Book Review + Giveaway + Blog Tour: Ask Me By: Kimberly Pauley

Title: Ask Me
Author: Kimberly Pauley
HARDBACK
Amount of Pages: 304
Publisher: Soho Teens
Release Date: April 8, 2014
Geared Towards: Teens
From: Publisher (ARC)
I was not paid for this review 



Summary (From B.O.B): Ask Aria Morse anything, and she'll have an answer. Blessed (or cursed) with the power of an oracle, she does her best to avoid people and their questions, which she can't help but answer with cryptic remarks and she doesn't understand. Then Jade, a girl from her high school, disappears.

Aria would do anything to just stay out of it. But everyone in her small town wants to know what's going on, and each time she overhears a question about Jade, Aria finds herself revealing a new fragment of what might have happened. But nothing seems to match up, like pieces from completely different puzzles.

Aria may be the only one who can find out what happened to Jade, but the closer she gets to discovering the truth, the closer she gets to becoming the next target.

Wdebo's Review: My first exposure to Kimberly Pauley's writing was in high school when I read her Sucks to Be Me series. I remember liking the book for Pauley's humor and sarcastic tone which made it a nice light read. However, I was not entirely sure how I would like this book. Even though I did enjoy Sucks to Be Me, the tone of both novels are entirely different. STBM is much more humorous while Ask Me deals with much darker themes. However, after finishing the novel I was pleasantly surprised by the writing.

The prologue helps to set up the conflict presented in the novel but has nothing to do with what Aria does. For some reason, when I first started the story I could not wrap my head around that idea so I found it very confusing. Also, that section was supposed to be dramatic and make your sympathetic nervous system go crazy as you witness the crime being committed but it honestly just fell flat for me. This was why I was reluctant to start this novel, after reading that two page prologue it seemed flat and trying too hard. The first few chapters weren't too exciting. They just helped to build up the scene and characters. It just did not hold my attention all that much and I put it down for a few days. However, when I picked it up again the storyline suddenly escalated and I was sucked into the story and had a hard time putting it down.

The plot itself had an interesting twist ( a girl with the power of the oracle); however, it was still pretty obvious what was going to happen. I knew who the murderer was towards the beginning of the novel even though that did take away from the excitement, it was still a fun ride to see how Aria reaches the conclusion.

Aria is a character that I was pretty neutral about. Nothing about her stood out greatly. She was annoying at times but other times she seemed to just be there. I was amused by the fact that Aria is a music obsessed girl (who tries to drown out other people's questions with her music device) and instead of having her obsessed with The Beetles or Nirvana like most authors do, Pauley wrote her as being a total lover of pop punk bands like MCR, Mayday Parade, etc. Even though I love those bands but it is still strange to see their names in a novel like I'll be reading and I'll see the lyrics and go "oh I listen to that song so much."

Cafe Cover Chat: I both like and dislike the cover. I like the image that they are trying to present with the girl's windblown hair shown the mass of emotions and issues blowing at her and what the curved words in the background are trying to present. However, those words also bother me a lot because they just seem so cheesy. It just does not seem very professional and more tacked on-photoshop style. Also the brownish hue makes it seem more blah instead of melodramatic, which is what I feel like they were trying to go for (B-).

All in all, though Pauley's writing might not be strong enough to truly grasp and master this storyline, the premise and timing of the story made it an entertaining read that can occupy its reader for a few good hours.

Grade: B

Wdebo :)

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