Review: Ask Again Later

Ask Again Later
Author: Liz Czukas

Publication Date: March 11th 2014           

~A copy was provided by HarperTeen  via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review~

 

 

 



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Sixteen Candles meets Sliding Doors in this hilariously charming and irreverent YA debut. Fans of realistic teen fiction like Lauren Barnholdt's Two-Way Street and Sarah Mlynowski's Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have) will love Ask Again Later's pitch-perfect tale of prom night drama—with a twist.

Heart LaCoeur has zero interest in a messy high-school romance, no matter what her name suggests. That's why she's decided to avoid prom angst by going with a group of single friends. And that's why, when two surprise prom invites derail her brilliant plan, Heart takes the only foolproof, drama-free solution: a coin flip—that somehow gives her the chance to live out both prom nights. Heads or tails, where they both end up might be the most surprising thing of all.

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I have two words for Ask Again Later.

Cute. Hilarious.

I can honestly say it was not what I was expecting at all. And I know, I know, I pretty much say that with each book but it really wasn't. For the first part, it's kind of like Cat Patrick & Suzanne Young's Just Like Fate, where it's not a paranormal alternative universes, but just two different paths and the outcome of what those paths lead to. For Ask Again Later, it's the choice of who to go to Prom with after being invited by two guys (who have two different motives), when the original plan was to go with her group of friends. But, of course she doesn't know who to choose and she doesn't want to hurt  their feelings, so after much procrastination she uses a coin and thus begins the alternate chapters of HEADS and TAILS (because magic 8 balls are mean.)

Let's just say, in both, things don't go exactly as planned, and everything cliché that could happen, happens, but it pokes fun at itself and even says that, so it's all good. I think you do have to be in the mood for one of these to enjoy it, or it could grate on you. I'd just finished a heavy one that leaves you with all the feelings, so this was a breath of fresh air, to just read something light, and fun.

And it done what it said on the label.

Oh Heart, you really do have my sense of humour. Maybe that's not a good thing.

But, don't mistake that for just 'a fun silly book' because it's not, it does touch on some issues. Especially Hearts, with abandonment and commitment. I wouldn't say she was a commitment phobe because it's more like she won't even think about the dating part. Which causes some conflict between characters. Then there's the LGBT issue, that isn't an issue really, and you know what I loved most about this? It was played off as if it was nothing. Thank you. I really, really hate when a thing surrounds the LGBT character and it's this whole big deal, just because that characters gay. Now, this is how the world should act, being gay shouldn't be an issue. And the LGBT character in Ask Again Later is not stereotypically written, and yes, the characters in the closet, but not in the closet, they know their gay, they're just afraid of the stigma.

The characters themselves all seem to have personalities, even the side ones, and that is a huge thing, because there are quite a few of co-characters, and though you don't get to know them much, you could easily pick out one of each of your friends within them. Which, is the fun part.

Ask Again Later is a fun ode to a comedy drama filled prom.

 

 

Rating: 4/5

 

 

Confession time: I never went to Prom. I had an 10 hour Art exam that day, and one of those make-you-feel-like-you're-going-to-pass-out head colds, and on top of that, I had my hands in cold water all day to apply plaster to a mesh model that took hours to build and apply and apply and apply before painting and making a multiple material carpet for it to sit on-don't ask. Do you really think after that I was thinking: Prom? Nope, it was fuck you, Art.