her to do things she doesn’t want to do. Unfortunately, it didn’t bring a whole lot to the table that others books don’t.
I did like King’s writing. The story was fast-paced and flowed nicely. I did like that Astrid sent her love to the passengers of planes because she felt like she didn’t need it where she was and it needed to go somewhere. It was a unique idea and felt pretty special to Astrid as a character.
It didn’t make much sense to me that Astrid was questioning her sexuality. See, I feel like if Astrid wasn’t sure whether or not she was gay, she would have done a little bit more experimenting or something. I don’t feel like Astrid was questioning at all. I believe she knew the entire time that she was gay, but she didn’t want to admit it. That’s completely understandable, but I don’t think King should have tried to pass it off as her questioning herself. It felt fake. Another thing I didn’t enjoy was the little parts at the end of some chapters where you get the insight of a person on one of the planes that Astrid was sending her love to. I don’t think it added anything to the story and the first one confused me and I wasn’t really sure what was going on. Since it really didn’t add anything to the story, I think it should have been left out all together.
Overall, Ask the Passengers was a quick and mostly enjoyable read. I wouldn’t recommend it one way or the other, though.
I did like King’s writing. The story was fast-paced and flowed nicely. I did like that Astrid sent her love to the passengers of planes because she felt like she didn’t need it where she was and it needed to go somewhere. It was a unique idea and felt pretty special to Astrid as a character.
It didn’t make much sense to me that Astrid was questioning her sexuality. See, I feel like if Astrid wasn’t sure whether or not she was gay, she would have done a little bit more experimenting or something. I don’t feel like Astrid was questioning at all. I believe she knew the entire time that she was gay, but she didn’t want to admit it. That’s completely understandable, but I don’t think King should have tried to pass it off as her questioning herself. It felt fake. Another thing I didn’t enjoy was the little parts at the end of some chapters where you get the insight of a person on one of the planes that Astrid was sending her love to. I don’t think it added anything to the story and the first one confused me and I wasn’t really sure what was going on. Since it really didn’t add anything to the story, I think it should have been left out all together.
Overall, Ask the Passengers was a quick and mostly enjoyable read. I wouldn’t recommend it one way or the other, though.
chanman's review against another edition
3.0
When a book has the job of showing the social norms of a society and the struggles of one character that goes against those norms, the book must be able to provide a captivating and engaging struggle for the reader. Does "Ask the Passengers" live up to these expectations? Read on to find out.
The main protagonist is Astrid, a girl who is trying to find her sexuality in the midst of small town bigotry, and who has to come to grips with the repercussions of her ultimate choice and deal with the consequences of her actions. Astrid is a character who is immediately sympathetic, and is the eyes through which the reader sees those people who perhaps are struggling to find and understand their own sexuality. She is a proactive character, with her exploration of who she is, despite the fear of what everyone in her small town is saying. Yet, she still has things to learn. She has to learn about how her actions can affect other people, weather she thinks they should or not. Where as most rebellious teenagers with a rebellious streak do damage to themselves and others without thinking about the consequences, Astrid is different. She understands the consequences, but she fails to understand how her family will feel about them. This is particularly true with regards to her sister.
Her family and the town represents the external conflict in this story. After Astrid makes her decision about her sexuality, she has to come to terms with her broken family, and realize that these people care for her, or at least do not want to see her do something she will regret. During the first act of the novel, we see that Astrid does not like her mother. Astrid's mom, Clare, lives in a world that she has to control. As a real-estate developer, Clare lives to sell the perfect dream home to her clients,and this dream extends to Clare's family as well. Her husband is a man who never completed college and gets stoned constantly, and her two daughters are trying to impress her, but Clare is to concerned about the outside appearance of have a dream life to notice. Astrid's father is a college drop-out and works at a job he does not get any respect in (as evidenced by the fact that his office supplies get repeatedly stolen), and feels little control at home. To escape this, he repeatedly gets high on pot in order to escape this reality. He is forced to learn that he cannot escape his current situation, he can work to change it and make it better. Astrid's sister, Ellis, is a character that has to be able to accept change, even when it does not suit her world of perfection. Each of these characters has something to learn and it is very interesting to see this play out in the story.
So, why did i give this three out of five stars? Well, one issue is rather minor, and the other is somewhat major. The minor issue is that Astrid can at times be an unsympathetic character. During the course of the novel, she pretends to go out with a guy so that he will cover for her when Astrid secretly goes out with her friends. The thing is, the guy legitimately believes that Astrid likes him. Astrid repeatedly states that this is wrong, but does nothing to solve the problem, util it is to late and the guy finds that there whole relationship has been a sham. Worse yet, when the guy talks to Astrid, he acts as though nothing is wrong, and their still good friends. I think that this is unbelievable, and I cannot see him being okay with what Astrid did.
The other problem with this book is it's main selling point: the talking to planes. One of the major selling points of the novel is that Astrid gives her love to planes that she sees flying over her head as she watches the sky. In the book, when she does this, the story momentarily switches perspective and looks into the life of the person Astrid is giving her love to. One would think that this would have some symbol on the main story right? Well, if there was, I couldn't find it in a casual reading of the book. Overall, it seems to be a wasted opportunity.
In the end, "Ask the Passengers" is a book that shows a strong internal struggle, and how that struggle can effect the lives of others, ether intended or not. But a drawn out ending and premise that is not delivered makes this story a 3 out of five for me. You might enjoy it, but i did not.
The main protagonist is Astrid, a girl who is trying to find her sexuality in the midst of small town bigotry, and who has to come to grips with the repercussions of her ultimate choice and deal with the consequences of her actions. Astrid is a character who is immediately sympathetic, and is the eyes through which the reader sees those people who perhaps are struggling to find and understand their own sexuality. She is a proactive character, with her exploration of who she is, despite the fear of what everyone in her small town is saying. Yet, she still has things to learn. She has to learn about how her actions can affect other people, weather she thinks they should or not. Where as most rebellious teenagers with a rebellious streak do damage to themselves and others without thinking about the consequences, Astrid is different. She understands the consequences, but she fails to understand how her family will feel about them. This is particularly true with regards to her sister.
Her family and the town represents the external conflict in this story. After Astrid makes her decision about her sexuality, she has to come to terms with her broken family, and realize that these people care for her, or at least do not want to see her do something she will regret. During the first act of the novel, we see that Astrid does not like her mother. Astrid's mom, Clare, lives in a world that she has to control. As a real-estate developer, Clare lives to sell the perfect dream home to her clients,and this dream extends to Clare's family as well. Her husband is a man who never completed college and gets stoned constantly, and her two daughters are trying to impress her, but Clare is to concerned about the outside appearance of have a dream life to notice. Astrid's father is a college drop-out and works at a job he does not get any respect in (as evidenced by the fact that his office supplies get repeatedly stolen), and feels little control at home. To escape this, he repeatedly gets high on pot in order to escape this reality. He is forced to learn that he cannot escape his current situation, he can work to change it and make it better. Astrid's sister, Ellis, is a character that has to be able to accept change, even when it does not suit her world of perfection. Each of these characters has something to learn and it is very interesting to see this play out in the story.
So, why did i give this three out of five stars? Well, one issue is rather minor, and the other is somewhat major. The minor issue is that Astrid can at times be an unsympathetic character. During the course of the novel, she pretends to go out with a guy so that he will cover for her when Astrid secretly goes out with her friends. The thing is, the guy legitimately believes that Astrid likes him. Astrid repeatedly states that this is wrong, but does nothing to solve the problem, util it is to late and the guy finds that there whole relationship has been a sham. Worse yet, when the guy talks to Astrid, he acts as though nothing is wrong, and their still good friends. I think that this is unbelievable, and I cannot see him being okay with what Astrid did.
The other problem with this book is it's main selling point: the talking to planes. One of the major selling points of the novel is that Astrid gives her love to planes that she sees flying over her head as she watches the sky. In the book, when she does this, the story momentarily switches perspective and looks into the life of the person Astrid is giving her love to. One would think that this would have some symbol on the main story right? Well, if there was, I couldn't find it in a casual reading of the book. Overall, it seems to be a wasted opportunity.
In the end, "Ask the Passengers" is a book that shows a strong internal struggle, and how that struggle can effect the lives of others, ether intended or not. But a drawn out ending and premise that is not delivered makes this story a 3 out of five for me. You might enjoy it, but i did not.
circularcubes's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book! I have to say, I didn't love it quite as much as I did A.S. King's Please Ignore Vera Dietz, but I'm a latecomer to young adult books with LGBTQ ~themes~ and it's a subgenre that I really enjoy. I'm making up for never having read books with queer protagonists in them as youth, and I only wish I'd gotten around to these books sooner.
That being said, although I liked 80% of the book, there were a lot of things that I wished were addressed by this book that I feel were never fully explored (). I also didn't love the slightly magical realism bits with the people in the planes, but, again, it wasn't the worst.
That being said, although I liked 80% of the book, there were a lot of things that I wished were addressed by this book that I feel were never fully explored (
Spoiler
for example, Dee's throwaway line about dating a girl who "went to the wrong side" because she ended up with a guy - I can understand why the character would think this, since the whole point of the book is that everybody is flawed, but it's really, really frustrating that the mere CONCEPT of bisexuality is never mentioned by the author at all over the course of the book. Not once. Not even in passing. What's the point of having a book with queer themes if it's just gonna hone in on the binary of gay/straight without acknowledging that those aren't actually the only options? Also, I loved how a significant portion of the book has Astrid not quite ready to have sex yet, because that really resonated with me, and I'm glad Dee comes around to it in the end, but... I really wish Astrid had broken up with Dee and gotten with Kim, honestly. It's good to show that redemption and growth are possible, but... honestly, Astrid shouldn't had to put up with months of ducking out of sex with the girl she was dating in the first place. I don't think the way that storyline ended up was The Worst, but I did have mixed feelings about it.madeliner21's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
it was okay, but some parts were just not explored enough. the stuff was the airplane passengers was interesting, but it didn’t do all that much in terms of adding to the story. idk this was a decent read but not anything that sticks out