I’m really excited to be a part of Erik Atwell’s Blog Tour for Thank You For Flying Air Zoe. I decided to take a different approach to reviewing this one. I’m going to give you a list of the reasons I liked the book. As a bonus, Erik graciously answered a few questions I sent to him, and I’m giving you the details on those as well, tomorrow.

What I loved about Thank You For Flying Air Zoe

1) Our heroine, Zoe, is not an almost-thirty-something-looking-for-the-love-of-her-life, as so many chick lit heroines are. Not that there’s anything wrong with that type of heroine. But once you’re no longer almost thirty, or if you’ve found Mr. Right, then you look for something else in a heroine, and Zoe delivers. She’s looking at her life and saying, “Really? Is this all there is?” And I know many, many people who have asked that question.

2) The book references some great 80’s music. When I was very young, the Go-Go’s were my first favorite band, and the first GIRL BAND I was aware of and loved. It’s fun to have that bit of nostalgia.  In fact, for days after reading the book, the Go-Go’s were in near constant rotation on my iPod.

3) Air Zoe also references U2, in a good way. And  I love U2, so I was thrilled to see the reference.  But I don’t want to say anything else about their appearance in the story, because I don’t want to be at all spoiler-y.

4) I laughed out loud while I was reading the book. On an airplane. More than once. People looked at me funny. I like to laugh, and this is the first book in a long time that made me laugh out loud.  It’s a credit to Erik Atwell hitting perfectly on a woman’s sense of humor and quirkiness.

5) The friendship between Zoe and her friends feels authentic.  Anyone who has created her tribe of friends, the people who know the good and bad about you and still hang out with you anyway, will appreciate the zaniness of the friendship.

6) Erik Atwell is extremely approachable. We traded a few emails as I was reading the book, and having an opportunity to interact with an author makes me feel a deeper connection to the books.

7) The book made me hopeful. Zoe takes a chance on her dreams.  She quits her job and leaps without a long term net. That’s a really scary thing to do. As I was reading, I found myself dreaming a little bit about what it would be like to have the courage to follow all my own dreams, to tell the practical side of myself to just shut the hell up for once, and DREAM BIG.

 

Check back tomorrow, and I’ll post the answers Erik was gracious enough to give to a few questions I had for him.  Happy Reading!