Review: Ask The Passengers - A. S. King

Ask the Passengers by A. S. King
Publication Date: October 23rd, 2012
Pages: 304 
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Bought it

Synopsis

Astrid Jones desperately wants to confide in someone, but her mother's pushiness and her father's lack of interest tell her they're the last people she can trust. Instead, Astrid spends hours lying on the backyard picnic table watching airplanes fly overhead. She doesn't know the passengers inside, but they're the only people who won't judge her when she asks them her most personal questions--like what it means that she's falling in love with a girl.

As her secret relationship becomes more intense and her friends demand answers, Astrid has nowhere left to turn. She can't share the truth with anyone except the people at thirty thousand feet, and they don't even know she's there. But little does Astrid know just how much even the tiniest connection will affect these strangers' lives--and her own--for the better.

My Thoughts

This was the first A. S. King book I've read and even though I liked it, I feel a little conflicted about it. Although I liked it enough to buy her other books.

So, this book talks about Astrid, a NYC girl who's been living in a small town for years now but never felt like she belonged. On top of that she is starting to question her sexuality and is afraid of how people would react if they found out. Her family life isn't the best and the way she found to escape it is to lie down on her picnic table and send love to the passengers of the airplanes flying above her.

I really liked Astrid. I felt like she was very sweet although sometimes she could be a bit of a pushover (I'm like that too, so no judgment from me). I didn't notice the part about her sexuality in the blurb and I didn't read any reviews before buying it so the fact that she wasn't straight was a really nice surprise. But here is where I start to feel conflicted. I felt really uncomfortable reading Astrid and Dee's scenes sometimes. Dee (Astrid's girlfriend) rarely respected her boundaries ang got angry every time she asked her to stop. The biggest problem is that I don't feel like it was correctly dealt with. Even though Astrid does have a serious conversation with Dee about it and Dee even apologizes and explains where her behaviour is coming from I still feel like it wasn't enough. Maybe it's just me, I don't know.

To be honest, Astrid was the ONLY person I liked in this book. Her mother made my blood boil, especially because I know people like her and the way she acted was hitting a little close to home. Sometimes I felt desperate while reading this book because it seemed that Astrid really didn't have anyone truly rooting for her. Her father wasn't so bad, I guess. He was trapped in a loveless marriage where he was afraid to stand up to his wife but all in all he did seem to have Astrid's best interests at heart.

And now, my favourite part of the book: the passengers! Sometimes, when Astrid sent her love to the passengers in the sky we would get little snippets about them. It was a nice break from the story, to see how different people, living different lives sometimes could have such similar struggles. Also I liked that they seemed to receive Astrid's love and sort of hear her when she talked to them, even though they didn't comprehend what was happening.

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Have you read this? What did you think?