Early Unraveling of Ask Me by Kimberly Pauley

Title: Ask Me

Series: N/A

Author: Kimberly Pauley
Genre: YA Greek Mythology

Publication Date: April 8, 2014

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.

  

***

My Thoughts

A copy was provided through Edelweiss and HaperCollins in exchange for an honest review

I'm utterly disappointed in this book. Oracles always make appearances in most mythology books in one way or another, but it's never the main subject. There are very few books out there were they take the center stage, and almost all of them have been failures for me. I'm just not satisfied with them. Ask Me is one of those.

Whenever I see a book about oracles I'm at least expecting some good background history and world building around the history of the oracle, whether it be Greek, Norse, or some other type of prophesying. All we get here is a mention that they are descendant from one of the original 10 Sybils, specifically the Erythraean one and that they leave a book to each new generation. That's pretty much it. That's all that's mentioned and we move on with Aria's life. So much could have been done with that, but instead it was left at that. Superficial.

I was not a fan of Aria. Actually I'm never a fan of anyone just hiding and saying hell with it when she could have done something but was too much of a chicken shit to even think of a way to do it without outing herself. Not to mention how much she sucked at getting answers. Instead of really having a go at it by sitting down with her Gran and just letting her ask questions from every angle, she only ever answered a few, got sick/frustrated and left it at that. Most pathetic effort I ever saw.

I get that school was hell for her when she had to answer every single question that she heard, but that does not excuse her when there are murders going on. Put on your big girl panties and get on with it, woman! But no, she always managed to talk her self out of it mostly. Had to be convinced by her Gran every time a simple little tidbit was discovered. The whole thing was beyond frustrating. But not more so than how blind she was to who the murderer was till the last 5% of the book. It was so damn obvious! Ugh! (view spoiler)

It was entertaining enough to keep me glued to the pages and reading the whole way through, although after the first half I found myself skimming a lot since by then it had lost it's charm. I had been expecting more from a book about oracles and a serial killer, but apparently I was asking for too much.

So...

Would I Recommend it?

Tweet