Scan barcode
A review by reflectiverambling_nalana
Ask Me Again by E.J. Noyes
5.0
When Sab returns state side two years after the unexpected event on what was supposed to be a routine mission, she finds herself in a blurring type of limbo. Not only has the military retracted its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, but she actually can be and is in an open relationship with her former CO. While this is a strange enough thought for someone who had spent their entire career evading her true self from showing, the lingering trauma she experienced when active now follows her making her uncertain of just who she is and how she should feel now.
I didn't expect to like this book's predecessor as much as I did. Neither is a genre I typical explore. But Ask Me Again follows in Ask, Tell's footsteps admirably in that it transcends the genre it's been claimed in by blooming into a story with a message far more significant than a reader would expect. In fact, while in a lot of ways the narrative is far more domestic, I was even more enthralled and impressed. The tenderness and attentiveness Ask Me Again pays to PTSD, the stigma around it, about knowing how to interact and help adapt to people who suffer, and to the side effects this condition has on the loved ones who are trying to help the person, goes far above and beyond expectations.
I personally do not suffer from this syndrome, and fortunately I haven't had a loved one in that battle. But being around and talking to many veterans in my community led me to believe I had some inclination about it and how people within the military address and communicate the elements surrounding this topic. However I left the book feeling like I knew it so much better than I did before. It really clicked into place a lot of those conversations for me. With the growing prellaivance of PTSD in our society today, this is a novel I think everyone would benefit from reading.
Easily, this is one of the better books I've read this year. It is one that will really stick with me.
I didn't expect to like this book's predecessor as much as I did. Neither is a genre I typical explore. But Ask Me Again follows in Ask, Tell's footsteps admirably in that it transcends the genre it's been claimed in by blooming into a story with a message far more significant than a reader would expect. In fact, while in a lot of ways the narrative is far more domestic, I was even more enthralled and impressed. The tenderness and attentiveness Ask Me Again pays to PTSD, the stigma around it, about knowing how to interact and help adapt to people who suffer, and to the side effects this condition has on the loved ones who are trying to help the person, goes far above and beyond expectations.
I personally do not suffer from this syndrome, and fortunately I haven't had a loved one in that battle. But being around and talking to many veterans in my community led me to believe I had some inclination about it and how people within the military address and communicate the elements surrounding this topic. However I left the book feeling like I knew it so much better than I did before. It really clicked into place a lot of those conversations for me. With the growing prellaivance of PTSD in our society today, this is a novel I think everyone would benefit from reading.
Easily, this is one of the better books I've read this year. It is one that will really stick with me.