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Astrid Sees All
New York, 1984: Twenty-two-year-old Phoebe Hayes is a young woman in search of excitement and adventure. But the recent death of her father has so devastated her that her mother wants her to remain home in Baltimore to recover. Phoebe wants to return to New York, not only to chase the glamorous life she so desperately craves but also to confront Ivan, the older man who painfully wronged her.
With her best friend Carmen, she escapes to the East Village, disappearing into an underworld haunted by artists, It Girls, and lost souls trying to party their pain away. Carmen juggles her junkie-poet boyfriend and a sexy painter while, as Astrid the Star Girl, Phoebe tells fortunes in a nightclub and plots her revenge on Ivan.
When the intoxicating brew of sex, drugs, and self-destruction leads Phoebe to betray her friend, Carmen disappears, and Phoebe begins an unstoppable descent into darkness. She may have a chance to save herself—and Carmen, if she can find her—but to do it she must face what’s hiding in the shadows she’s been running from—within her heart and in the dangerous midnight streets.
With her best friend Carmen, she escapes to the East Village, disappearing into an underworld haunted by artists, It Girls, and lost souls trying to party their pain away. Carmen juggles her junkie-poet boyfriend and a sexy painter while, as Astrid the Star Girl, Phoebe tells fortunes in a nightclub and plots her revenge on Ivan.
When the intoxicating brew of sex, drugs, and self-destruction leads Phoebe to betray her friend, Carmen disappears, and Phoebe begins an unstoppable descent into darkness. She may have a chance to save herself—and Carmen, if she can find her—but to do it she must face what’s hiding in the shadows she’s been running from—within her heart and in the dangerous midnight streets.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published April 6, 2021
60 people are currently reading
6192 people want to read
About the author
Natalie Standiford
42 books416 followersNatalie Standiford, author of "Astrid Sees All," "How to Say Goodbye in Robot," "Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters," "The Secret Tree," "Switched at Birthday," "The Boy on the Bridge," and "The Only Girl in School," has written picture books, nonfiction, chapter books, teen novels, an entry in the 39 Clues series, and even horror novels for young adults. Standiford also plays bass in the rock band Tiger Beat, with fellow YA authors Libba Bray, Daniel Ehrenhaft, and Barnabas Miller.
Find out more at her web site, www.nataliestandiford.com.
Find out more at her web site, www.nataliestandiford.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 393 reviews
July 3, 2021
I’m one the luckiest cows in the earth to have a chance to discover this precious gem! I sat for at least three hours to gather my thoughts how this book made me feel and I’m still worried I can miss some parts and my words cannot be powerful enough to reflect my thoughts properly...
Because so many thought balloons and caged feelings just released from my soul as soon as I saw the last page. It was truly smart, so entertaining, gripping, addicted with flawed, realistic, vivid characters, clever writing technique blended with dark comedy, near historical fiction, mystery, drama genres.
A blazing, blinking time travel to 80’s bohemian, artistic life, culture in New York with drug fueled VIP parties, fabulous downtown clubs loaded with celebrities including Andy Warhol, Christopher Walken, Debbie Harry.
Our narrator Phoebe in her early 20’s becomes roommate with her friend Carmen renting a drug dealer’s apartment with reasonable price ( poor girls cannot afford to rent a proper place when one of them is waitressing and the other one works as a fortune teller in a very high end downtown night club!) , dealing with quirky, noisy neighbors (drug addicts, mentally sick people or extra expressive artists!), trying to survive and adjust into city life by meeting new people from art industry, trying to find a place at the inner circle of celebrities!
Phoebe still tries to find who she is and what she wants to do with her life because two tragedies she recently endured changed her completely. She loves Carmen and she wants to be like her, creative, independent, effective. But her love she feels for her friend sometimes pushes her to live in her shadow. And of course after having an affair with Ivan who is twice of her age, being dumbed by him startles her. It’s time to payback! Now she aims to collect the money she borrowed from him and throwing it at his face.
Her job at the club is reading the future’s of mostly famous clients for cheap price as five dollars by using her cards with full of movie names. Three cards her clients choose will determine their future and answer their questions ( actually I want to do this thing for fun and I already started to collect movie names randomly so I’m thankful to the author gave me such a wonderful entertaining idea for our dinner parties with friends!)
Phoebe and Carmen’s friendship is so complicated. Sometimes I felt so sorry for Phoebe because I feel like she underestimating herself by thinking extra highly of Carmen even though she did several things to betray her trust. And Carmen just a little controlling by choosing people who she can take care ( like boyfriend) or people who devotedly adore her like Phoebe.
Well, of course Phoebe is not perfect. She makes a mistake but she still doesn’t realize the consequences because well... Carmen’s reactions are not so predictable but the worst thing happens and their friendship affects very badly. They have a big fallout!
And Phoebe realizes her life’s direction suddenly changes: she feels like she’s driving a car without brakes and she doesn’t know when the car will stop where it is headed where it will crush into and explode!
The explosive, action packed, surprising conclusion of the story entertained me sooooooo muccchhhhh!
Flawed, quirky, unreliable heroine who sees ghosts, showing weird reactions to the death of her father, taking notes from baseball games for her death father, reading movie cards to tell the future for living, snorting coke till her nose bleeds like Mia Wallace on Pulp Fiction, sending cards to her mother to make sure she’s alright when she is not!
And the book is such an objection reflection of 80’s bohemian life style, artists, music, movies, politics and culture!
No more words! I did everything not to finish this earlier and I also barely held myself not to skip my work and lock myself some silent place to finish my reading. This was my most compelling dilemma about this book!
Maybe it’s early to say but I’m still saying this is going to be at my best top ten books of 2021 list! I LOVED IT SO MUCH and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!
So many thanks to dear Isabel De Silva, Atria Books/ Simon &Schuster and NetGalley for sharing this amazing reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.
Because so many thought balloons and caged feelings just released from my soul as soon as I saw the last page. It was truly smart, so entertaining, gripping, addicted with flawed, realistic, vivid characters, clever writing technique blended with dark comedy, near historical fiction, mystery, drama genres.
A blazing, blinking time travel to 80’s bohemian, artistic life, culture in New York with drug fueled VIP parties, fabulous downtown clubs loaded with celebrities including Andy Warhol, Christopher Walken, Debbie Harry.
Our narrator Phoebe in her early 20’s becomes roommate with her friend Carmen renting a drug dealer’s apartment with reasonable price ( poor girls cannot afford to rent a proper place when one of them is waitressing and the other one works as a fortune teller in a very high end downtown night club!) , dealing with quirky, noisy neighbors (drug addicts, mentally sick people or extra expressive artists!), trying to survive and adjust into city life by meeting new people from art industry, trying to find a place at the inner circle of celebrities!
Phoebe still tries to find who she is and what she wants to do with her life because two tragedies she recently endured changed her completely. She loves Carmen and she wants to be like her, creative, independent, effective. But her love she feels for her friend sometimes pushes her to live in her shadow. And of course after having an affair with Ivan who is twice of her age, being dumbed by him startles her. It’s time to payback! Now she aims to collect the money she borrowed from him and throwing it at his face.
Her job at the club is reading the future’s of mostly famous clients for cheap price as five dollars by using her cards with full of movie names. Three cards her clients choose will determine their future and answer their questions ( actually I want to do this thing for fun and I already started to collect movie names randomly so I’m thankful to the author gave me such a wonderful entertaining idea for our dinner parties with friends!)
Phoebe and Carmen’s friendship is so complicated. Sometimes I felt so sorry for Phoebe because I feel like she underestimating herself by thinking extra highly of Carmen even though she did several things to betray her trust. And Carmen just a little controlling by choosing people who she can take care ( like boyfriend) or people who devotedly adore her like Phoebe.
Well, of course Phoebe is not perfect. She makes a mistake but she still doesn’t realize the consequences because well... Carmen’s reactions are not so predictable but the worst thing happens and their friendship affects very badly. They have a big fallout!
And Phoebe realizes her life’s direction suddenly changes: she feels like she’s driving a car without brakes and she doesn’t know when the car will stop where it is headed where it will crush into and explode!
The explosive, action packed, surprising conclusion of the story entertained me sooooooo muccchhhhh!
Flawed, quirky, unreliable heroine who sees ghosts, showing weird reactions to the death of her father, taking notes from baseball games for her death father, reading movie cards to tell the future for living, snorting coke till her nose bleeds like Mia Wallace on Pulp Fiction, sending cards to her mother to make sure she’s alright when she is not!
And the book is such an objection reflection of 80’s bohemian life style, artists, music, movies, politics and culture!
No more words! I did everything not to finish this earlier and I also barely held myself not to skip my work and lock myself some silent place to finish my reading. This was my most compelling dilemma about this book!
Maybe it’s early to say but I’m still saying this is going to be at my best top ten books of 2021 list! I LOVED IT SO MUCH and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!
So many thanks to dear Isabel De Silva, Atria Books/ Simon &Schuster and NetGalley for sharing this amazing reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.
January 21, 2022
Note: I received a free copy of this book, in exchange here is my honest review.
Set in the 80’s, this story follows a anxious young woman in NYC experiencing sex, drugs, clubs and drama. 😏 This felt messy, as expected. 😵💫 There was a weird little twist near the end- it was an okay read. 🤷🏼♀️
Thank you @goodreads @nataliestandiford and @simonandschuster #goodreadsgiveaway
Set in the 80’s, this story follows a anxious young woman in NYC experiencing sex, drugs, clubs and drama. 😏 This felt messy, as expected. 😵💫 There was a weird little twist near the end- it was an okay read. 🤷🏼♀️
Thank you @goodreads @nataliestandiford and @simonandschuster #goodreadsgiveaway
February 26, 2021
The premise of this book grabbed me - young 20 somethings in NYC, doing the club scene, described as a love letter to the gritty side of NYC. And it should have caught my interest - Phoebe hails from Baltimore, my home town, was just a few years behind my time at Brown, and she was never the popular girl. I can remember so clearly being young and wanting something wild and different to happen to me. But still, it failed to click.
Phoebe hitches her wagon to Carmen, another Bruin, a native New Yorker, but a spoiled, unlikeable young woman. As Phoebe tries to mirror herself after Carmen, she too, becomes a deeply unlikeable person.
Phoebe’s trick is that she tells fortunes by reading movie ticket stubs. She calls herself Astrid and gets a job at a hot nightclub. Her friend, Carmen, goes missing.
The book covers the drugs, the alcohol, the hard life these people led seeking excitement. But most of the story deals with the hollowness of their lives. It just reeked of emptiness. To me, it was a deeply depressing book. At the end of the book, Phoebe is reading a book about Edie Sedgwick. “Twenty eight years of money, drugs, loneliness, and fame; exciting and glamorous and terribly sad. I couldn’t separate the glamorous threads from the sad ones. They twined and fed on each other, the glamour impossible without the sadness, and the sadness heightened by the glamour.” This paragraph rang with the same truth behind this story.
These folks didn’t have the glamour themselves, although they sought it. They flitted at the edges of the famous people, like John Kennedy, Jr. and Andy Warhol.
My thanks to netgalley and Atria Books for an advance copy of this book.
Phoebe hitches her wagon to Carmen, another Bruin, a native New Yorker, but a spoiled, unlikeable young woman. As Phoebe tries to mirror herself after Carmen, she too, becomes a deeply unlikeable person.
Phoebe’s trick is that she tells fortunes by reading movie ticket stubs. She calls herself Astrid and gets a job at a hot nightclub. Her friend, Carmen, goes missing.
The book covers the drugs, the alcohol, the hard life these people led seeking excitement. But most of the story deals with the hollowness of their lives. It just reeked of emptiness. To me, it was a deeply depressing book. At the end of the book, Phoebe is reading a book about Edie Sedgwick. “Twenty eight years of money, drugs, loneliness, and fame; exciting and glamorous and terribly sad. I couldn’t separate the glamorous threads from the sad ones. They twined and fed on each other, the glamour impossible without the sadness, and the sadness heightened by the glamour.” This paragraph rang with the same truth behind this story.
These folks didn’t have the glamour themselves, although they sought it. They flitted at the edges of the famous people, like John Kennedy, Jr. and Andy Warhol.
My thanks to netgalley and Atria Books for an advance copy of this book.
January 28, 2021
Beginning a review by talking about what the publisher's description says feels pointless in a way, yet I know we've all been led astray by misleading publisher blurbs, so perhaps it's in this book's best interest if I do. According to the publisher, Astrid Sees All is a book for fans of Sweetbitter, Fleabag, and Patti Smith's memoirs. According to me, Astrid Sees All is NOT for fans of any of those things, unless you are ALSO a fan of books that are nothing like any of those things.
Astrid Sees All is a novel about a young woman who lands in 1980s Manhattan after graduation and becomes a fortune teller at a nightclub. It's the first "adult" novel by a YA novelist, and you can tell: Despite the "adult" goings-on (sex, drugs, Studio 54-type situations), there's nothing complex here. It's a fairly simple story, written simply.
But that doesn't mean it doesn't have its good qualities! Specifically, it's a fun, fast read, the 1980s nostalgia is amusing, and the characters are pretty vivid even if they're not that complex. Kind of like a good YA novel! I wish the publisher had been a little more realistic in what they compared this book to (Patti Smith? She's an icon, for god's sake!), because unrealistic expectations can really torpedo a book like this.
So don't listen to the publisher, listen to me: If you want to experience Fleabag, watch Fleabag. If, on the other hand, you want a light and enjoyable novel of seedy 1980s Manhattan, you could do worse than Astrid Sees All. 3.5 stars, rounded down.
I won this ARC in a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thank you to the publisher.
Astrid Sees All is a novel about a young woman who lands in 1980s Manhattan after graduation and becomes a fortune teller at a nightclub. It's the first "adult" novel by a YA novelist, and you can tell: Despite the "adult" goings-on (sex, drugs, Studio 54-type situations), there's nothing complex here. It's a fairly simple story, written simply.
But that doesn't mean it doesn't have its good qualities! Specifically, it's a fun, fast read, the 1980s nostalgia is amusing, and the characters are pretty vivid even if they're not that complex. Kind of like a good YA novel! I wish the publisher had been a little more realistic in what they compared this book to (Patti Smith? She's an icon, for god's sake!), because unrealistic expectations can really torpedo a book like this.
So don't listen to the publisher, listen to me: If you want to experience Fleabag, watch Fleabag. If, on the other hand, you want a light and enjoyable novel of seedy 1980s Manhattan, you could do worse than Astrid Sees All. 3.5 stars, rounded down.
I won this ARC in a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thank you to the publisher.
April 6, 2021
One of the most anticipated books for early 2021 by The Millions, this story is set in 1980’s New York City, brimming with alcohol, drugs, and the bohemian lifestyle of the time, the celebrities of Manhattan’s elite mingling with the ‘common’ people. The nightclubs, the music along with the seedier underground life. This is the setting for this story, which focuses on a young and somewhat more naive Phoebe, newly arrived from Baltimore, and Carmen from Manhattan, who meet at Brown, both undergraduates. After graduation, they set about trying to find an apartment in the East Village. Phoebe finds a room not far from Carmen’s apartment, and finds a job waitressing for a while. Eventually, after an acquaintance ends up in jail for trafficking drugs, they jump at the chance to grab the apartment before anyone else can and begin living together.
As a child, Phoebe loved going to the movies with her father, keeping her old movie ticket stubs inside an old shoebox. Over the years of her childhood, she would practice telling fortunes using those ticket stubs, her ’special divination method’ to determine if a certain boy liked her, or certain friends were talking trash behind her back, the questions one worries about in those years. The answers always came through those ticket stubs. When she returns home after her father’s death, she runs across this shoebox, and the memories return. This party trick will serve her in her years of living on almost nothing in the city, when she gets hired after attending a New Year’s Eve party, dressed for the part with a turban as a gift from Carmen, who convinced her to return despite her mother’s objections. Her public persona becomes Astrid the Star Girl.
Celebrities weave in and out of this story, which lends to the atmosphere of the time and place. The glitz, the glamour, the haves and the have-nots, all mingling in the grittiness of 1980’s with a heavy sprinkling of drugs and booze. The imbalance of power between the haves vs have-nots, the allure for some of even being in the presence of the likes of JFK, Jr., Andy Warhol, or Debbie Harry.
The first half plus flowed almost effortlessly for me. Shortly after, it takes a darker turn and the story begins to unravel a bit more as it takes many twists and turns, but overall it really does feel like an ode to the place and time, New York City of the 1980’s.
Published: 06 Apr 2021
Many thanks for the ARC provided by Atria Books
January 25, 2021
It’s 1983 and 22-year-old Phoebe has moved to New York city and is struggling to get by when events conspire to make things much, much worse. However, a bright opportunity in a dark time comes to light: Phoebe’s habit of trying to predict her own future by pulling ticket stubs out of a box becomes a sideshow at one of the coolest clubs in the city. For five dollars, Phoebe, who has become Astrid for her new gig, will predict the futures of models, actors, and New Yorkers hip enough to get in the doors. Will Phoebe/Astrid seize opportunities and move forward with her life or will she continue to make bad decisions that keep her running in place or, sometimes, moving backwards?
The writing of this book is good and the story original. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel, which RELEASES APRIL 6, 2021.
The writing of this book is good and the story original. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel, which RELEASES APRIL 6, 2021.
April 18, 2021
3.5 stars.
Natalie Standiford's new book, Astrid Sees All , is a look back at the decadent club and party scene of 1980s New York City, and one young woman’s search for herself.
It’s 1984. Adrift after college, Phoebe finds herself in NYC, hoping to find something to excite her and help her figure out what she wants from life. After the death of her beloved father, she comes back to the city against her family's wishes and finds an apartment on the Lower East Side with a college acquaintance, Carmen.
Carmen, shrugging off the yoke of a privileged childhood, and Phoebe find themselves in the midst of the wild club scene, where celebrities and junkies mingle. Carmen takes up with a junkie, while Phoebe is still seething about the way she was mistreated by an older man. Phoebe is desperate to make money and finds an opportunity telling fortunes at club parties as “Astrid the Star Girl.”
Drugs and sex and the glamorous life prove too intoxicating to resist, and it’s not long before Phoebe and Carmen’s friendship ends with a betrayal. Both young women hit rock bottom in their own way, but can they find their way and survive despite the chaos of the city, where young women are actually going missing?
I love everything about the 80s and so I really enjoyed the setting of Astrid Sees All . Even though I wasn’t old enough for the party scene at that time, I remember NYC when it was seedy and gritty, and Standiford really captured that so well.
While I didn’t necessarily find the characters sympathetic, I felt the sense of sadness and fear and uncertainty that seemed to exist beneath the surface of the story, the “smile although you’re crying inside” mentality that characterized the atmosphere and the time. It was a really vivid book.
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2020 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2020.html.
Check out my list of the best books of the last decade at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/my-favorite-books-of-decade.html.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
Natalie Standiford's new book, Astrid Sees All , is a look back at the decadent club and party scene of 1980s New York City, and one young woman’s search for herself.
It’s 1984. Adrift after college, Phoebe finds herself in NYC, hoping to find something to excite her and help her figure out what she wants from life. After the death of her beloved father, she comes back to the city against her family's wishes and finds an apartment on the Lower East Side with a college acquaintance, Carmen.
Carmen, shrugging off the yoke of a privileged childhood, and Phoebe find themselves in the midst of the wild club scene, where celebrities and junkies mingle. Carmen takes up with a junkie, while Phoebe is still seething about the way she was mistreated by an older man. Phoebe is desperate to make money and finds an opportunity telling fortunes at club parties as “Astrid the Star Girl.”
Drugs and sex and the glamorous life prove too intoxicating to resist, and it’s not long before Phoebe and Carmen’s friendship ends with a betrayal. Both young women hit rock bottom in their own way, but can they find their way and survive despite the chaos of the city, where young women are actually going missing?
I love everything about the 80s and so I really enjoyed the setting of Astrid Sees All . Even though I wasn’t old enough for the party scene at that time, I remember NYC when it was seedy and gritty, and Standiford really captured that so well.
While I didn’t necessarily find the characters sympathetic, I felt the sense of sadness and fear and uncertainty that seemed to exist beneath the surface of the story, the “smile although you’re crying inside” mentality that characterized the atmosphere and the time. It was a really vivid book.
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2020 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2020.html.
Check out my list of the best books of the last decade at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/my-favorite-books-of-decade.html.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
February 16, 2021
It's 1984 and Phoebe Hayes has left her parents' home in Baltimore for a new adventure in New York City. On her own with only a minimum wage bookstore job, she finds a friend in Carmen, someone she is secretly a bit obsessed with. What would Carmen do, wear, say, she constantly asks herself. Carmen charms everyone, but isn't without her flaws. When Carmen leaves, Phoebe struggles with finding her own identity, and eventually succeeds, but not until making some experiential mistakes of her own.
Astrid is Phoebe's stage name, so to speak, when she takes a job at a popular nightclub reading fortunes. This was a fun, clever way to make a living and get to meet the It people at the same time. I can see many of us copying Astrid's methods and making fortune telling an interesting party game post-pandemic.
Ms. Standiford previously wrote Young Adult books. This is her entry into the Adult genre, and I think she did a good job using Phoebe/Astrid to show that they have both successfully ventured into the adult world. New York is a fascinating and scary place, and such is life. Many thanks to Isabel Dasilva at Simon and Schuster for the galley copy from NetGalley.
Astrid is Phoebe's stage name, so to speak, when she takes a job at a popular nightclub reading fortunes. This was a fun, clever way to make a living and get to meet the It people at the same time. I can see many of us copying Astrid's methods and making fortune telling an interesting party game post-pandemic.
Ms. Standiford previously wrote Young Adult books. This is her entry into the Adult genre, and I think she did a good job using Phoebe/Astrid to show that they have both successfully ventured into the adult world. New York is a fascinating and scary place, and such is life. Many thanks to Isabel Dasilva at Simon and Schuster for the galley copy from NetGalley.
April 12, 2021
Hmm...I found this really sad and kind of depressing.
April 30, 2021
It’s the early 1980s and Phoebe is seeking a “golden” life. She had a taste of it while in college at Brown and believes she’ll find it in New York City. She follows her friend Carmen to Manhattan, seeking to emulate her, and they wind up living in the East Village on Avenue A in a building formerly rented by Carmen’s junkie boyfriend’s dealer, who has been incarcerated. Their gritty neighborhood is filled with artists, drugs and people living on the streets. The hope of a glamorous life excites Phoebe, who wants to remain as far from her hometown of Baltimore as possible.
After two traumatic events, Phoebe starts adopting some of Carmen's self-destructing behavior. One bright spot is finding work as a fortuneteller at a popular club as Astrid – The Star Girl. Her complicated relationship with Carmen is an on-going challenge as they both try to find themselves.
Astrid Sees All is an often sad and depressing book as it highlights two young women desperately searching for something meaningful yet are at risk of becoming lost souls. While I was hoping for a more upbeat novel, author Natalie Standiford does an excellent job painting an accurate picture of a very specific period of time and place that no longer exists. The club Plutonium where Phoebe works is a dead ringer for the club Area, a place I’ll never forget. While I became more of an observer than a participant in it, the downtown New York City scene was exciting, it was sexy and it was often scary. This book may not be for everyone but if you are interested in this period or lived through it, it is a worthwhile step back in time.
Rated 3.75 stars.
Review posted on MicheleReader.com.
After two traumatic events, Phoebe starts adopting some of Carmen's self-destructing behavior. One bright spot is finding work as a fortuneteller at a popular club as Astrid – The Star Girl. Her complicated relationship with Carmen is an on-going challenge as they both try to find themselves.
Astrid Sees All is an often sad and depressing book as it highlights two young women desperately searching for something meaningful yet are at risk of becoming lost souls. While I was hoping for a more upbeat novel, author Natalie Standiford does an excellent job painting an accurate picture of a very specific period of time and place that no longer exists. The club Plutonium where Phoebe works is a dead ringer for the club Area, a place I’ll never forget. While I became more of an observer than a participant in it, the downtown New York City scene was exciting, it was sexy and it was often scary. This book may not be for everyone but if you are interested in this period or lived through it, it is a worthwhile step back in time.
Rated 3.75 stars.
Review posted on MicheleReader.com.
October 4, 2020
When I saw this book was suggested for people who like Fleabag and Sweetbitter, I was instantly in. There’s something about these stories that are incredibly honest about single young women that are making bad choices, falsely believing that their bad choices only affect them, that I just can’t resist. Phoebe is engaging in self-destructive behavior, but trying desperately to survive in New York in the 1980’s. She eventually starts telling fortunes with a box of movie ticket stubs - which is just a part of the story that I love and find hilarious. Overall, this is a dark story about the depths that a young woman will go to in order to feel wanted, a part of the world, and not alone. She goes deep into those depths in order to come out the other side. Phoebe is a character that will stick with me for a long time. She makes a lot of bad decisions, but she does have her reasons for doing so and eventually figures some things out. Highly recommended for lovers of brutally honest stories, New York, and the 1980’s.
December 31, 2020
3.5. This moved along at a pretty good clip, and I was mostly interested in it, but ultimately I finished the book feeling unsatisfied. The lives of Phoebe and Carmen were pretty tired and repetitive and what felt interesting in the beginning of the novel, I just didn't care about by the end. I did feel like the whole ending was crazy fast, and again just not satisfying.
*I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
*I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
July 12, 2023
"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".
One thing to know about me is that if there is a book and the story takes place in New York, I am sold. I will read it, nevertheless, despite knowing the story. Adding to that 80s or 90s New York vibes? Okay, no more questions. Just give the book, that's all. And that is exactly the reason why this book was added to my TBR.
Astrid Sees All follows the typical glamorous lives in New York City, juggling to earn money to keep up with the luxury side that the city demands amidst the sex, drugs, politics, culture and celebrities. The story follows Phoebe and Carmen, two friends in their early twenties, one from Baltimore and the other from a rich, well-known family of celebrities. Even though the story revolves around many things that life in New York offers, it is more of this recollection of Phoebe about Carmen, whom she loves and admires and wants to be like. And due to this notion, Phoebe often leads a life being a shadow to Carmen, so there is this exploration of complicated female friendships and how sometimes people cope with grief differently. Phoebe has lost her dad recently and is still mourning his death without coming to terms with it. She copes with this through an unhealthy lifestyle trying to be someone else. Therefore, the main character is unreliable and unlikeable.
I enjoyed this book more than I expected. The writing kept me hooked, and I was thrilled to pick it up and continue with the book whenever possible. There was also a mystery involved towards the end, which I never expected, and it went in a different direction than I anticipated, but I didn't hate it. This book reminded me of Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados due to the mention of clubs and glamorous parties and Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney because of the complex female friendship that the main lead has with her friend.
Overall I really enjoyed it. I know this is this author's first adult novel (if I am not wrong), but if she comes with more in the future, I want to check them out for sure. This one is not for everyone, but it is super underrated, and I wish more people who will love this kind of book gets to read it.
She was mistaken: New York is always charging forward and threatening to leave you behind. It is going somewhere, always".
One thing to know about me is that if there is a book and the story takes place in New York, I am sold. I will read it, nevertheless, despite knowing the story. Adding to that 80s or 90s New York vibes? Okay, no more questions. Just give the book, that's all. And that is exactly the reason why this book was added to my TBR.
Astrid Sees All follows the typical glamorous lives in New York City, juggling to earn money to keep up with the luxury side that the city demands amidst the sex, drugs, politics, culture and celebrities. The story follows Phoebe and Carmen, two friends in their early twenties, one from Baltimore and the other from a rich, well-known family of celebrities. Even though the story revolves around many things that life in New York offers, it is more of this recollection of Phoebe about Carmen, whom she loves and admires and wants to be like. And due to this notion, Phoebe often leads a life being a shadow to Carmen, so there is this exploration of complicated female friendships and how sometimes people cope with grief differently. Phoebe has lost her dad recently and is still mourning his death without coming to terms with it. She copes with this through an unhealthy lifestyle trying to be someone else. Therefore, the main character is unreliable and unlikeable.
I enjoyed this book more than I expected. The writing kept me hooked, and I was thrilled to pick it up and continue with the book whenever possible. There was also a mystery involved towards the end, which I never expected, and it went in a different direction than I anticipated, but I didn't hate it. This book reminded me of Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados due to the mention of clubs and glamorous parties and Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney because of the complex female friendship that the main lead has with her friend.
Overall I really enjoyed it. I know this is this author's first adult novel (if I am not wrong), but if she comes with more in the future, I want to check them out for sure. This one is not for everyone, but it is super underrated, and I wish more people who will love this kind of book gets to read it.
November 16, 2021
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.
Sadly, May has not been a great reading month for me. I picked up Astrid Sees All thinking it would be the book that saved me from this slump (I'd read several really good reviews for it), but it was just as disappointing. I honestly cannot remember the main character's name (I'm sure it will come to me later), because all she ever talked about was Carmen this and Carmen that. The main character was OBSESSED with Carmen! She salivated over every crumb of attention that her "friend" deigned to give her. Where were her other friends? A roommate was briefly mentioned, but I have no idea what happened to her after she moved in with other people.
I don't even want to get into the main character - AH! Phoebe! - describing her vagina as having a "plain milky smell," or how much her boyfriend (someone she didn't even like until Carmen suggested she give him a chance) enjoyed it. Phoebe had no original ideas and couldn't go to the bathroom without Carmen's permission. Their relationship was seriously fucked up. Once Phoebe realized that Carmen was "repelled" by people who wanted her attention, she started playing hard to get. Who does that? Oh, yeah! Psychotic people. (Everything about Phoebe's relationship with Mark - including Carmen's role and the information she withheld - was VERY strange.)
"I thought the problem was with me, that in some way I was unworthy of her confidence. What was I doing wrong? I looked around at the behavior of my fellow students and came to the conclusion that carmen sensed how much I wanted her to like me, and that repelled her. I opened my eyes and received the message blaring all over campus: vulnerability equals weakness, and weakness arouses contempt. I had only to hide my longing and my desire, and they would be fulfilled."
RED FLAG! This entire statement is problematic, and it honestly makes me think everyone involved needs therapy. Your longing and desire to be someone's friend? Why was Carmen so special? Why did Phoebe single her out and think she HAD to be her friend? Carmen wasn't even a nice person, yet that was who she wanted to emulate?
Let's backtrack a little! The guy Phoebe started dating only because Carmen said to? Yeah, she's absolutely terrible to him. He wasn't a great guy or anything, but she did use him and then admit to herself that not being as invested in the relationship gave her power over him. If you're thinking, "What the actual fuck?," join the club.
"I tried to comfort him, but the longer he groveled, the more disgusted I felt. Did Mark really like me this much? If he did, wasn't it kind of gross of him to show it?"
Oh, so now feelings are gross? If you do read this book, can you please explain Mark's off-the-wall monologue to me? It was so confusing! And what was the point? Pregnancy? Coffee? No free will? Please, don't leave me? You guys, my brain. *mimes explosion*
I really didn't like any of the characters and thought Phoebe consistently got worse as the story progressed. She just wasn't a good person, so I had no desire to continue reading about her. At one point, the rich kids were throwing a Gatsby-themed party, and she was disappointed that it was being held where they'd filmed the movie. Girl, you weren't even on the guest list and now you're complaining about where it's being held? Go fuck yourself.
"It wasn't very original of the host consortium to throw a Gatsby party in the Gatsby house."
Carmen. Carmen. Carmen. It's basically every third word Phoebe says or thinks to herself and I AM OVER IT. If this was supposed to be a book about Carmen, then she should have been the protagonist.
"I was sorry I'd hurt him, but not really, because it had been worth it. I'd glimpsed the golden world, and returning to it was my only goal."
She's so shallow! Seriously, all of the characters were awful. I stopped on page 53 because I couldn't take it anymore. I really wanted to like this book, but the characters made it impossible. The setting was interesting, but everything was ruined by Phoebe's commentary and her actions. Carmen was just as bad, but we're not in her head. Maybe a duel POV would have made her more likable? I doubt it, but anything's possible.
Oh, and everything the author wrote about Jack Kennedy (JFK's grandson, I think), only made this book feel even more unbelievable. He kept popping up in their lives (in class, at parties, etc.), and every interaction she had with him made me cringe. It just felt fake and forced, like the author needed a celebrity to make the story more interesting.
Also, the story went from the present to the past, but then jumped around in the past? It was weird. It wasn't necessarily hard to follow, but it did make it hard to get a grasp on the characters and what was happening in their lives. The ONE thing I liked about this book were the ticket stubs. I love the idea of using the titles of shows to tell fortunes or predict the future. It sounds like a fun game you'd play at a party. Unfortunately, I only read enough of the book for the concept to be explained, and I didn't actually get to see Phoebe performing with them. (★★☆☆☆)
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Sadly, May has not been a great reading month for me. I picked up Astrid Sees All thinking it would be the book that saved me from this slump (I'd read several really good reviews for it), but it was just as disappointing. I honestly cannot remember the main character's name (I'm sure it will come to me later), because all she ever talked about was Carmen this and Carmen that. The main character was OBSESSED with Carmen! She salivated over every crumb of attention that her "friend" deigned to give her. Where were her other friends? A roommate was briefly mentioned, but I have no idea what happened to her after she moved in with other people.
I don't even want to get into the main character - AH! Phoebe! - describing her vagina as having a "plain milky smell," or how much her boyfriend (someone she didn't even like until Carmen suggested she give him a chance) enjoyed it. Phoebe had no original ideas and couldn't go to the bathroom without Carmen's permission. Their relationship was seriously fucked up. Once Phoebe realized that Carmen was "repelled" by people who wanted her attention, she started playing hard to get. Who does that? Oh, yeah! Psychotic people. (Everything about Phoebe's relationship with Mark - including Carmen's role and the information she withheld - was VERY strange.)
"I thought the problem was with me, that in some way I was unworthy of her confidence. What was I doing wrong? I looked around at the behavior of my fellow students and came to the conclusion that carmen sensed how much I wanted her to like me, and that repelled her. I opened my eyes and received the message blaring all over campus: vulnerability equals weakness, and weakness arouses contempt. I had only to hide my longing and my desire, and they would be fulfilled."
RED FLAG! This entire statement is problematic, and it honestly makes me think everyone involved needs therapy. Your longing and desire to be someone's friend? Why was Carmen so special? Why did Phoebe single her out and think she HAD to be her friend? Carmen wasn't even a nice person, yet that was who she wanted to emulate?
Let's backtrack a little! The guy Phoebe started dating only because Carmen said to? Yeah, she's absolutely terrible to him. He wasn't a great guy or anything, but she did use him and then admit to herself that not being as invested in the relationship gave her power over him. If you're thinking, "What the actual fuck?," join the club.
"I tried to comfort him, but the longer he groveled, the more disgusted I felt. Did Mark really like me this much? If he did, wasn't it kind of gross of him to show it?"
Oh, so now feelings are gross? If you do read this book, can you please explain Mark's off-the-wall monologue to me? It was so confusing! And what was the point? Pregnancy? Coffee? No free will? Please, don't leave me? You guys, my brain. *mimes explosion*
I really didn't like any of the characters and thought Phoebe consistently got worse as the story progressed. She just wasn't a good person, so I had no desire to continue reading about her. At one point, the rich kids were throwing a Gatsby-themed party, and she was disappointed that it was being held where they'd filmed the movie. Girl, you weren't even on the guest list and now you're complaining about where it's being held? Go fuck yourself.
"It wasn't very original of the host consortium to throw a Gatsby party in the Gatsby house."
Carmen. Carmen. Carmen. It's basically every third word Phoebe says or thinks to herself and I AM OVER IT. If this was supposed to be a book about Carmen, then she should have been the protagonist.
"I was sorry I'd hurt him, but not really, because it had been worth it. I'd glimpsed the golden world, and returning to it was my only goal."
She's so shallow! Seriously, all of the characters were awful. I stopped on page 53 because I couldn't take it anymore. I really wanted to like this book, but the characters made it impossible. The setting was interesting, but everything was ruined by Phoebe's commentary and her actions. Carmen was just as bad, but we're not in her head. Maybe a duel POV would have made her more likable? I doubt it, but anything's possible.
Oh, and everything the author wrote about Jack Kennedy (JFK's grandson, I think), only made this book feel even more unbelievable. He kept popping up in their lives (in class, at parties, etc.), and every interaction she had with him made me cringe. It just felt fake and forced, like the author needed a celebrity to make the story more interesting.
Also, the story went from the present to the past, but then jumped around in the past? It was weird. It wasn't necessarily hard to follow, but it did make it hard to get a grasp on the characters and what was happening in their lives. The ONE thing I liked about this book were the ticket stubs. I love the idea of using the titles of shows to tell fortunes or predict the future. It sounds like a fun game you'd play at a party. Unfortunately, I only read enough of the book for the concept to be explained, and I didn't actually get to see Phoebe performing with them. (★★☆☆☆)
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February 8, 2021
I won an ARC of this book on a Goodreads giveaway. I was so excited to read this, yet so disappointed when I sat down with book in hand. It felt like it took forever for the story plot to develop, and I couldn't stand the characters. Honestly, I would have given this book one star, but it did start to get my attention toward the end. I'm sure some will love this book, but it was not my cup of tea.
May 2, 2021
I’m a sucker for Coming of Age in Gritty 1980s New York books.
Generally this means I’m not terribly picky about them, but Astrid Sees All was a cut above the rest.
Though it shares many common elements with your average book in this subgenre, vivacious protagonist Phoebe leaps off the page and feels strangely relatable, even for those of us who had our own New York coming of age many decades later and without all the drugs.
Phoebe’s schtick as a movie ticket stub interpreting fortune teller at the most exclusive nightclub in town was incredibly clever and well-rendered. As were the celebrity cameos and familiar, IYKYK location shoutouts.
Books like this don’t typically prioritize rich atmosphere, but this one did, and that’s a huge part of why it’s such a significant cut above its book siblings. From the creatively festive yet oppressive feel of the Plutonium night club to the dingy parks and deserted streets at night, this book makes you feel like you’re right there with Phoebe, walking beside her, experiencing her world.
But what I loved most about this book was the baseball element. It’s rare to find a character who loves baseball the way I do when reading women’s fiction, and Phoebe’s love of the game, commentary on it, and connection to her father through it brought me a tremendous amount of joy.
This book got everything right. I loved it.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
Generally this means I’m not terribly picky about them, but Astrid Sees All was a cut above the rest.
Though it shares many common elements with your average book in this subgenre, vivacious protagonist Phoebe leaps off the page and feels strangely relatable, even for those of us who had our own New York coming of age many decades later and without all the drugs.
Phoebe’s schtick as a movie ticket stub interpreting fortune teller at the most exclusive nightclub in town was incredibly clever and well-rendered. As were the celebrity cameos and familiar, IYKYK location shoutouts.
Books like this don’t typically prioritize rich atmosphere, but this one did, and that’s a huge part of why it’s such a significant cut above its book siblings. From the creatively festive yet oppressive feel of the Plutonium night club to the dingy parks and deserted streets at night, this book makes you feel like you’re right there with Phoebe, walking beside her, experiencing her world.
But what I loved most about this book was the baseball element. It’s rare to find a character who loves baseball the way I do when reading women’s fiction, and Phoebe’s love of the game, commentary on it, and connection to her father through it brought me a tremendous amount of joy.
This book got everything right. I loved it.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
August 31, 2021
I started this feeling optimistic. My interest waned toward the middle, when there was nothing but party after party, with description after description of flashy clothing. Oh, and many trips to the bathroom for snorting coke. Oh, and the near constant name-dropping. After that, my interest never really picked up again, and by the time the reason for all those missing posters turned up, I was like wut. Oh, and the alleged "revenge" Phoebe was plotting for Ivan was just her saving up $1000 to repay him for the abortion, so she could throw it in his face and walk away. ICE COLD.
April 9, 2021
Astrid Sees All
By Natalie Standieford
This is a story about friends Phoebe (Astrid) and Carmen in New York in the 80's with lots of parties, clubs, drugs and mayhem. Phoebe works as a fortune teller as Astrid while Carmen waitresses and both struggling while trying to live in the moment and spread their wings in New York from a small town. This is a character driven novel, many intriguing characters, some celebrity appearances, and the gritty underbelly of New York back then where drugs are rampant.
It was quite the interesting read that I found to be entertaining.
By Natalie Standieford
This is a story about friends Phoebe (Astrid) and Carmen in New York in the 80's with lots of parties, clubs, drugs and mayhem. Phoebe works as a fortune teller as Astrid while Carmen waitresses and both struggling while trying to live in the moment and spread their wings in New York from a small town. This is a character driven novel, many intriguing characters, some celebrity appearances, and the gritty underbelly of New York back then where drugs are rampant.
It was quite the interesting read that I found to be entertaining.
December 7, 2021
3.5 stars. Not quite what I had thought it to be but an interesting story overall. Wasn't as invested in the characters as I had hoped
July 26, 2021
Astrid Sees All while walking blind. Within the pages of this book, lies a young woman trying to find herself while balancing the dirtiness and grit of 1980s New York City and a naivete constantly undermining her.
I appreciated the nostalgia of pre-gentrified and commercialized NYC in an era of its heyday where the dregs of the city's underbelly resided with impending doom: drugs, AIDS, apartments that would soon double and triple in rent, and an insidious restlessness that promised nothing but pain and anguish sooner or later. I was a kid then and, even I wasn't as naïve as Phoebe (Astrid), the main character wandering for a path her Baltimorean roots lacked.
Still, as I found myself screaming, "What?" and rolling my eyes at the lack of self-awareness ol' girlie presents, even when several "lessons" approached. But, death wishes don't always come via track marks, cocaine binges, STDs, and unheated apartments. Sometimes, if one's not too careful, they come via broken hearts, co-dependency on others, and unfulfilled dreams through toxic relationships.
Thus, I liked this book. Grit and unlikeable people tend to rev my reading juices, especially set in a decade I survived (but, wouldn't mind returning to, sometimes). Natalie Standiford, the author, doesn't pull punches. No one's clean. Nothing's nice. Though I threw my book at its ending, I took a breath and thanked Standiford for reminding me that life's not wrapped in purple prose and cockamamie schemes. Some stories aren't wrapped to ride in the sunset. Sometimes the roach stayed a roach.
If you're not prepared to read NYC at its most honest, sad, and depressing, I can't recommend this to you. But, if you're yearning to read 80's historical fiction that sets the tone of the time perfectly (well, as much as a New Adult book can gift you), go for all the heaviness I encountered.
TW: Drug usage, alcohol usage, violence, shitty people, language, oh, and a murky sexual situation that can be read as rape. Murkiness squats throughout this book, though. You won't see ladies wearing Lululemon while pushing expensive strollers and sipping bougie coffee. It ain't that kind of New York.
4/5 (Yeah. It took me eleven days to read. Don't pay the dates any mind. It's my night read and I slowly read them because I need my sleep, especially with heavy tomes, okay?)
I appreciated the nostalgia of pre-gentrified and commercialized NYC in an era of its heyday where the dregs of the city's underbelly resided with impending doom: drugs, AIDS, apartments that would soon double and triple in rent, and an insidious restlessness that promised nothing but pain and anguish sooner or later. I was a kid then and, even I wasn't as naïve as Phoebe (Astrid), the main character wandering for a path her Baltimorean roots lacked.
Still, as I found myself screaming, "What?" and rolling my eyes at the lack of self-awareness ol' girlie presents, even when several "lessons" approached. But, death wishes don't always come via track marks, cocaine binges, STDs, and unheated apartments. Sometimes, if one's not too careful, they come via broken hearts, co-dependency on others, and unfulfilled dreams through toxic relationships.
Thus, I liked this book. Grit and unlikeable people tend to rev my reading juices, especially set in a decade I survived (but, wouldn't mind returning to, sometimes). Natalie Standiford, the author, doesn't pull punches. No one's clean. Nothing's nice. Though I threw my book at its ending, I took a breath and thanked Standiford for reminding me that life's not wrapped in purple prose and cockamamie schemes. Some stories aren't wrapped to ride in the sunset. Sometimes the roach stayed a roach.
If you're not prepared to read NYC at its most honest, sad, and depressing, I can't recommend this to you. But, if you're yearning to read 80's historical fiction that sets the tone of the time perfectly (well, as much as a New Adult book can gift you), go for all the heaviness I encountered.
TW: Drug usage, alcohol usage, violence, shitty people, language, oh, and a murky sexual situation that can be read as rape. Murkiness squats throughout this book, though. You won't see ladies wearing Lululemon while pushing expensive strollers and sipping bougie coffee. It ain't that kind of New York.
4/5 (Yeah. It took me eleven days to read. Don't pay the dates any mind. It's my night read and I slowly read them because I need my sleep, especially with heavy tomes, okay?)
February 20, 2021
Set in the 1980s, in New York, Pheobe moves to New York in the hope of living a glamorous life. She is in her 20s, she has recently lost her father and is now living with her friend, Carmen. She starts a job at a nightclub hosting Psyche events and becomes an Astrid.
She needs to save all her money to pay back for what she borrowed from her ex-boyfriend.
As Phoebe ( Astrid) reads future and Carmen waits table, they both get involved with alcohol and drug. They are having fun partying all night but this isn't the life phoebe envisioned for herself. Shortly, they fall out and Phoebe's life changes in a different direction.
I'm afraid to say more and spoil the story.
This book was atmospheric, the details were vividly explained. I liked how the author pictured the City and the time period. it makes the reader wishing they had their partying time in New York in 1980. :)
I enjoyed Pheobe's character. I could easily connect with her.
The first half was ok and flowed, soon the story took a turn and got more interesting taking more twists and turns.
Many thanks to Atria Books for this gifted copy.
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She needs to save all her money to pay back for what she borrowed from her ex-boyfriend.
As Phoebe ( Astrid) reads future and Carmen waits table, they both get involved with alcohol and drug. They are having fun partying all night but this isn't the life phoebe envisioned for herself. Shortly, they fall out and Phoebe's life changes in a different direction.
I'm afraid to say more and spoil the story.
This book was atmospheric, the details were vividly explained. I liked how the author pictured the City and the time period. it makes the reader wishing they had their partying time in New York in 1980. :)
I enjoyed Pheobe's character. I could easily connect with her.
The first half was ok and flowed, soon the story took a turn and got more interesting taking more twists and turns.
Many thanks to Atria Books for this gifted copy.
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January 13, 2021
Astrid Sees All by Natalie Standiford. Thanks to @atria for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
When Phoebe moves to New York City, she wants to live the glamorous life. When she’s hired at the hot spot night club as a novelty psychic event (Astrid), she starts to meet the glamorous crowd. When she steps into their partying world, it may be different than she imagined.
I love books that take you into a partying scene. Especially when it takes place in such a vivid environment as New York City in the early 80’s. Wow, if only I could have lived my party days then. The book was pretty atmospheric when it came to the night clubs and partying. Astrid and her friend Carmen reminded me of the friendships that I made in my twenties; you party, you love each other fiercely, but you don’t really realize that until you’ve done something to ruin the friendship. While the book is pretty fun, it also has a tad of melancholy because as the characters are partying and having fun, you can just tell that there’s a hint of sadness behind it all. The book took a turn towards the end that I was SO not expecting, but it made me appreciate the story even more.. and it got pretty exciting.
“I’d glimpsed the golden world, and returning to it was my only goal. Now I knew for sure that it existed, and I could go there, if only I could find the door. I didn’t particularly care about being famous or rich, or even happy. But I needed to know what else was behind the door.”
Astrid Sees All comes out 4/6.
When Phoebe moves to New York City, she wants to live the glamorous life. When she’s hired at the hot spot night club as a novelty psychic event (Astrid), she starts to meet the glamorous crowd. When she steps into their partying world, it may be different than she imagined.
I love books that take you into a partying scene. Especially when it takes place in such a vivid environment as New York City in the early 80’s. Wow, if only I could have lived my party days then. The book was pretty atmospheric when it came to the night clubs and partying. Astrid and her friend Carmen reminded me of the friendships that I made in my twenties; you party, you love each other fiercely, but you don’t really realize that until you’ve done something to ruin the friendship. While the book is pretty fun, it also has a tad of melancholy because as the characters are partying and having fun, you can just tell that there’s a hint of sadness behind it all. The book took a turn towards the end that I was SO not expecting, but it made me appreciate the story even more.. and it got pretty exciting.
“I’d glimpsed the golden world, and returning to it was my only goal. Now I knew for sure that it existed, and I could go there, if only I could find the door. I didn’t particularly care about being famous or rich, or even happy. But I needed to know what else was behind the door.”
Astrid Sees All comes out 4/6.
December 21, 2021
This was a 3 star experience for me but I read the first half three months before the second half due to breaking my leg in between and it wasn’t the book’s fault that this happened. So I give a bonus star.
October 22, 2020
I loved everything about this book and I couldn't wait to read it but now I'm sad it's finished.
This was a book I was so looking forward to reading when I read the description and it actually lived up to all the hype.
1980s, New York...omg! I think I was in love with the atmosphere alone. I think the author did such a great job with the city scape and describing the city and time period, I felt transported back to a time that I've always wanted to live in NYC.
Phoebe is in her 20s living with her friend Carmen. Phoebe is trying to figure it all out, still getting over her fathers death. She borrows money from a guy she was dating and takes a job at a club reading futures to try to pay him back quickly.
For some reason Phoebe put Carmen on a pedestal and wanted nothing more than to be like her. However, Carmen was controlling and betrayed her, their friendship was more than complicated.
Soon, they have a fall out and Phoebe's life is going in a different direction and it's nothing what she thought it would be.
I don't want to say anymore because I want y'all to read this book. This book had everything- mystery, romance, drama and amazing characters! Plus that 1980s NYC scene!! Please put this on your TBR list for April 2021
Thanks to the publisher Atria Books and NetGalley for my advanced ebook copy.
This was a book I was so looking forward to reading when I read the description and it actually lived up to all the hype.
1980s, New York...omg! I think I was in love with the atmosphere alone. I think the author did such a great job with the city scape and describing the city and time period, I felt transported back to a time that I've always wanted to live in NYC.
Phoebe is in her 20s living with her friend Carmen. Phoebe is trying to figure it all out, still getting over her fathers death. She borrows money from a guy she was dating and takes a job at a club reading futures to try to pay him back quickly.
For some reason Phoebe put Carmen on a pedestal and wanted nothing more than to be like her. However, Carmen was controlling and betrayed her, their friendship was more than complicated.
Soon, they have a fall out and Phoebe's life is going in a different direction and it's nothing what she thought it would be.
I don't want to say anymore because I want y'all to read this book. This book had everything- mystery, romance, drama and amazing characters! Plus that 1980s NYC scene!! Please put this on your TBR list for April 2021
Thanks to the publisher Atria Books and NetGalley for my advanced ebook copy.
January 14, 2021
I won a copy of this one in a Goodreads Giveaway. It showed up yesterday right as I finished my book, so I went ahead and sat right back down and started reading. It's a ridiculously quick read - I don't think my partner even got through two episodes before I finished it. That being said, I honestly didn't see a whole lot of plotting, and there wasn't a real resolution - it's got sort of a SWF vibe without the killing, just the mild obsession. Don't take that to mean that this is a thriller though, 'cause it isn't. If I had to categorize it, I'd say it's contemporary fiction. Now, I will say that normally those components would be enough to make me DNF (particularly the lack of plot), but I kept going and read the whole sucker all the way through. Why? Because the setting was fantastic. All of the descriptions of 1980s New York (which bled over to 1980s nostalgia in general) were so dynamic. If this book were nothing but descriptions of settings, I would have enjoyed it more. (If Standiford wanted to just write a book like that, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.) Standiford has that much talent in immersing the reader in the past. I just really dislike pointless character stories. Meeting in the middle for those two factors places it at a solid 3.
April 22, 2021
I just love anything 80s. The decade was equal parts grit and glitter. Especially in NYC - such a different city then. But trying to find your way in the world as a vulnerable 20-something? Timeless.
There’s a bit of a mystery and romance, but the drama runs thick in this one. Fascinating and flashy characters steal the show as Phoebe escapes to NYC - and becomes Astrid, a fortune teller who dishes out life advice via a box of movie ticket stubs to celebrities and artists in the underground club Plutonium.
But when her best friend Carmen goes missing she’s forced to face what she’s been running from, and it takes some unexpected and heartbreaking turns.
Full of some fun 80’s nostalgia mixed with intoxicating darkness and grief, Astrid Sees All is a raw and desperate atmospheric struggle to find your place, while hoping that place doesn’t end up swallowing you whole.
There’s a bit of a mystery and romance, but the drama runs thick in this one. Fascinating and flashy characters steal the show as Phoebe escapes to NYC - and becomes Astrid, a fortune teller who dishes out life advice via a box of movie ticket stubs to celebrities and artists in the underground club Plutonium.
But when her best friend Carmen goes missing she’s forced to face what she’s been running from, and it takes some unexpected and heartbreaking turns.
Full of some fun 80’s nostalgia mixed with intoxicating darkness and grief, Astrid Sees All is a raw and desperate atmospheric struggle to find your place, while hoping that place doesn’t end up swallowing you whole.
December 4, 2020
I won this book thru a GoodReads giveaway. Although I lived through this period in NY, I didn't relate to this book at all. I didn't feel anything for any of the characters. I did enjoy the writing, however, and would like to read additional books by Ms. Standiford. Hopefully, something that digs a little deeper.
April 11, 2021
The eighties in New York City filled with clubbing and drugs is depicted through a fortune telling wannabe writer and her equally eccentric friends. Warhol and Jagged are just a couple of figures that are used to represent the history of influences of the era. Colorful characters and a subplot of missing young women add to the storyline.
Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley
Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley
May 21, 2021
Well of course I had to read Astrid Sees All by Natalie Standiford; when I was in high school and college in the Deep South in my teens and early 20s I oh-so-very-desperately wanted to to move to New York City and be a Writer With A Capital W. And make The Scene. Live in a tiny apartment with my cat and an ironing board that pulled down from the wall, drink espresso, hang out in punk rock clubs, maybe find an excuse to Write With A Capital W about Rikers and Bellevue so I could visit them without fearing I'd have to stay. I wanted to fit into the category of heroin chic, all white shirts and dirty jeans and leather jackets and biker boots, but without the heroin--I was scared of needles then. Oh, and of dying.
Well, the main character (Phoebe/Astrid) kind of showed me what my life might've been like if I'd had the guts to follow my dreams.
They would've turned into nightmares.
Seriously, I saw all the worst parts of myself at "that age" in Phoebe. And, for that matter, in all the other characters, too.
I broke with pattern and read some other reviews on Goodreads before writing my typical Book Reaction/Report, just to see if anybody else connected to the book in this way. Nope, not from what I saw. Most folks either Loved It or thought it was Too Depressing.
Well, yeah, DUH. It was _supposed_ to be depressing. Not everybody is all sparkles and sunshine in their 20s after college, and the late 1970s and early to mid 1980s in certain parts of New York should be viewed through a lens splattered with, at the very least, grit and sweat. And probably some other bodily fluids.
So, no complaints from me about the book on that front. What did wear thin were all the throwaway references to cultural icons of the day. And the _complete_ lack of self-awareness on Phoebe's part, not to mention the ridiculousness of her largely self-imposed financial situation.
Oh, and one other thing. I had a college friendship that went down in flames not just once, but twice. I realize now that she and I were both mixes of Phoebe and her _supposed_ bestie Carmen, not just then, but, unfortunately, into now (our early 50s). Why do people so often times try to force relationships? So, yeah, things got a little uncomfortable for me here and there in regard to their friendship, or whatever it was. That part was very well done.
PS
I have no idea why I'm stuck on the word "oh" today. My apologies.
Well, the main character (Phoebe/Astrid) kind of showed me what my life might've been like if I'd had the guts to follow my dreams.
They would've turned into nightmares.
Seriously, I saw all the worst parts of myself at "that age" in Phoebe. And, for that matter, in all the other characters, too.
I broke with pattern and read some other reviews on Goodreads before writing my typical Book Reaction/Report, just to see if anybody else connected to the book in this way. Nope, not from what I saw. Most folks either Loved It or thought it was Too Depressing.
Well, yeah, DUH. It was _supposed_ to be depressing. Not everybody is all sparkles and sunshine in their 20s after college, and the late 1970s and early to mid 1980s in certain parts of New York should be viewed through a lens splattered with, at the very least, grit and sweat. And probably some other bodily fluids.
So, no complaints from me about the book on that front. What did wear thin were all the throwaway references to cultural icons of the day. And the _complete_ lack of self-awareness on Phoebe's part, not to mention the ridiculousness of her largely self-imposed financial situation.
Oh, and one other thing. I had a college friendship that went down in flames not just once, but twice. I realize now that she and I were both mixes of Phoebe and her _supposed_ bestie Carmen, not just then, but, unfortunately, into now (our early 50s). Why do people so often times try to force relationships? So, yeah, things got a little uncomfortable for me here and there in regard to their friendship, or whatever it was. That part was very well done.
PS
I have no idea why I'm stuck on the word "oh" today. My apologies.
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