Ask Me Blog Tour & Book Review

Life would be pretty hard if you were a teenage oracle forced to truthfully answer every question you heard whether or not it was directed at you. Add to that the murder of one of your classmates, and things will get even more complicated for you.

That's the premise of the new YA novel Ask Me by Kimberly Pauley.

Aria just wants to be a normal 16-year-old, but she's inherited her family's gift of prophecy, which makes her an outcast in her Florida high school. When her classmate Jade is murdered, the questions of what happened and why cause Aria to get a glimpse of how Jade died but not a clear picture of who did it.

There are two suspects: Will, Jade's on-again/off-again boyfriend, and Alex, the guy Jade had gone out with the night before she died. Both boys mysteriously befriend Aria and warn her to stay away from the other, leaving Aria to wonder which boy to trust.

Honestly, I kind of figured out who the culprit was halfway through the book, but because it seemed kind of easy, I kept waiting for a more complex explanation. There really wasn't one. I also had a hard time understanding why Will and Alex both suddenly took an interest in the school "freak". It just seemed to come out of nowhere.

But, I still found the story entertaining and thrilling, and I really liked that the chapter beginnings including song lyrics. Music is a big part of the book because Aria always has her MP3 player on to block out people's conversations and questions. I'm looking forward to making an "Ask Me" playlist and listening to what Aria listened to.

Ask Me is published by Soho Teen and is available to purchase now. I received a free advance review copy for my honest review.