Author: Natalie Standiford
Genre: General Fiction
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: April 6, 2021
Book Description: 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.
A love letter to gritty 1980s New York City, Astrid Sees All is an irresistible, original novel about female friendship, sex and romance, and what it’s like to be a young woman searching for an identity.
Rating: 2.75 Stars
Mini Review: Set in 1984 in New York City, this is the story of Phoebe, a recent graduate, in search for a new adventure. Phoebe gets derailed by her Father’s death, but she makes it make to NYC just in time for New Years. This book has sex, drugs, adultery, kidnapping and more. It was a very messy book at times, but some how culminated to a decent ending. I personally found all the characters grating at times, and thought this is just too unbelievable. I think if this book is something you are on the fence about just skip it.
Thank you NetGalley And Atria Books for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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