Ask Me Blog Tour: Review

Welcome to my stop on the Ask Me blog tour being presented by Soho Teen! Today I have my review of the book to share with you. Enjoy!

Ask Me

Author: Kimberly Pauley

Genre: YA Paranormal/Mystery

Release Date: April 8, 2014

Publisher: Soho Teen

Description:

Ask Aria Morse anything, and she must answer with the truth. Yet she rarely understands the cryptic words she‘s compelled to utter. Blessed—or cursed—with the power of an Oracle who cannot decipher her own predictions, she does her best to avoid anyone and everyone.

But Aria can no longer hide when Jade, one of the few girls at school who ever showed her any kindness, disappears. Any time Aria overhears a question about Jade, she inadvertently reveals something new, a clue or hint as to why Jade vanished. But like stray pieces from different puzzles, her words never present a clear picture.

Then there’s Alex, damaged and dangerous, but the first person other than Jade to stand up for her. And Will, who offers a bond that seems impossible for a girl who’s always been alone. Both were involved with Jade. Aria may be the only one who can find out what happened, but the closer she gets to solving the crime, the more she becomes a target. Not everyone wants the truth to come out. 

Ask Me is a gripping young adult paranormal mystery that sucked me in from the first page and didn't let go until the end. I literally read the entire book in one sitting. Paranormal and mystery/thrillers are two of my favorite genres, so putting them together to create a novel - I'm definitely going to be reading it. I'm glad to say that any expectations I may have had about the book were surpassed in every way. The story follows our heroine, Aria, a normal teenage girl who just happens to be an oracle. When she hears a question - any question, directed at her or not - she must answer it. The answer is always the truth, but usually comes in strange riddles and what sounds like complete nonsense. Due to her gift, Aria isn't very popular at school and tries to keep out of the way so she's not spouting off answers to random questions in the hallway. She's doing a fairly decent job of hiding what she can do until a popular girl from her school goes missing and it's discovered that she was murdered. Can Aria's gift be useful for once and help to figure out what happened to Jade? Who killed her and why? Will they kill again? Aria tries to get as many answers as she can, one that make sense at least, but it seems like she's coming up empty handed. Once a girl with no real friends, Aria finds herself attracting the attention of two popular guys at school - Alex and Will. Both of them are connected to Jade and everyone's certain that one of them is the killer. But which one could it be? Will Aria trust her gift to find the answers or will she become the next victim?

I really enjoyed every aspect of this book, from the mystery/suspense story line to the characters and especially the mythology about oracles. Aria is a great main character - she's smart and such a kind person, but she doesn't get a chance to show any of her good qualities to others because of her "gift." I liked watching her character grow and break out of her shell throughout the book as she takes control of her life and decides not to let her gift get in the way any more. The two guys in the book, Alex and Will, are also interesting characters. Each of them has their own strengths and weaknesses (and they're both gorgeous, of course) - and the entire story Aria and the reader are going back and forth between the two, trying to decide who to trust and who the real killer is. The author did a fantastic job with the suspense part of the book by adding in lots of twists and turns - which definitely kept me guessing. Like I mentioned, I loved the use of the oracle myth in the book, only I wish that there was more of it involved. I'm not sure how that would've worked, but I personally find all of that stuff very fascinating and would've loved to read more about it. By combining several genres together - paranormal, fantasy, mystery, suspense, action, and some romance - the author really transcended any label that could be stamped on the book. There's a bit of everything in the mix and it will definitely appeal to fans of all genres. I definitely recommend it to those who enjoy mysteries and suspense fiction, as well as fans of paranormal, fantasy, and mythology.

* A huge thanks to Soho Teen for providing me with a copy of the book for review! *