Toronto Star: "A smooth narrative ride at a brisk clip, although I wouldn't recommend the book as in-flight entertainment...Barfoot is a tough-love writer - she gives her characters both good and bad qualities, and she doesn't let them off the hook in coming to terms with their own failings. Life is hard and full of ambiguities, she seems to say. Deal with it...In Some Things About Flying, Joan Barfoot combines a suspenseful situation and convincing characterization to show readers some things about living."
Globe & Mail: "Joan Barfoot is a clever, witty writer. With Some Things About Flying, she has once again pulled off a thoughtful, understated and entertaining book."
Ottawa Citizen: "Lila and Tom are 'optimistic, middle-aged, pouchy lovers' flying off for an illicit holiday when they learn their plane will crashland in a few hours. With an acerbic humour and keen understanding of how things work between men and women, Barfoot deftly manages the resulting pathos and disintegration."
(London) Sunday Times: "Here is a novel that sneaks up and takes you by surprise...Barfoot's prose is cool and understated, and her depiction of the age-old dilemma of 'the other woman' is clear-sighted and honest."
The Scotsman: "In Some Things About Flying, Joan Barfoot takes intense, death-facing moments and spins their gift of introspection and insight into a perceptive, compassionate narrative...This is an intelligent, thoughtful book that does not make a big noise but is content to tackle big themes - love, death, marriage, children - quietly, sensitively and successfully...A rewarding, calmly passionate book where there is wonder, and respect too, for the everyday mysteries concealed behind the eyes of both lovers and the strangers with whom life throws them together."
St. John's Evening Telegram: "Barfoot is a lyrical writer. Her use of language in a narration that is largely a monologue keeps the reader enthralled. No simple task. In a lesser writer's hands, this story could have become mundane, even irritating. But Barfoot keeps the material fresh and interesting...In Some Things About Flying, Barfoot has crafted a memorable story and an unforgettable heroine."
Kitchener-Waterloo Record: "A gripping story of a transatlantic flight... Barfoot conveys a palpable, sweaty atmosphere of fear and danger while staying unerringly inside the character of Lila."
London Free Press: "Barfoot...has again succeeded in blending diverting fiction with astute commentary on the emotional minefields which lie in wait for unwary travellers in untried territory...A tour de force in original and stylish storytelling, Barfoot's book, with its perceptive look at the ever-tangled nature of human affairs, is one that readers will not want to miss."