Book Review: Ask the Passengers by A.S. King

Today I am going to be doing a book review on Ask the Passengers by A.S. King. This is my first book that I have read by this author and I definitely was not disappointed. This was a great book and I read it really fast. I am getting a lot more into young adult contemporary novels recently and I am so happy I have this one to add to my book collection. This wasn't like any book that I have read before (I know I say that a lot but it's totally true every time!) but I am really enjoying reading different types of books on different subject that I haven't read before. I will post the summary from the book from goodreads below and then on to my review!

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.

In this truly original portrayal of a girl struggling to break free of society's definitions, Printz Honor author A.S. King asks readers to questioneverything--and offers hope to those who will never stop seeking real love.

First off I want to say that A.S. King is an awesome author and has such a great writing style. I read this book so fast because I was just so engaged in the story and the characters that I couldn't stop. I look forward to reading other books written by A.S. King in the future. 

So this book is about Astrid, who is trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs in the world. Her mother and pushy and Astrid doesn't feel like she gets love from her. Her dad is clueless and pretty absent minded when it comes to anything, and her sister is busy fitting the role of a 'small town girl' and they aren't very close. Astrid's best friend is really bossy and pushy also, so Astrid feels pretty alone in the world. Along with her family and best friend, she has to deal with her peers at school and all of the gossip that is hurtful to her as well. She spends time looking up at the sky, talking and sending her love to the passengers on the airplanes that she sees. Astrid also silently sends love to other people in her life as well, which is a reason that I loved this book so much. She has so much love, even towards the negative people in her life, that just always sends positive vibes towards them. Why can't we all be more like Astrid? 

So as Astrid struggles with her self discovery, she falling in love for the first time in her life and it's with a girl. She keeps this a secret from everyone because she doesn't exactly know herself how she feels or if she is gay or not. As she is on her road to self discovery, she begins to ask her self these questions: "Why does it matter? Why does it matter if I'm gay or not? Why doest it matter who I fall in love with?" She is sick of the labels and doesn't want to be put into a box any longer. There is such great messages within this book and it really has great strength and meaning.  This book has so much character growth and discovery in it and it's completely amazing. Astrid grows so much as a character and while she is figuring out her life she really learns how to stand up for her self about what she feels. She also learns how to accept who she is and who other people are as well. 

I loved a lot of characters in this book besides Astrid as well. I couldn't stand her mother though, and wanted to go inside the book and yell at her many times. However, towards the end of the book we could see her mother changing as well and we get to see her accept Astrid for who she is and that was nice to see. For some reason I really enjoyed Astrid Dad in this story. I don't exactly know why, since he wasn't exactly the best parental unit either, but just how Astrid describes him as "stoned all the time" was kind of funny to me. At times he seemed to be really trying with her but was a little too absent minded to succeed at first.  I also liked Astrid's girlfriend, Dee, as well. She has a quirky personality and I think her and Astrid were a great for each other. 

This book has a lot of great lines in it, and I am a sucker for books with great quotes in them. One in particular thats has stuck with me is, "I don't care who you are, where you came from or what God you believe in. I can guarantee you that if you hate, you will never active true happiness." I found this so powerful that when I read it I just was awe struck and kept re reading it. The ending to this book and the last pages completely blew me away also.  

I definitely gave this book a 5/5 stars on goodreads and it's one that I recommend everyone to read! 

This is all for my book review and I hope everyone enjoyed it! Thank you for reading :)
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