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A review by novelvisits
Astrid Sees All by Natalie Standiford
3.0
ASTRID SEES ALL is the story of a young woman, Phoebe, trying to make her way in New York in 1984. Complicating her life is the recent loss of her father, her best friend, Carmen, who Phoebe aspires to be more like, but perhaps isn’t the greatest role model for her, and the never ending quest to stay afloat financially. That problem is eased a bit when she becomes a fortune teller, Astrid, at a one of the many clubs frequented by her crowd. When Carmen disappears after the two argued, Phoebe becomes increasingly haunted by the people she’s lost.
While Astrid Sees All was enjoyable, the premise was just too usual. I feel like we’ve seen the “girl making it in New York” too many times. To be a great story, it needs to be really different, and sadly, Astrid just wasn’t. I also though that it was odd that a book taking place in 1984 in the East Village, barely hinted at the AIDS crisis. The ending was interesting, and took me by surprise, but also felt very rushed and a little out there. For me this one was more of a miss than a hit.
Note: I received an electronic copy of this book from Atria Books (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest thoughts.
While Astrid Sees All was enjoyable, the premise was just too usual. I feel like we’ve seen the “girl making it in New York” too many times. To be a great story, it needs to be really different, and sadly, Astrid just wasn’t. I also though that it was odd that a book taking place in 1984 in the East Village, barely hinted at the AIDS crisis. The ending was interesting, and took me by surprise, but also felt very rushed and a little out there. For me this one was more of a miss than a hit.
Note: I received an electronic copy of this book from Atria Books (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest thoughts.