I loved this book. The characters were well fleshed out, the plot never dragged. Linda was a well-balanced main character, an outcast, but not an archetype of one. I'll be thinking about this book every time I fly.

What a bizarre, hilarious and surprising sweet read this was.

In this book we’re following, Linda. A 30yo woman who is sexually attracted to planes and believes it is her destiny to “marry” the plane she met as a teenager - marry meaning eternally connecting to the plane via a crash.

Despite Linda seeming like someone you’d meet on a My Strange Addiction episode, she is a character with a strong sense of relatability and one that I couldn’t help but find endearing. Socially awkward yet charming, particularly in moments when she embraces her own weirdness.

On the surface this book is an odd one , considering Linda’s primary interest/attraction, however beneath that this book is tender in its exploration of friendship, acceptance and desire/fate.

Highly recommend for the weird lit-fic girlies!

This book was strange and heartfelt and unhinged and just plain (plane??) fun. As Linda tells us about her romantic and sexual attraction to planes and her aching desire to marry her soulmate plane (i.e., die in a plane crash), she's so earnest that you kind of start to hope it happens for her. The author writes these perspectives with a lot of empathy and you really get to understand Linda and the internal world she's living in. When Linda isn't in the sterile environment of the planes, she struggles with her need for friendship and human connection, especially regarding her relationship with her best friend Karina. As readers witness them navigate the ups and downs of love, friendship, and air travel, we have to ask - does fate hurry towards us or do we hurry towards our fates?

I was a little intimidated by the plot and description of this book but I’m glad I stuck around because this one was interesting! Linda’s obsession is not one I can relate to obviously but I can understand the deeper meaning and why. She is such an awkward girl and I really appreciate that because it’s so real. The writing was so easygoing and witty which made me appreciate a change in pace compared to other books. I’ve never been introduced to this author before but now I am curious about her other works.

4.5 stars, rounding up.

I loved Kate Folk's short story collection, "Out There", so I knew I wanted to read what sounded like a weird plane book. However, I didn't actually find this that weird -- and not in a bad way. I really enjoyed Linda's character. More than anything this felt like a story of someone seeking acceptance, even if they didn't realize it at first, and friendship. This is not a plot heavy story, there isn't a ton happening, but I was fully invested in where Linda's journey would take her!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the e-arc!

Kate Folk's short story collection Out There was such an unexpected delight for me, that I was so excited to see what she would come up with for a novel length idea. I hoped she would continue her knack for weird and out there (no pun intended) plots and Sky Daddy delivered. The concept is going to be a stretch for readers but stick with me- Linda spends her life working in content moderation for a company in the Bay Area. She's very good at it, but really is working through primarily to feed her monthly habit of flying from SFO to a regional hub and back. It is something she looks forward to every month. Linda is single and is really only interested in one thing-- planes. Yes, she is sexually attracted to planes. She anthropomorphizes planes (men) and feels a connection when she boards. She has her favorite models and has a strong connection to particular frequent wing numbers. She envisions she will meet her soulmate plane and they will become one by crashing together. Weird? Yes. But Folks just leans into the idea and I'm here for it. Linda tries to be transparent with friends about her desires, but also knows she will be stigmatized for it. Things of course start to unravel for Linda and her human relationships. It's a one of a kind read. I do wonder how this would be as a short story of novella because it was so hyper focused on Linda's desire, I felt like she was a bit one note of a character and wish she would have been fleshed out a bit more. But Folk is a must read author for me moving forward. Well done!

Thanks to Random House via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

What a book lol. I read this so quickly. It was funny and strange but also heartfelt and sincere. I loved Linda so much. You know how I always say I love Eileen and her weird gross quirks? That’s how I feel about Linda. You’re such an odd human but I can’t help but to route for you and love you. Linda is obsessed with planes…like is sexually attracted to planes. Sounds weird, but what makes me love this as opposed to sentient smut (no shame or shade!) is that this focuses more on why she has this obsession, where it came from, and how it has manifested into this irrational thinking. This book approached sadness and loneliness in such a unique way. As Linda gets closer to falling in love with a plane, she ends up making human connections along the way. By the end, you have to wonder if that’s all she really wanted. I also LOVED the side characters and those humans that Linda connected with along the way. I just really appreciated this book and can’t wait to hype it up more closer to pub day.

I'm still not sure what I just read. This book was just something else. I know I read the description when asking for it from NetGalley and there must've been something that spoke to me. Honestly, I'm glad it did. I normally don't read unhinged romances but this was a nice little treat. It was just the right kind of "wtf is going on" to keep you invested. I currently live in the Bay Area so a lot of the references made were fun for me. I also love to fly but not like Linda. Wow. Kate Folk really connected with the character somehow. I felt as though Linda was one of the most flushed out characters I've read in a long time. She felt like a friend. There was subtle touching on mental health which I was hoping would be a little part of the story. Linda is aware she's not quite right but doesn't mind but also internally battles with that.
This is a weird book to recommend to friends but I already have! Like I mentioned, it's just the right amount of "wtf" that keeps you reading. It ended the only way it could.

*Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an early copy in exchange for an honest review

Out There by Kate Folk is my favorite short story collection and I've been highly anticipating her first full-length novel. Sky Daddy is exactly what I wanted from her. It's weird yet still pulled at my heartstrings.

Linda is the main character in Sky Daddy. Since her adolescence, she has been really into planes. She spends the entire book searching for her plane soulmate and believes her destiny is to be married to a plane in a devastating plane crash. Amidst her quest for a plane husband (yes, planes are male), she is also juggling a weird living situation, a job monitoring the internet for hate and harassment and building a friendship with her coworker, Karina. The plot revolves around Linda's vision board that she made for a Vision Board Brunch with Karina. Linda believes that the vision board will truly help her achieve her dream of marrying a plane. However, it seems like the universe is taking her vision board a little too literally.

This book is far more sexual than I ever expected. There's a lot more plane sex than I ever anticipated. However, despite the focus on planes and Linda's unquenchable desire for them, the real heart of the story is the friendship between her and Karina. I loved seeing how their friendship grew and the efforts both made to ingratiate themselves with each other.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has previously read and enjoyed Kate Folk.

Thank you to Kate Folk and Random House Publishing via NetGalley for a copy of the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved Sky Daddy! Being inside Linda's head, and seeing how she sees the world, was such a treat. Readers who enjoyed "One's Company" by Ashley Hutson and "Convenience Store Woman" and "Earthlings" by Sayaka Murata might enjoy this, because of the singularity of the protagonist's worldview. I was surprised by how touched I was by the supporting characters, and how redeeming they all were. The themes of this novel that stood out to me were loneliness, friendship, and acceptance, and I was sad to finish it.

(4.25) sky daddy is the new definition of weird girl lit. this book was hilarious and a car (plane?) crash that you can’t look away from. Kate Folk is masterful in her satire and characterization of Linda. such a wild premise that ends up with surprisingly tender takes on friendship, loneliness, and what it means to truly understand each other.

thanks netgalley and random house for the eArc.

I loved this.. Off kilter, but full of heart. I feel for Linda, our protagonist, so much. The writing and voice of the work is strong -- I found myself feeling protective on behalf of our protagonist when she made certain choices I knew wouldn't bode well in society. The bittersweet ending sealed it as a 5 star for me.

What a weird little romp yet was oddly endearing.

Kate Folk said let’s have our FMC be in love with an airplanes and made it work. Because what happened is Linda is a sad lady who has some misconceptions about her own wants and desires and in the mix discovers the power of friendship. Folks writing is unhinged, definitely satirical but also incredibly heartwarming. Linda is a very easy to relate to character and I think if people are willing to look beyond the weird sexual fetish they will love this.

This book is delightfully weird and funny. It is exactly what it claims to be. I got way too invested in the story, and started to root for a crash which felt weird and wrong which is incredibly fitting.

A delightfully wacky tale of a girl destined to *checks notes* marry an airplane. I really enjoyed this and was often cackling at my Kobo but I did find it to be repetitive. It wasn’t overlong but the repetition is a testament to how strong of a short story writer Kate Folk is, as evidenced by her wonderful previously published collection of stories. Either way, I’m a fan!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the arc.

This is exactly the kind of strange fiction that I love. It was funny, but also mildly disturbing and very awkward at times. Folk knew her main character Linda very well, and was able to tell her story with intimacy and skill. The core of the plot is Linda’s deep and unwavering love/lust for airplanes. It is her sexual identity, and she objectifies the shapes and curves of different models of aircraft as if they are human men. Linda doesn’t consider planes to be objects. She feels that they are sentient beings with feelings and souls, and she wants one to “choose her” for marriage. How will she know she has been chosen? Well, because that flight will crash with her inside it.

Obviously, this book will not be for everyone, and some readers will definitely feel that it’s in poor taste. Especially given Linda’s ultimate goal and how passionately she romanticizes it. The timing for a plot like this is also maybe not the BEST, but that is not the author’s fault.

I have to give kudos for excellent crafting of a title that has multiple meanings within the story, is funny and interesting and immediately made me want to read the book. (Great cover, too!) Don’t be fooled, though: it’s not a light-hearted romance or a cute coming of age story or anything like that. It’s very much a dark comedy with some grim moments and off-putting decisions on behalf of our main character.

Linda was a protagonist that wasn’t always easy to root for. Even though I was intrigued and wanted to keep reading to see what she would say and do next, she definitely did some things that had me face-palming. And these were just her interactions with human men, not airplanes. She was way too passive and nice and I wish she’d had more of a backbone. Though I will say that many things I questioned turned out to have a specific purpose or repercussion later on that made sense. Much like the vision boards that became so important to Linda’s plans… (What a great story element!)

Folk actually made Linda’s romantic and sexual interest in planes feel so believable that by the time the story really got going, I was unfazed by it. There were other aspects of her personality that I could absolutely relate to, and the way that Folk wrote about romantic and sexual attraction that is “not normal” was perfect. Linda was very confident in how she felt but also terrified of how other people would perceive her if they knew the whole truth. Another surprising theme of the novel was friendship, believe it or not.

Small complaint, but Linda constantly referred to her tiny rental unit as her “cube,” so every time a scene was set there I at first assumed she was talking about being at work, because to me a cube means a cubicle in an office. Probably just me, though. That was my only issue.

I was a big fan of the ending. “Sky Daddy” will likely be a hit with anyone who loves the weird, dark comedy side of contemporary fiction and an unpredictable narrator.

Biggest TW: Suicidal ideation, Depression, Bullying, Plane crash imagery

Sky Daddy by Kate Folk is a darkly satirical gem that I absolutely couldn’t put down. The protagonist, Linda, is awkward, aloof, and more blunt than is probably socially acceptable—and I could see a lot of myself in her. Her daily life, full of oddities and strange internal musings, becomes far from mundane thanks to Folk’s sharp, witty writing style. As Linda’s obsession with planes grows and she starts navigating her feelings in a world that doesn’t quite understand her, the story takes unexpected turns that are both hilarious and dark in the best way.

The writing is hilarious, with similes and analogies that had me laughing out loud and sometimes even snorting. While it’s undeniably funny, there’s also a tenderness beneath it all as Linda begins to open herself up and embrace her true, unfiltered desires. Her journey toward self-acceptance, set against the backdrop of her obsession with planes, is weirdly wholesome, though always tinged with a satirical lens that questions societal norms.

Folk’s prose is easy to read, and it kept me hooked from start to finish. The dark humor and absurdity of Linda’s situation created a reading experience that felt both entertaining and thought-provoking.

It’s a story that blends the bizarre with the tender and the satirical, all while providing unexpected moments of sincerity. Sky Daddy might just end up on my favorites list for 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Sky Daddy by Kate Folk follows a woman named Linda who dreams of a plane falling in love with her and falling to the earth, crashing with her inside. Which sounds strange but I loved it.

I finished this book in one day because I had to know what would happen. I loved Linda as a character. She is incredibly flawed and confused and lonely. She is awkward and seemingly adrift in life. But she has one main focus and I love how this book used that focus to explore more of her character.

This won’t be a book for everyone. You have to be able to accept that you will be following a main character that is pretty odd but I loved how unique this story felt. The ending was perfect to me. This is the second book I have read by this author and she has become an autobuy author!

What a delight! I obsessed over Kate Folk’s debut short story collection, so I was eager to see what she’d do with a novel, and this did not disappoint. There was so much off-kilter humor that just worked and fed into a larger story of recovering from mother wounds and learning to connect with the type of people that would be good for her. Love the humor. Loved the Bay Area setting. Loved how original and creative this felt. More great work from Folk.

4.5 stars rounded up

What a strange, hilarious, and charming book this was. I never thought I’d enjoy a book about a woman sexually attracted to planes and yet here we are.

Kate Folk’s writing is so engaging and fun. I was cackling throughout my reading of this work. Our main character Linda was a strange person to be following, but by the end I too was hoping she’d find her plane soulmate. Her weirdness and lack of social skills felt so relatable!

Highly recommend to fans of dark comedies. I haven’t read Kate Folk’s prior work but certainly will now.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for access to this eARC in exchange for an honest review!