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Reviewed by:
  • Ask Me by Kimberly Pauley
  • Kate Quealy-Gainer
Pauley, Kimberly. Ask Me. Soho Teen, 2014. [304p]. ISBN 978-1-61695-383-6 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 8-10.

As a descendent of the Greek Sibyls in modern times, Aria faces the challenge of being an oracle, who must any questions she hears (in school, in the grocery store, from the TV) with the truth. Most of the time her responses are nonsense riddles, made obvious only after some event has some transpired—well, except for the crystal-clear answer she gave her mother about her cheating husband, which is also why Aria now finds herself in a rundown town living with her ailing grandparents. After a girl goes missing, the questions being asked around town mean that Aria knows where the body is, how the girl died, and that one of the two boys the girl was seeing was responsible. Aria finds herself being drawn to both boys—Alex, the gruff, clearly hurting football player, and Will, the loyal, sweet golden boy—but her prophecies also seem to point to both. Readers who have picked up on the pattern of Aria’s prophecies won’t be taken at all by surprise when the bad guy is revealed, but the story is less about the crime than Aria’s coming to terms with herself, her gift, and its ability to both harm and hurt. Contrivances add up, though, from both of the boys showing sudden interest in Aria to her gran’s presentation of a helpful guidebook with the Sibyls’ history (why this wasn’t mentioned before when Aria was struggling with her gift is glossed over). Still, the final scene is cinema-worthy both in atmosphere and pacing, so readers who have persevered despite the book’s flaws will feel well rewarded. [End Page 535]

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