Scan barcode
sarahsbookstack's review against another edition
3.0
This is a long anthem to the partying of the 80s, to drugs, to friends, to New York.
Phoebe and her friend Carmen go to live in New York. They are soon caught up in the drug and party scene. Phoebe has this thing she does where she saves every movie ticket stub and uses them to "tell the future" or her interpretation of it. She gets a job in a club telling people's fourtunes and starts calling herself Astrid. At some point, Carmen how missing and all Phoebe wants is to find her again.
I thought this was a very slow moving novel. There is no action. I took a long time to get through it. It's more of a character study than anything i think.
Phoebe and her friend Carmen go to live in New York. They are soon caught up in the drug and party scene. Phoebe has this thing she does where she saves every movie ticket stub and uses them to "tell the future" or her interpretation of it. She gets a job in a club telling people's fourtunes and starts calling herself Astrid. At some point, Carmen how missing and all Phoebe wants is to find her again.
I thought this was a very slow moving novel. There is no action. I took a long time to get through it. It's more of a character study than anything i think.
books_by_bethany's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars. After going to Baltimore for her father’s funeral, twenty-two-year-old Phoebe Hayes longs to return back home to New York City. She moves to the East Village with her friend Carmen, and is quickly thrown into a life of drinking, drugs, junkies, and clubbing in the 1980s in NYC’s gritty underworld.
I absolutely loved the setting of New York City in the 1980s, and the author’s descriptive writing makes you feel fully immersed in the scenes. The novel is on the shorter side {under 300 pages}, which makes for the perfect, quick weekend read! I thought the plot was a bit all over the place, but that may have been intentional to match the artsy, trippy vibe. Overall, it was definitely an unconventional and offbeat story, but an interesting and fast read.
Thank you so much to Atria Books for my gifted copy, as well as NetGalley for a digital advance copy, in exchange for my honest review.
I absolutely loved the setting of New York City in the 1980s, and the author’s descriptive writing makes you feel fully immersed in the scenes. The novel is on the shorter side {under 300 pages}, which makes for the perfect, quick weekend read! I thought the plot was a bit all over the place, but that may have been intentional to match the artsy, trippy vibe. Overall, it was definitely an unconventional and offbeat story, but an interesting and fast read.
Thank you so much to Atria Books for my gifted copy, as well as NetGalley for a digital advance copy, in exchange for my honest review.
milesofpages's review against another edition
3.0
New York isn’t going anywhere, she said. She was mistaken: New York is always charging forward and threatening to leave you behind. It is going somewhere, always.
Astrid Sees All is a coming of age story that shows that being “it” in NYC is harder than it seems. Phoebe tells fortunes in the elusive Plutonium Club as Astrid. She tells them through picking out movie stubs. While being Astrid, she lives with her best, Carmen, a born city girl. She also just lost her father and basically ran away from her mom to come back to NYC.
This book is so atmospheric. I was sucked into NYC in the 80s, and trying to fit in where edgy it cool, and where one minute something is in, the next it’s out. Where drugs and clubbing are a norm and missing Amelias (missing girls) are more common than not. It’s gritty, it’s raw, but it’s very dark and sad. This was one where I wanted to hug the MC and whisper it’s okay.
Overall, it took me a minute to get into the book. Once I got into the thick of it, I understood the characters and enjoyed the journey.
Thank you Atria for the gifted copy! Astrid Sees All is out April 6th!
TW: abortion, drug use, overdose, People who work the door at Plutonium are called by others, “Door Nazis”. For NYE, one dresses up in a German SS costume for the party.
Astrid Sees All is a coming of age story that shows that being “it” in NYC is harder than it seems. Phoebe tells fortunes in the elusive Plutonium Club as Astrid. She tells them through picking out movie stubs. While being Astrid, she lives with her best, Carmen, a born city girl. She also just lost her father and basically ran away from her mom to come back to NYC.
This book is so atmospheric. I was sucked into NYC in the 80s, and trying to fit in where edgy it cool, and where one minute something is in, the next it’s out. Where drugs and clubbing are a norm and missing Amelias (missing girls) are more common than not. It’s gritty, it’s raw, but it’s very dark and sad. This was one where I wanted to hug the MC and whisper it’s okay.
Overall, it took me a minute to get into the book. Once I got into the thick of it, I understood the characters and enjoyed the journey.
Thank you Atria for the gifted copy! Astrid Sees All is out April 6th!
TW: abortion, drug use, overdose, People who work the door at Plutonium are called by others, “Door Nazis”. For NYE, one dresses up in a German SS costume for the party.
crystals_library's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed Astrid Sees All. I am not an 80s kid, I am a 90s kid, however the New York City Club Kid era is so intriguing.
Phoebe moves to New York City after college and is hanging on to her friend Carmen who is immersing herself in the arts and drug scene in the East Village. When a random Club Kid discovers that Phoebe is a fortune teller, she is invited to work for the hottest nightclub in NYC. Phoebe reinvents herself as Astrid and immerses herself in the drug-fueled nightlife.
I found Phoebe to be very relatable, yet cringe-worthy. She just wanted to be part of the it crowd and made horrible mistakes and choices along the way.
I devoured this book. Along with the Club Kid scene and cameos by Club Kids like James St. James, I appreciated the side story about random girls going missing in the area.
Phoebe moves to New York City after college and is hanging on to her friend Carmen who is immersing herself in the arts and drug scene in the East Village. When a random Club Kid discovers that Phoebe is a fortune teller, she is invited to work for the hottest nightclub in NYC. Phoebe reinvents herself as Astrid and immerses herself in the drug-fueled nightlife.
I found Phoebe to be very relatable, yet cringe-worthy. She just wanted to be part of the it crowd and made horrible mistakes and choices along the way.
I devoured this book. Along with the Club Kid scene and cameos by Club Kids like James St. James, I appreciated the side story about random girls going missing in the area.
dylansdream's review against another edition
3.0
I love books about the 1980s and 1990s (especially those set in New York), which made me super excited to read this one. All in all, I enjoyed it but I also feel like it was lacking in something... Most of the references to 80s New York and the celebrities that inhabited it felt glued on, like simply name dropping names was supposed to do the job of bringing back to life the 1980s New York that will never be again. It also read like a YA novel, even tho it's not one (in my understanding it is the first adult novel by a YA author, which makes sense). So people who enjoy YA more than I do will probably like this one too. I kind of wished for more grittiness than what it had to offer.
jdk_21kd_q1's review against another edition
3.0
This was a solid, engaging book! For the most part, I loved the pacing — it was quick, making it the type of book you don’t want to put down. I read it in two sittings and felt completely immersed in the 1980s club scene, which I loved. The ending did feel rushed and a bit unsatisfactory, but not so much that it ruined the rest of the book. I ultimately just wanted a bit more complexity from the characters — there wasn’t much growth. Still, this was a super fun read, and I’m definitely excited to see what Standiford does next!
Thanks a ton to Atria Books, Natalie Standiford, and NetGalley for the ARC!
Thanks a ton to Atria Books, Natalie Standiford, and NetGalley for the ARC!
katieneedsabiggerbookshelf's review against another edition
2.0
Ahh New York City in the 80’s. Phoebe is devastated by the loss of her father, but doesn’t let it stop her from heading back to her life in the city with her best friend Carmen. The two of them hit the club and party away all of life’s traumas. When Phoebe betrays Carmen and she disappears, Phoebe will do anything it takes to find her.
This book just didn’t do it for me. I got about half way through and just had no desire to pick it up. Carmen was a terrible friend, Phoebe was also a terrible a friend, and I just wasn’t into the crazy party scene they seemed to find. While I can usually get behind unlikable characters, I found myself just not really caring about them. If I actively disliked them it might have worked for me, but I just didn’t really care. Maybe it just felt like nothing was really happening? Same thing all day every day and there wasn’t enough going on to keep my attention.
This book just didn’t do it for me. I got about half way through and just had no desire to pick it up. Carmen was a terrible friend, Phoebe was also a terrible a friend, and I just wasn’t into the crazy party scene they seemed to find. While I can usually get behind unlikable characters, I found myself just not really caring about them. If I actively disliked them it might have worked for me, but I just didn’t really care. Maybe it just felt like nothing was really happening? Same thing all day every day and there wasn’t enough going on to keep my attention.
mirreads's review against another edition
4.0
For clarity: I'm a librarian and received an ARC of this book at work.
The premise of this one easily hooked me, and it definitely delivered the glitzy, seedy portrait of 1980s New York that it promised, like an 80s version of Gatsby, with Phoebe playing the role of Nick. The relationship between Phoebe and Carmen really shines, and it kept my attention throughout. All of the characters seemed to exist naturally in the setting, which made the book vivid and fun.
My one complaint is that the ending seemed a bit rushed, and I didn't feel like all of the open plotlines resolved in a completely satisfying way. Some of them did - I like where we leave Phoebe and Carmen, in particular - but a few of the subplots kind of petered out without really concluding. Most importantly, I thought the mystery subplot that becomes the book's climax felt a little abrupt, and happened without much engagement or effort from Phoebe.
That said, this was a fun quick read and I enjoyed the time I spent with it. It wasn't the best thing I've ever read, but hardly anything is. I'm rating it 4/5.
The premise of this one easily hooked me, and it definitely delivered the glitzy, seedy portrait of 1980s New York that it promised, like an 80s version of Gatsby, with Phoebe playing the role of Nick. The relationship between Phoebe and Carmen really shines, and it kept my attention throughout. All of the characters seemed to exist naturally in the setting, which made the book vivid and fun.
My one complaint is that the ending seemed a bit rushed, and I didn't feel like all of the open plotlines resolved in a completely satisfying way. Some of them did - I like where we leave Phoebe and Carmen, in particular - but a few of the subplots kind of petered out without really concluding. Most importantly, I thought the mystery subplot that becomes the book's climax felt a little abrupt, and happened without much engagement or effort from Phoebe.
That said, this was a fun quick read and I enjoyed the time I spent with it. It wasn't the best thing I've ever read, but hardly anything is. I'm rating it 4/5.
rdreading9's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
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
2.75