It's been awhile since a book has made me cry, but boy oh boy, this one had me leaking happy and sad and frustrated and painful tears all over the place. ( )

Very good young adult book. sensitively written, believable characters. ( )

3.5 Stars

Astrid lays on a picnic table in her backyard and sends all her love to the people in the airplanes which fly above her. In Astrid's life, love isn't something that comes easy. She lives in a small town where everybody is watching and judging, the relationships in her family are fully messed up, and all the while she's not sure of what she really feels.

My Thoughts:
This is one of those books where I don't have a whole heck of a lot to say about it. The writing was great, but it is A.S. King, so that was to be expected. I thought it was a very good book... would I put it up there as one of my favorites? Probably not. But still an enjoyable book.

What I liked: Throughout the book there were little breaks where we would get one of the airplane passenger's side stories. I honestly wish there were more of these because sometimes they were more interesting than what was going on in the book. Not to say the book wasn't interesting, but not a TON happens in the book and these other stories were such a nice break. I guess this is what is called magical realism because the "love" that Astrid was sending would penetrate through the plane and hit a passenger, changing their way of thinking. I also really liked the family dynamics aspect of the book. Astrid's family was seriously f'd. I don't know how anyone would escape from that house without some major issues. But Astrid seemed pretty normal considering her circumstances.

What bugged me: I liked the book a lot... but I just didn't feel like it was THAT original. Other than the passenger aspect, the rest of it was just a story about a girl trying to come to terms with her sexuality. Worrying what her family and people at school were going to think. Sure that stuff is important, but I feel like I've read that story before. A few times. I also didn't like the love interest that Astrid had. For most of the book the author makes her out to be just another person in Astrid's life who doesn't understand her. So forgive me if I can't just pull a 180 and start liking her just because there is a "talk" at the end.

The town and school also seemed a little like a caricature instead of some place real. I mean I know there are bigoted people out there, and maybe I'm naive, but in 2014 I don't think the reaction to a teen being gay would be this BIG. The book is full of villain after villain to the point where the only good people in the book are Astrid and her philosophy teacher. I'm just not going to buy into that dramatic of a place.

I really did enjoy reading this book overall though. I think it is a good story with a good message and could really make an impact on the right teenager. It wasn't the best book on this subject I've ever read, but it was worth reading.

OVERALL: I liked it. It wasn't the best coming of age book I've ever read, but the writing was excellent and there were some interesting elements throughout the book. I felt some elements to be a little forced and unbelievable, but overall it's was another good one for A.S. King. Oh and if you haven't read Please Ignore Vera Dietz... you really should, it's fabulous!

My Blog:

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I love this book.

That is all. ( )

There comes a point in every A. S. King book where you want to scream, "MAKE IT STOP!" Not because it's a terrible book, but because she writes her characters so damn well that when something awful happens, it hits you right in the chest. For me during Ask the Passengers, it was when Astrid's mom, who was already hard to stomach, just wouldn't believe Astrid over anyone else in the community. But I couldn't abandon Astrid. Not when I'd come that far and found out how great a kid she is.

And she is great. This is a book all about finding oneself and, I think, makes a pretty good point that your self is always there--you just need recognize it. I was amazed from the get-go that she had the wherewithal to send love to strangers, family, friends, peers--a practice of Buddhism that she has nearly mastered if only she'd send that love to herself. I LOVE how we see how it directly impacts the passengers in the planes flying above. She is nearly always honest with herself, even if she doesn't feel comfortable enough to be honest with her loved ones, and any potential after-school special element loses steam with the sheer FIGHT of this novel.

I love how King addresses that intimidation can occur in any romantic relationship. I'm glad that Astrid acknowledges her concern about Dee's forceful advances outright and puts them in context with the notion that sex isn't the only factor in understanding one's sexual identity. Same goes for the big argument after the bust with her parents, and I like that King makes this obvious that it's a misconception people often make regardless of their orientation.

Other small notes include:
-I love Frank Socrates and totally identified with Astrid's passion for her Humanities class as I experienced similar opportunities in high school.
-I still can't totally wrap my head around Ellis. So she's extra sensitive and had to see a psychologist when they moved. I just couldn't understand how awful she was to Astrid when shit hit the fan and how quickly and steadfastly she aligned herself to Claire. I don't know. I'd have to have my little sister read this book and tell me if she'd done the same thing. We were near mortal enemies then, but to go that far?
-CLAIRE IS A HORRIBLE PERSON. HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE. HORRIBLE. She's the epitome of every horrible person I know who lives in a big city at some point and puts on airs whenever they go anywhere remotely smaller but also tries to leech on folk-y charm. I haven't disliked a character this much in I don't know how long. She may be the worst villain I can think of, not in the way of a fault of King's writing, but in that parents never should have the green light to be that horrible to their children. And it happens all the time. I could never send her my love because she'd figure out how to turn it to poison and then slip it in my coffee. HORRIBLE.
-Kristina isn't much better. I'm glad Astrid gave her hell when she did. None of her excuses were excusable because she absolutely knew what she was doing. She DID NOT have more to lose than Astrid.
-The steamy bits were so great! High five, King!
-And I still kinda liked the dad even though he's mostly spineless. And also I'm glad I never knew if my parents ever did any drugs while I was a teenager.

I don't know how she does it, but King writes these books that I can identify with so closely, it's scary the degree to which I could footnote how exactly it mirrors my teenage life. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this, which is kinda weird, but really a testament to how universal growing up is. I'm going to stop before I write something uber-sentimental and make myself gag. But ASTRID 4EVAH!!!!!!! ( )