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A review by angieinbooks
Ask Me Again by E.J. Noyes
4.0
This review will contain spoilers for [b:Ask, Tell|31374674|Ask, Tell|E.J. Noyes|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1475303757l/31374674._SX50_.jpg|52063970], the first book in the series. You have been warned.
The second book in E.J. Noyes' Ask, Tell series, Ask Me Again focuses on a story we rarely seem to get in that it answers the question: What happens after the happily ever after? And the reason we don't get that story is because it's a really hard story to tell. So, E.J. Noyes, I commend you for not only taking this story on but for doing it nearly flawlessly.
Ask Me Again picks up nearly two years after the events in Ask, Tell. Don't Ask, Don't Tell has just been repealed. Rebecca Keane leads a trauma surgery department at a local civilian hospital while Sabine has just returned from her first deployment since the Incident, a deployment back to Afghanistan, of all places, that is nearly a year long and her first without Rebecca as her commanding officer. And, really, it's a deployment Sabine was in no way ready to handle as she's still trying to deal with her PTSD. Some poor decisions on Sabine's part, driven by her need to fix what's wrong at any cost and her hubris in feeling she knows how best to handle this, make the situation even worse. Sabine's not very good about showing weakness or talking about her insecurities--not even with Rebecca. So Sabine's back home and safe in Washington D.C., but she's not really back. And she's not being honest with anyone, especially herself.
Rebecca doesn't quite know what to do. Wracked by her own guilt by her involvement in Sabine's accident and being the lead on the team that put her back together, she's stuck between trying to handle Sabine as a Commanding Officer would or as Sabine's girlfriend. The line is confusing and blurred and she feels helpless to help Sabine manage the PTSD.
It's all having a major impact on their relationship.
So this book is angsty as all else. But here's what I most appreciated about this novel: I never doubted the strength of Sabine and Rebecca's love for one another, even if watching them struggle was hard. And I appreciate the way Noyes was able to handle that and continue to make the story compelling and, at one particular moment, absolutely terrifying. And even though the characters aren't communicating in the right way, it's definitely not for a lack of trying, which I also appreciate.
The best characters from Ask, Tell make significant appearances here. Jana, Amy, and Mitch all have really great moments in this book. I especially loved watching Jana and Rebecca bond. And Amy still has my heart. I love her. Noyes really writes really great secondary characters.
It's possible to read this book without reading the first book, but I really wouldn't recommend that approach. And while this book is really hard to read and may not lend itself to re-reading in the ways that book 1 or 3 in the series might, I think it's a better book than the first, but only marginally so. All 3 books in this series are fantastic and I've reread them all since I first discovered the series in January.
The second book in E.J. Noyes' Ask, Tell series, Ask Me Again focuses on a story we rarely seem to get in that it answers the question: What happens after the happily ever after? And the reason we don't get that story is because it's a really hard story to tell. So, E.J. Noyes, I commend you for not only taking this story on but for doing it nearly flawlessly.
Ask Me Again picks up nearly two years after the events in Ask, Tell. Don't Ask, Don't Tell has just been repealed. Rebecca Keane leads a trauma surgery department at a local civilian hospital while Sabine has just returned from her first deployment since the Incident, a deployment back to Afghanistan, of all places, that is nearly a year long and her first without Rebecca as her commanding officer. And, really, it's a deployment Sabine was in no way ready to handle as she's still trying to deal with her PTSD. Some poor decisions on Sabine's part, driven by her need to fix what's wrong at any cost and her hubris in feeling she knows how best to handle this, make the situation even worse. Sabine's not very good about showing weakness or talking about her insecurities--not even with Rebecca. So Sabine's back home and safe in Washington D.C., but she's not really back. And she's not being honest with anyone, especially herself.
Rebecca doesn't quite know what to do. Wracked by her own guilt by her involvement in Sabine's accident and being the lead on the team that put her back together, she's stuck between trying to handle Sabine as a Commanding Officer would or as Sabine's girlfriend. The line is confusing and blurred and she feels helpless to help Sabine manage the PTSD.
It's all having a major impact on their relationship.
So this book is angsty as all else. But here's what I most appreciated about this novel: I never doubted the strength of Sabine and Rebecca's love for one another, even if watching them struggle was hard. And I appreciate the way Noyes was able to handle that and continue to make the story compelling and, at one particular moment, absolutely terrifying. And even though the characters aren't communicating in the right way, it's definitely not for a lack of trying, which I also appreciate.
The best characters from Ask, Tell make significant appearances here. Jana, Amy, and Mitch all have really great moments in this book. I especially loved watching Jana and Rebecca bond. And Amy still has my heart. I love her. Noyes really writes really great secondary characters.
It's possible to read this book without reading the first book, but I really wouldn't recommend that approach. And while this book is really hard to read and may not lend itself to re-reading in the ways that book 1 or 3 in the series might, I think it's a better book than the first, but only marginally so. All 3 books in this series are fantastic and I've reread them all since I first discovered the series in January.