This story of two families and the traumatic events that they face, is one that I have been looking forward to for some time. Although Ask Again, Yes has received many glowing reviews, there are still some readers who found that it fell flat, and I have to admit that I can see where they are coming from.

Kate and Peter are the focal point of this book and their love story is perhaps one of the most realistic that I have read in some time. However, despite starting out as such a strong character, I felt that Kate lacked further development as the years passed. Somehow, she became lost in motherhood and married life, despite being a career-woman working towards (and eventually obtaining) her master's degree. I would have liked to hear much more of her voice throughout. By the same token, Peter’s character became increasingly disappointing. His choices and circumstances led him to become a dramatically different person, and one that I could no longer connect with. I felt a growing distance from him as his challenges continued across decades. Many reviewers have also made note of a significant time jump following Kate and Peter’s reunion, which only seemed to heighten the disconnect between the reader and the protagonists.

Despite these seemingly negative points, I prefer to believe that most writers are fairly clever, and that their craft tends to be well thought out. It seems to me that the time jump functions as a type of metaphor, giving the reader a sense of familiarity with Kate and Peter’s adult lives and relationships with their immediate families. Keane’s ability to shift the reader’s connection to each character from one of love to disappointment or disconnect and ultimately forgiveness is subtle, yet effective. She reminds us that we are all imperfect, and that as much as we are capable of love, we are capable of disappointing those we love; that despite our traumas and our failures, we can still turn out okay. That there is still so much to be grateful for.

Thank you Mary Beth Keane for sharing your talent, and thank you to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the opportunity to review this advance reader copy.

This novel was just ok for me. The story itself deals with family, love and forgiveness. However as I read through this life journey of a family tied together by circumstances it just fell flat. It's having someone tell you the most important thing in their life and then nothing else happens.
I wish I could explain better, but it just seem to fall flat. It had a monotone feel for me as I was reading it. The best part and most exciting part of the book was the first quarter but then it was just meh.
I had a hard time of falling in love with any of the characters. They all had the same sort of feel, it took me forever to get the first four characters in my mind because they read so similar, except for Anne. But even after time passes her personality falls flat as well.
I've heard a lot of people love this book. So I'm sure there are many more that will love it as well. To me it read like Little Fires Everywhere.... something happens but then nothing, it doesn't have any highs or lows after the main event.

I loved this book so much! I can’t tell you too much about it without spoiling it, so I will leave a quick review. I definitely recommend this one!

Police officers Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope are partners, and neighbours, yet not really friends. There is a tension between the two families that causes them to keep their distance throughout the years. However, from an early age, young Kate Gleeson and Peter Stanhope have a close friendship. After a violent incident involving the neighbors, Peter and his family are forced to move away. By sharing the lives and the connection between the two families, this novel deals with tragedy, mental illness, addiction, and young love.

I just loved these characters-they really spoke to me. I became completely absorbed in their lives. This is a beautiful real-life love story, where nothing is perfect and that is okay. The author really highlights the fact that things are not always what they seem. Brief actions can change the course of people’s lives, and there is no other path, just the one we are left with. It also touches on the idea of parenthood, and the meaning of a familial bond. The characters are so compelling that I truly felt I could relate to what they are going through. I have some experience with issues that arrive in this novel, and I can really respect how they were approached here. I think I love literary fiction, and I know I loved this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for providing me with a free electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for a copy of Ask Again, Yes for an honest review.

I don’t have much to add to the already multiple glowing positive reviews of Ask Again, Yes. It’s a beautiful love story with well developed complex characters who come from tragic and interesting families. Not my usual choice in books but I’m glad I took a chance on it. The plot is not as dramatic but there is enough drama. The characters are tragic but also heartfelt and full of love.

4.5. Wow--this book was full of complicated families and their relationships to one another. The story starts with two rookie cops in New York City--Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope--both choosing careers and families that will begin their adult lives. Francis marries the outgoing and approachable Lena, while Brian starts a life with Anne, a withdrawn and unstable character from the beginning. Despite differences, they end up living next door to each other, raising children that become friends, until a devastating incident separates them.

I was the most invested in the Stanhope family's struggles--Anne's disturbing thoughts/behaviors, Brian's passivity, and Peter's reaction to a severely dysfunctional upbringing. I felt that the Gleeson family was a little less formed and so didn't feel as attached to their storyline--they seemed present mostly to move the story of the Stanhope family forward. Overall, this was a book that I found myself excited to come back to. It was tragic but also contained hope that people can move past trauma to a place of understanding.

Also, George Stanhope is just great.

Ask Again, Yes is a character driven family drama and fits this genre to a tee. The characters are so well laid out, you feel like you truly understand who they are as individual people, and can predict some of the decisions they will make. I found parts of the book slow, but finding out how these characters lives turn out kept the pages turning for me.

Beautifully written and focusing on important topics in today’s society such as mental health, addiction and forgiveness to name a few; I think this is a book all types of readers will enjoy and love.

I loved this book so much for so many different reasons. Topics that are brought up in this book for so relatable, they address issues that many families go through. This book is about two families that live next door to each other and a tragedy that hits both families. This book had so much emotion in it and had me hooked from the start! This is book I will read again

*Thank you to NetGalley & Scribner for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A gut-wrenching story about life in its purest form; full of heartbreak, tragedy, struggle and consequences


Ask Again, Yes is about two neighbouring families: The Gleeson’s and the Standhope’s. The Gleeson’s’ have a daughter, Kate and the Standhope’s a son, Peter, but this is not your usual boy meets girl next door story. Kate and Peter are torn apart by a catastrophic event that parts these families. Kate and Peter grow up, apart. Until Peter contacts Kate in hopes of reconnecting and meeting again years later.

I love Mary’s ability to have the reader empathize with each character, and each situation. There was more than one time that I was at the brink of tears in public while reading this book. I enjoyed the ending, it really tied up everything nicely for me. I would recommend this book to anyone that loves a good domestic contemporary fiction read. I can see this being an incredible book club book as there are just so many avenues for discussions to follow.

A deeply moving story about the legacy of trauma and the healing power of forgiveness as told through two families over several generations.

The story opens in 1973 as Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope meet while both are rookies on the police force in New York. They ultimately end up being neighbors in a small suburban community as Francis and his wife Lena move in to the house next door to Brian and his wife Anne. The two couples never develop any kind of close relationship, but the Stanhope's son Peter and the Gleeson's daughter Kate end up being the very best of friends.

One night something horrible happens which results in both families going in directions they could never have imagined. The Stanhopes must leave suddenly and Peter and Kate are torn apart, forbidden to contact each other. The absence of each leaves a hole in the other's life, and eventually they find their way back together, their childhood friendship blossoming into something new; but the events of that fateful night years before cannot be forgotten Together, they lead themselves and their families on a journey of enlightenment, acceptance and forgiveness.

There is a saying, "be kind, for every person is fighting a battle you may know nothing about". This book beautifully captures that idea. Each of these characters is fighting battles- their own personal demons. This book also demonstrates the soul freeing power of forgiveness. Keane's writing was superb and took me through a wide range of emotion, her characters complex but not complicated. The story so expertly woven that you do not immediately realize how delicate some of the threads are until you finish and see the story as a whole.

This stunning and poignant story of trauma and tragedy, friendship and forgiveness, is a great read by itself, but would be an excellent choice for a book club read or a buddy read.

4.5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I absolutely loved this book! I really enjoyed reading about all the family drama. The characters were very captivating, I almost felt like I was apart of their family and I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. The book had a slower pace at first but it worked well and it picked up around the halfway point.

I definitely recommend adding this one to your must-read list!! It comes out TOMORROW May 28, 2019

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book deals with the themes of family and the power of forgiveness. It traces the lives of Peter and Kate whose fathers are both police officers. They grow up as neighbours and are best friends. When tragedy strikes they are separated. They eventually find their way back to each other, but still must deal with the past. I will be happily recommending it to my customers, especially to fans of such authors as Ann Patchett or Celeste Ng.

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. For me, a three star rating typically indicates an “okay” read, mediocre at best. I really struggled with what rating to give this novel.

The story centres on two main families whose patriarchs meet other while attending the police academy. Both get married, buy houses next to each other, have children, and then the unthinkable occurs. What follows is a multigenerational tale. It is a story of the beginning, middle and end of life. Love, mental illness, abandonment, alcoholism, are all included in this story.

So why did I only rate it as a three star read? Primarily because I did not find any of the characters relatable. I love good character development and a storyline that illuminates it.
I really wanted to care about Kate and Peter,
I really wanted to cheer on Francis,
I really wanted to hate Anne,
...but I didn’t feel invested in any of these characters.

It felt as if I was a bystander passively watching events unfold. As a reader, I want to feel as if I’m right there, on the frontlines, feeling the raw emotion as events unfold. Ask Again, Yes is certainly a book that I don’t regret reading, however it’s not one that I would label as memorable.

This book was so beautifully written. It was complex and followed multiple characters and storylines, but was still so easy to follow along and understand. The author did a great job at foreshadowing while still keeping the mystery alive. This is a very heavy read that deals with the complexity of trauma, but has a lot of beautiful lessons that any reader, no matter their background can pull from this. This book is important. This book reminds you that you need to check on your strong friends, the quiet ones. This book is inspiring and enlightening, and is a book for everyone.

Two families fight to break a multi-generational cycle of violence in Mary Beth Keane’s latest novel Ask Again, Yes, a book about tragedy, recovery and hope in the most difficult of situations.

Ask Again, Yes follows two families through decades of shared history, first as neighbours and later as estranged, opposing parties in the aftermath of a violent event that sends shockwaves through their community. The Gleesons and Stanhopes remain connected over time by their youngest children, Kate and Peter, who, despite the complexity of their upbringings, feel tied to each other in the most intense and hopeless way.

It’s no secret that stories of small-town conflict are a la mode. HBO’s adaptation of the novel Big Little Lies, a gossip-fueled murder mystery penned by Australia’s Liane Moriarty, is about to premiere its second season. Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects, revolving around a series of murders in a small town where news travels fast, has overwhelmed bookstores and streaming services alike. But Keane’s take on community tragedy isn’t as driven by cruelty and darkness as its contemporaries, focusing less on pettiness and face-saving and more on forgiveness and love.

Peter, a thoughtful, intellectual young boy, grows up in a household dominated by his mothers’ undiagnosed mental illness and his fathers’ absenteeism. Throughout his childhood and young adult life, Peter grapples with trying to forgive the two people who were supposed to take care of him and finds himself slowly beginning to exhibit many of the traits that made his parents so difficult to live with. His childhood best friend Kate, who grew up in a loving household next door, struggles at times to understand Peter’s behaviours and decisions, seemingly unable to imagine what he went through to become the person he is.

Keane’s portrayals of mental illness, addiction and rehabilitation in Ask Again, Yes are frank and refreshing. There’s no demonizing of psychological conditions, but rather a portrayal of the hard work, strict regimens and years of recovery patients go through to live well with their illnesses. Keane beautifully narrates the experiences of both the sufferers of mental illness and their loved ones, demonstrating how difficult it can be for both parties to accept the realities they find themselves in and how beneficial it can be to show kindness, empathy and patience – even when it feels impossible.

Ask Again, Yes is a story about a crime, but never feels like a crime story. The line between victim and perpetrator is blurred, smudged by the complicated events leading up to the tragedy itself and made even more nuanced by what unfolds for the Gleesons and Stanhopes in the aftermath. Keane shows that violence does not always have to beget violence. There are many instances in which violence can beget kindness if those involved are open to trying.

The lives of Keane’s characters are laid bare in Ask Again, Yes, their wounds reopened by the poignancy of her storytelling. Each chapter is filled with heartbreak and realization and healing, although not necessarily in that order. The power of Keane’s writing comes from her ability to travel through decades of time and still maintain her character’s unique qualities and characteristics flawlessly. As a writer she has a gift for moving fluidly between different perspectives and timelines and weaving everything together to create a story that’s compelling, incredibly well written, and deeply moving.

Ask Again, Yes is one of this year’s absolute must reads.

Ask Again, Yes is the story of two families who live next door to each other just outside of New York City. Both husbands are police officers in New York City and were even partners as rookies. They are looking for a safe place to raise their families and Francis Gleeson discovers the town of Gillam and lets Brian Stanhope know when the house next door to him is up for sale. Brian and his wife, Anne, buy the home next to Francis and his wife Lena. Francis and Lena already have two daughters, Natalie and Sara and are expecting a third baby. Brian and Anne have dealt with a pregnancy loss but soon discover they are expecting again.

The two babies (Peter and Kate) are born 6 months apart and as children become best friends. However, issues develop between the two families, mainly revolving around the mental health of Anne. As Peter and Kate prepare for high school and their blossoming romance a horrible incident involving both families causes the Stanhopes to move away and the Gleesons to deal with the repercussions.

Peter and Kate always wonder what happened to the other and find each other again as adults. But with all that happened between the two families, can they (and should they) be together?

The story takes place over several decades and is told from different character's perspectives throughout the book. I really liked that. Years would go by from the perspective of one character and you are temporarily left to wonder what is happening to the others at the same, with small clues sometimes appearing.

I also felt the characters were really well developed and strong.

All in all, it was a good, quick read and was very compelling. It really helped get me through my sick day yesterday! I highly recommend you check this one out when it is in stores at the end of this month.

I was really moved by this story, it was so well-written and the characters were so genuine and real. I felt like I could understand why they would felt they way they did or make the decisions that they did because the character development was so thorough. The ending moved me to tears and left me with hope. This book was definitely worth the read, I loved it.

Ask Again, Yes started off a bit flat, but it crept up on me, and by the end I was fully emotionally engaged. The story started with Francis and Lena in the 1970s, and then shifted focus to Kate and Peter several years later. Francis is a cop, and he and Lena live in a small town outside of New York. You would think they would become close with their neighbours, Brian and Anne, given that Brian is also a cop, but things are complicated. Despite the distance between the parents, their kids Kate and Peter are close, and then things get really complicated. The writing is very straightforward, and at first I was deceived into thinking that the story was a bit simplistic. But as the story progressed, I stopped worrying about the writing and became immersed in the story and characters. It's a story about imperfect people, some plagued by mental illness and addiction, who make decisions that have dramatic consequences. But it's also a story about people who hang in there, and keep things together. I cried a bit. I was satisfied with the end. You can't ask for much more. Thanks to Netgalley, Edelweiss and the publisher for giving me access to an advance copy. Thanks also to Angela and Diane for another lovely buddy read.

The whole reason I wanted to read this book was because it was compared to the television show This Is Us. The beginning of this book certainly gave off those vibes and I loved every single moment of it.
The whole story line of this book is capturing and heart-breaking. It has moments where my heart was racing, where I was crying, where I was frustrated, happy, etc. This book had absolutely everything you could ever want.
The characters are relatable and well-written—whether they are the “good” characters or the “bad” characters.
Reading this book while fighting off my own mental illness demons was definitely interesting as there is a character who fights mental illness, but I think seeing the extreme case is what really helped me realize I should find help, so in a way this book helped me.
I adored this book and hope everyone else does too. Keep your eyes peeled for its release on May 28th!

The tagline associated with this book is what drew me in, comparing it with This Is Us, one of my favourite shows. I didn't really see that comparison play out, but this was an enjoyable read nonetheless. The characters were relatable, likeable and compelling. The story was engaging enough that I was eager to see where it went. The struggle for me is that there is something about this book that doesn't quite resonate and I can't explain the why or the what. The best way I can illustrate this is that I finished the book 12 hours ago and I'm struggling to remember how it ended

The bits I loved most about this book were the rages that Anne would fly into. While they were also the most difficult parts to read, they were the parts I connected with the most because those moments really got under my skin and made me uncomfortable. Mental illness is such a real thing that it made me consider Peter being a real child and having to live like that.
However, I could not finish this book. I found the flow of it difficult to keep up with, and when it would jump backwards and forwards I would often lose track and have to go back and reread parts. I made it to 26%.
This book is getting so many positive reviews on Instagram that I have no doubt it’s a great story, but evidently it wasn’t for me.
Thank you for opportunity!