Ask Again Later
Author: Liz Czukas
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: March 11, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Summary:
Heads: The jock. He might spend all night staring at his ex or throw up in the limo, but how bad can her brother’s best friend really be?
Tails: The theater geek…with a secret. What could be better than a guy who shares all Heart’s interests – even if he wants to share all his feelings?
Heart’s simple coin flip has somehow given her the chance to live out both dates. But where her prom night ends up might be the most surprising thing of all…
First Sentence: Before she left, my mom gave me three things: (I) her wedding ring, (2) a closet full of kick-ass vintage clothing, and (3) the worst name in the world.
My Review:
I’ve heard nothing but great things about Ask Again Later as soon as it was released on shelves. It was compared to Pivot Point (probably because of their similar parallel universes theme), which I did enjoy reading but didn’t love. That being said, I did kind of have high expectations for Ask Again Later since everybody who have read it really enjoyed it. In the end, I feel really disappointed and let down by this book. Frankly, I just don’t get why everybody else loved this one – am I missing something obvious? Baaaa, black sheep.
I usually love reading books focused on parallel universes. I love seeing all the parallels that can happen in different realities and get all giggly when I read about them. However, one of the top problems I had with Ask Again Later was the events that had happened in different prom dates were so hard to keep track of. Sure, I’ll remember what happened, but I don’t know when it happened – did it happen during the Troy prom date or the Ryan prom date? I have to spend at least two minutes thinking about it to get an answer from my brain and that it not good. It was just so hard keeping track of who did what in what prom version Heart picked.
“No! Just an…eye thing.”
“No! Not an eye thing!” He gasped, covering his heart with one hand. “I hope you used protection.” (158)
One of my bookish pet peeves is very clueless slow characters, which leads me to my next problem. The main character of Ask Again Later, Heart, was really clueless when it comes to her love life, which is also pretty much the main focus of the book as you can tell from the summary. Get this: I knew who Heart’s love interest would be eight pages into the book and Heart still has absolutely no clue about it at the halfway point. The worse part is, nearly every one of her friends made the fact extremely obvious to her and hell, even her love interest pretty much made it really obvious to her, but clueless Heart was clueless. If I was still in sixth grade, I would point at her and the guy who likes her, stomp my feet, and be all like OPEN YOUR EYES ALREADY and proceed to make them kiss.
Another issue I had with Ask Again Later was that I thought that the writing was pretty weak. Right from the first five pages or so, I knew that Liz Czukas’ writing was sadly not going to be my thing – it didn’t engage me into the story and I was very easily distracted while reading it. I just think Liz Czukas’ writing is a little too simple for my taste.
“This severely complicates things.”
“Why? You don’t like him?”
“I don’t date.” (245)
Ask Again Later was also filled with stereotypes, basically revolving around jocks and people who are gay. When Heart was with Troy and his jock friends, they all do NOTHING but act with high maintenance, get drunk/drink 24/7, party, get into drinking contests, be crowned Prom Queen/King/whatever, make out (it’s implied that things get pretty hot and heavy), etc., you know, all the typical jock stereotypes? The thing is, not ALL jocks like to get drunk, party, have sex, etc. but in my opinion, Ask Again Later pretty much implies that since none of the jocks in the book did anything besides those stereotypical jock traits. Also, Heart goes on and on about gay people stereotypes to this guy who is gay. The guy also has to constantly correct her and tells her that she is wrong – not all gay people are like that (obviously). What Heart does pretty much baffles me, especially since this happened more than once.
There was also this one part of the book that made me feel ultra uncomfortable and so ANGRY. It deals with sexual assault and how it was handled in the book. You have been warned.
[MILD] SPOILER: Heart was forcibly kissed by Troy, who also adds some tongue action, when she doesn’t want to be kissed by him. Heart is understandably disgusted by this incident and since Troy is her brother Phil’s friend, Heart complains to Phil about it. Phil responds with “That’s awesome!”…”it means he’s getting over Amy.” When Heart insists that she wants to go home, which again, is understandable, Phil tells her that “you are completely overreacting. It was just a kiss,” and “don’t be such a baby,” and “stop freaking out. You’re going to ruin prom,” and “Heart. It was a kiss. Deal.” The last straw was when he told Heart, “[Troy] wouldn’t hurt anyone. He probably thought you wanted it” (143). EXCUSE ME?! Since when is telling someone multiple times that NO, you don’t want them to be anytime more than FRIENDS imply that “he probably thought you wanted it?” And since when is “he probably thought you wanted it” a valid excuse for doing that?! The worse part is, when Phil’s girlfriend Tara later forces Phil to apologize to Heart with a sorry he so obviously didn’t want to say, all is apparently forgiven. No, just NO. If Phil was my brother, he will have to BEG me for YEARS for me to forgive him, after I destroy his life.
Other things that I want to mention, but since this review is long enough, I’ll shorten this mini-list: There were also tiny things that just didn’t make sense in Ask Again Later, other tiny things that struck the wrong note with me, and I just didn’t get Ask Again Later‘s humor (basically, it failed to make me laugh or even smile). If you want to know about these more in detail, just ask me more about it in the comments.
Overall, even though I know that Ask Again Later is meant to be a light, funny, fluffy book, there were just too many things in the book that just didn’t rub me in the right way. In the end, Ask Again Later and I just didn’t click. As of now, I can’t decide whether or not I’ll read Liz Czukas’ Top Ten Clues You’re Clueless.
I have read quite a few blogger’s reviews that feel the same as you. I am not sure this is one I want to pick up!
Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
Missie recently posted…Week Recap – Egg-tastic!
Really? All I’ve seen are really positive reviews for this one – maybe I’m out of the loop for this one. :P
Kelly recently posted…Sip Slowly: An Interview With Maria V. Synder
I’ve been on the edge of this one a while…it sounds like it has the potential (emphasis on potential) to be good. There are too many who feel the same as you with the whole underwhelmed tone. I think I’ll keep this one on the back burner for a while. Thanks for sharing your thoughts :D
~Jackie
Jackie @ No Bent Spines recently posted…ARC Review: Syphon’s Song
With a premise like this one, how does Ask Again Later NOT have the potential to be good?
This is the first time I’ve heard of this! Really? I thought I was the black sheep again for this one. :P
Kelly recently posted…Sip Slowly: An Interview With Maria V. Synder
I don’t know if this will be a book I will genuinely enjoy. So I’m not sure if this will be worth picking up…
Sandra @Sandra’s World of Books recently posted…Between a Rockstar and a Hard Place – Portia Macintosh
Hmm…maybe borrow this book from the library? That way, you don’t lose anything but a little of your time spent reading it. o:
Kelly recently posted…Sip Slowly: An Interview With Maria V. Synder
Wow, definitely not going pick this one up now. That’s really too bad, because I thought I’d read some pretty positive things about it, and I liked the parallel-dates thing – it sounded cute, like a “maybe I’ll check it out from the library” sort of book. But oblivious main characters bother me too. And I read the spoilery section and just, NO. I would never be able to read that and brush it off, either. That is so not okay. :(
Nikki recently posted…DNF Q&A: PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOG by Anne Blankman
I picked this one up because I heard A LOT of great things about it, but all those factors just made me enjoy the book even less. ):
I guess the author was aiming for making us think that Heart’s cluenessless was supposed to be cute? I kind of got that impression from the book, but it just went a little too far.
Yeah. That part still disgusts me. :l
Kelly recently posted…Sip Slowly: An Interview With Maria V. Synder
I definitely agree with you that Ask Again Later kept getting praise about how awesome of a read it is. I was also falling for those type of comments, but now I’m glad I read your review. Stuff like that were people are forced to do things they don’t want to do also rubs me the wrong way and makes me ultra uncomfortable. I’m not sure if I want to read this book anymore either. It just sounds like one I might have to DNF so what’s the point? Thank you for telling us what you really thought about this book. It’s definitely a major help! :D
YES, everyone I saw who read this book LOVED it so I was just like, um, is something wrong with me/my tastes? I’m glad to hear that it turns out other people didn’t like this one either, that I’m not crazy after all.
That scene made me ultra uncomfortable and simply baffled. Like, I couldn’t believe that this book was the same book everyone else was praising, especially since it had a scene like that.
No problem Hillary! ;D
Kelly recently posted…Sip Slowly: An Interview With Maria V. Synder
I knew who she was going to end up with from the very beginning. Once I figured it out, I wanted to scream Heart, like get it together girl. I thought it was okay. I wasn’t in love with it, but I understand the Pivot Point comparisons. I think it’s light and fluffy but not remarkable by any means.
Aly @ My Heart Hearts Books recently posted…We Were Liars
RIGHT? You weren’t the only one – I was right there with you! Why was Heart so clueless?
Yeah, sadly Ask Again Later doesn’t stand out. :l
Kelly recently posted…ARC Book Review: The Art of Lainey – Paula Stokes
Oh noes! D: I have an arc of this and was planning on loving it soon! NUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Nikki Wang recently posted…17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma
Maybe you’ll like this one better than I did Nikki? This one seems more like your kind of book. o:
Kelly recently posted…ARC Book Review: The Art of Lainey – Paula Stokes
I have seen plenty of negative reviews about this book and like you, most of them focus on the stereotypes present in it and how mediocre the writing was, so thanks, I am not going to be picking this up anytime soon. Great review.
Maddy @ Symphony of Words recently posted…ARC Review : Plus One by Elizabeth Fama
I’ve seen no negative reviews for this one, so that really surprises me. I’m happy that some people agree with me though.
Thanks Maddy! (:
Kelly recently posted…ARC Book Review: The Art of Lainey – Paula Stokes
Thanks for the review.
I wanted to read it too because of all the good reviews and etc. it got and thanks for letting me know that I should put it lower on my To-read list! :)
If you do end up reading this one, I hope you’ll enjoy it Alexandra! (:
Kelly recently posted…A Weekend Signing With Jenny Han + Morgan Matson With A Giveaway
Thanks. :))
I actually liked this book. The only thing I didn’t liked about it was the lack of explanation on how or why there’s two chances of dating two different guys. Is it [mild] fantasy? The magic ball or something used wasn’t mentioned magical..so that leads me to thinking.
Michelle Sedeño recently posted…May New Release Giveaway Hop 2014
The synopsis is freaking funny! Hahaha. So wanna read this!
Clarisse @ Bittersweet Blogs recently posted…Weekly Top – Original Audition Songs
And here I am wanting to read this book. Maybe I’ll read it for reference. I hate slow characters too. It doesn’t really seem right when there’s a character who has all this attention, but can never get it
Jayvee De Castro recently posted…#JennyHaninPH—The Misfit Giveaway (PH)
I have this book but haven’t read it yet. I’m not sure I will any time soon after seeing your review. I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it. Hopefully I will! :)
Chanpreet recently posted…Cover Reveal: His Reverie by Monica Murphy