Molly E. Lee's Ask Me Anything takes a big deep look into the American failures regarding sex education and teenagers. Set as a love story between teen hackers Amber and Dean, Ask Me Anything breaks the code on abstinence education and its failures amongst teens who are going to do as they want anyways.

Amber and Dean are set as mutual lead characters, with the book switching between their two POV's, never leaving us to wonder how they feel about each other. With regards to the love story background, this book is all fluff with the tiniest bit of complication. The real struggle is the external story around our two main characters.

While I love the idea of fighting back against abstinence only education - and for those of you who like your YA a-political, this is not for you - the overall plot is rather flimsy. All conflict is based on one domineering headmaster, who for some reason is set in a spot where changing from abstinence only education to actual sex education means his job. That was pretty confusing and never fully explained, as our two leads are teenagers who clearly don't understand the intricacies of higher education, nor do they care. As a note - I went to a boarding school that didn't even have health classes, so we didn't learn abstinence only vs more complete sex education either way, that kind of thing isn't really as big a topic in private education as this book made it out to be. This is likely why this feels like a major plot hole to me personally.

There's also a sexual assault backstory used to show that the main character understands/has experienced trauma. I had some issues latching to this, not because I don't have compassion for it, but because it felt unnecessary to the overall story and specifically trying to attach us to Amber more emotionally without her being a better character. Amber is presented to us as a mature beyond her years 17/18 year old, her only fault being she hasn't fully dealt with this particular trauma. As Mary Sue's go, this one's pretty stereotyped.

I really wanted to love Ask Me Anything, I came out of it feeling great, but after a two week pause due to real life stuff, I'm seeing all the faults and breaks. This is a great book for a quick read if you aren't going to spend a lot of time thinking about it afterwards. It's also not for younger YA readers, as sex really is a main topic, with the act occurring within its pages.

Ask Me Anything gave me all the feels. I loved Amber, and I loved, loved, loved Dean. Fully 100% of their hacking stuff went totally over my head; I have no clue if any of that stuff made sense, though it sounded pretty darn exciting. But the relationships? The blog? The way characters stood up for the people they loved and what they thought was right? LOVED.

The principal is more than a little over the top--he's practically twirling his mustache and cackling as he runs around perpetuating his evil deeds--and Amber's parents are equally OTT awesome, but as complaints, they really don't hold a candle to the rest of the story. I mean, it is YA fiction, so...

Trigger warnings--there's discussion/depiction of sexual assault, abusive relationships, teen pregnancy, blackmail, and attitudes about teenage sexuality that somehow manage to be archaic and scarily applicable today at the same time. That said, Amber and her blog really do a fantastic job of dealing with all of these challenges (and more!) head on. Honestly, I wish we had something like this--both the book and the blog--when I was in high school...

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆
Trying to be as spoiler-free as possible. Ultra-conservative private school is run by a power-hungry principal, who employs extortion to get what he wants from his students, in order to continue on with his reign.

While the principal made a most excellent villain of the novel, I felt that the majority of the community being stuck in the 1960s era mindset wasn't entirely accurate. Yes, some would be upset about sex education (this wasn't the deep south or the bible belt, I don't believe), so while I'm positive there are those who still hang tight to those ideals, I believe they wouldn't be in the majority. I'll show my age – I grew up in a rural, dinky town with almost a dozen churches and only one stop light, back in the mid-1990s, and we had comprehensive sex-ed in 3rd, 6th, and 8th grade. My point, the principal and one or two parents, sure. The entire town enough to stage protests against an advice blog on the internet in 2019... no way. Not when you'd have to cut-off the town's supply of Wi-Fi and 4G to keep them indoctrinated. I could see if the parents wanted the school board to take down a site created by the school they felt inappropriate – otherwise, shrugs, it's the whole of the internet.

While I loved the purpose of the blog, the message of awareness and a safe and informative place to ask questions without judgement, I felt the pitch forks, torches, and tar were a bit over-the-top. The principal was the perfect amount of drama – the rest was just overkill.

Amber is our innocent heroine, Dean our hero, both top 'hackers' in the school, awaiting admission to MIT. They've been friends for years, but with how Amber dated a db for the entire previous school year, Dean assumed his attraction to Amber was unrequited.

The pair are uber intelligent, tenacious, and dedicated, both wanting to change the world, leaving one of them exposed to extortion. This is where I struggled... independently, Amber and Dean felt as if the male and female versions of each other, outside of a few background stories. Too similar. Perfect. While they had plenty of quick-witted banter, it felt dry to me, as if they were chatting back and forth with himself/herself. If not for prompts in the content, their voices were interchangeable during their points-of-view.

The teenage angst was delicious, where Dean and Amber were competing in their own little game of 'best hacker,' trying to out-do the other. I did find the drama of the villain principal bringing out more angst to pit them against one another yummy. (I just didn't believe there would have been protests. The BFF's mom angry over birth control sounded spot-on, and I felt that would help teens today. MOST of the parents being angry, as I said, that was just a step too far and took the entertainment value and believability down for me.)

Amber was struggling from an event with her ex, which I felt was written with compassion and accuracy. It hurts for me to admit how many of us have been in that situation. Normally I can breeze through flashbacks like that, but this one hit me hard, dragging up my own memories. Raw and real, this was the authenticity of the storyline. It's what kept me engaged, since this was used as a mystery to draw the plot forward, because as we were in Amber's head, she refused to share what happened until she had the flashback near the three-quarter mark. If it hadn't been for that, honestly, I might have tossed in the towel and not finished.

While I enjoyed the book overall, the pacing was on the slow side, many filler scenes, which slowed it down farther and made the book feel longer than its length. The abundance of coding information made our narrators feel like hackers, but it was too instructional, like a textbook, which made me lose interest as it went directly over my head. Amber's past event kept me engaged, then I felt I might as well finish the book off after I found out what had happened. I ate up the angst between Dean and Amber thanks to our villain. I felt the issues explored in Ask Me Anything were written with compassion and devoid of judgment, which will possibly help teen readers as they read the novel.

I do recommend Ask Me Anything, flaws and all.

Young Adult age-range: 14+ due to adult language and sexual content. The message of the novel is age-appropriate and I believe comforting and enlightening for readers; however, it depends on the maturity of the reader, not necessarily their age.

I've read so many great things about this book and every review made me feel bad for putting mine on hold, trying to gather my thoughts around it in order to write something that actually means something. Empowerment? Check. Great topic? Check. Nerdy? Check. And yet... I totally understand this book being hyped. And it totally deserves it, too. It's just that I missed the certain spark. And I'm only talking about me here. I can see why other people loved it so much. I did too. Ask Me Anything is fabulous and so unlike any other young adult novel.

These days, people think that speaking up about sex-ed and everything involved in it is given. That's why I think this book is so important, because surely, there are schools and people that would like to just close the door on teens. They aren't informed about what they would like to know. Just because you don't talk about sex with teens, doesn't mean they won't have it. And I loved that message in the book, too. Because it's true. The less attention you give to such an important topic, the more likely it is teens will just try, know nothing about protection and end up in a bad situation. Why be so closed off? Why not just talk about it?

As I'm writing this, I realize how hard it is to actually review Ask Me Anything. There will always be people disagreeing with sexual education and there will be tons of discussions about it. Though we're living in the twenty-first century, this is still something we have to address, to fight for as well. Fighting for a healthy sex education system? Definitely. The principal of Amber's school will probably remain one of my least favourite characters in the history and sure, his point of view on sex-related things was way over the top, but I can totally imagine this happening at schools - no matter where in the world. And we can't have that.

So Amber took matters into her own hands, starting a blog, answering sex-related questions. As a virgin. Yes, there's a teenage virgin as main character. And I think the author actually thought something when she created her, which is why I'll decline to comment on that. Talk about empowerment. Amber wants to make a change and she does. Only nobody knows the girl pulling the strings of the blog is her. The questions she was asked... Seriously, teens should read Ask Me Anything. The questions are so good, the emotions so well-captured and it's so exciting to read along. The author gave teens a voice, you never once get the impression those questions were formed by an adult author who has no idea what teenagers are thinking about.

The only thing bothering me was that often used hacker language. The actual reason why Amber even created her blog is because she had a challenge going on with her crush Dean. Both of them are computer nerds, hacking and programming the hell out of everything. And while I liked Dean, liked his point of view (very solid!), I clicked off whenever the two of them talked about codes, about the different programmes you could use and all that stuff. I wonder if the author herself knows so much about it or if she had to do research. Just out of curiousity. Anyway... The way things develope between the two of them is great. I liked the chemistry and I adored them. Especially their first date. As I'm looking back, I find more and more things that I enjoyed very much.

Ask Me Anything isn't meant to teach teenagers things, I think. It's to make people think about stuff, find out what informations are being kept from them, learning about oneself, trusting oneself, knowing when to speak up, inspiring someone. It's about so many things, addresses so many things (not only the sexual education part). I support the meaning of this book and I hope it'll spread the word.

I read this book and I loved it. Page after page the book just got better and better and more entertaining. I was rooting for the coder from the start. The story was fresh and fun and I recommended this book to my teenage daughter to read. Thank you NetGalley.

I'm not usually one for YA contemporaries but Molly E Lee is a notable exception. And the premise of the novel? FANTASTIC!

After reading the synopsis, I definitely thought the flow of the plot would be different. I thought we'd have more of a cat and mouse game with Amber and Dean but that isn't the case. It's more like her keeping something from him while they evolve their own personal relationship. So once I got over that, I could appreciate the plot here.

I do think the first half was slower. The last quarter was great, lots of development. And we got more into the blog (and what it is trying to accomplish) than the coming of age aspect. (Which is great, don't get me wrong!). Sexual education in the school curriculum is a hot topic where I live and I liked the real world conflict the blog highlighted.

It would have been great if the novel focused more on what the blog was about but I don't think that was this story's intended purpose. It's more a coming of age story in modern times (ie the internet and social media) emphasizing the disconnect between generations when it comes to sexuality and sexual education.

I liked our leads a lot. Amber is a great heroine. I loved her vulnerability as that allowed for some fabulous character growth. Dean's a sweetie who says some charming things. His growth wasn't as strong but he is a solid character. At times, I thought his storyline was a little melodramatic but it grounds itself near the end.

If you're looking for a YA novel that has drama, a dose of reality, a charming romance and intriguing characters, look no further!

Thanks NetGalley for the preview!

I loved this book! Ask Me Anything was nerdy, sweet, and captivating. I couldn't put this book down! I found myself on the hook waiting to see what would happen next. The descriptive writing and imagery did not disappoint. I really enjoyed the use of two narrators and seeing the story from both angles. At times-Dean was too good to be true but he was a well developed character. I loved the parts with his family and the sibling camaraderie. I fell for this love story and will certainly be reading more by Molly E. Lee!

Hello My Book Loves! Today I am reviewing Ask My Anything by Molly E. Lee. I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

To start off, I really enjoyed this book, which is why I am giving it a 4.5 out of 5. It was a fun, easy read that totally helped pull me out of my reading slump

What I Liked
Amber – The main character is Amber, who is a computer whiz, hacker type. She was fed up with students not being able to get information so she decided to do something about it. I really liked her as a character, I thought she had great intentions and great advice.

Dean – Dean is our other main character, as it switched perspectives. He is also a computer whiz and I enjoyed that they had this in common. I thought he was a great character as well, he was funny, sweet and thoughtful.

Plot – I think my favourite thing about this book was the plot. I thought it was cute, well thought out and written in a really fun way. I liked that it touched on some major topics, without being like “look at me! I’m diverse” and I enjoyed that. It was done in a way, where it didn’t single out those topics, but instead treated them for what they are. Real things, real people deal with on a daily basis.

What I Didn’t Like
School – I didn’t enjoy the school that they went to. Obviously that’s the point, but I found it hard to believe that a school would be that concerned with a blog. The fact Amber was worried about expulsion, over something she did outside of school on her own time was weird to me.

Conflict Resolution – As with many books, the main source of conflict between our main characters could have been solved by a simple conversation. I wish there was more to it, that just miscommunication.

Overall I really liked this book, and would totally read it again. I recommend it, if you’re in a slump or just need something fun!

I really enjoyed this book, it was well worth the read. This book covered some important topics pertaining to teens and young adults and covered it in a way that is entertaining and relatable.
My own high school’s sex Ed was almost nonexistent so I was cheering Amber on in her fight to challenge the system.

My only negative is how often “acid” was used to convey Amber’s anxiety. After the 5th time I lost count. Even as a person with GERD, the acid references were too much.

Ask Me Anything is a story about a girl that created a site for other students about sexual uncertainty like staying safe or talking about that matter. At her school anything connected to sex is FORBIDDEN! The worst that can exist almost.
So teens need a place to ask, to talk, to find a secure place. I liked how this book was answering all the questions with a careful quality provided to each as nothing can be taken for certain.
Characters were not the best as they felt not like teens from current time. Especially their way of talking.
Overall a nice book that touches an important topic for teens.

I enjoyed how different this story is.
Two strong, smart, tech-y characters.
There is SUCH a good message with this story.
There's suspense as stories from the past and present are unraveled.
Amber is a strong girl who steps up and takes responsibility for herself. I absolutely loved the relationship that she has with her parents. I would love to see all families have that kind of safe dynamic. Dean is the right kind of guy. He's confident, charming and appreciates Amber for who she is rather than be threatened by her. And when they are together, I just swooned.
It is evident in the writing that the author did a large amount of research on coding/computers and it absolutely paid off.

Ask Me Anything - read and reviewed via ARC copy, courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This review is free from spoilers and all opinions are solely my own.

This book a teen movie on paper. It's John Hughes, it's Emma Stone on a lawnmower, it's Heath Ledger singing on the bleachers. Not literally, of course, but that's the kind of vibe you get. It's almost nostalgic, because the teen flick is timeless. And you find a little piece of that here.

A romance with a hint of rivalry? A stuffy principal that has it our for our protagonist? Feminism? Students fighting against ineffective sex education? A digital revolution? Ask Me Anything has just the right amount of farfetchedness to pull all this off with ease.

The premise, in short, is this: Amber, our protagonist, sets up what is essentially an online Dolly Doctor for her classmates to ask the sex questions their school refuses to answer. Her love interest is the one who is recruited to take her operation down and find out who she is behind the mask. Plot ensues.

I think this is a four star read. Not so much for me, but for the demographic it's targeted for. While older readers might find it a little ridiculous, this is exactly the kind of thing I would have devoured as a sixteen year old. It asks the important questions (and answers them!) All tied up in a love story to give us the drama we're looking for. So while older readers might not be here for this, I'd remind them that when they had their turn, this is exactly what it looked like. And at the time, that was perfect.

But perfect, it is not. I had any complaints, I would say it started a bit slow. There was a fair chunk of exposition, and I felt that Amber's dialogue digressed a bit from the need-to-know that you're looking for in an introduction. Personally, I feel the flash-forward prologue was a little bit unnecessary. We all know from the synopsis that this is all leading to a betrayal. We didn't need the prom scene at the start of Ten Things to let us know that fake dating plots will probably end in heartbreak, so trust us a little bit to draw that conclusion ourselves. I would also complain just a little about the premise that a school would get so gung-ho about catching a student doing this in the first place. But once again, these are the kinds of things that the teenagers who are meant the read this wouldn't be bothered by.

The things I liked the most, though? AMBER. Her entire concept is meaningful. She is a short haired, strong-willed female protagonist, killing it in a boys' club field of expertise and holding her convictions close and firm. She is an inspiration. There is plenty more to love, of course, but without getting into much detail I'll just say that you will be invested to the last page.

Please let your daughters read this. Please let your sons read this.

Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.

This book was quite hit and miss for me. There were moments I loved and completely loved the action happening and others that I wanted to put this down and never pick it up again. My main issue was with Dean as he seemed to coerce her into a relationship at first and the attraction felt one-sided and a bit creepy. If it was not from his perspective, I probably would have enjoyed it more and found the romance side better. Amber was a fine main character but she had moments where she felt underdeveloped and a bit wishy-washy. This is not a bad book, just confused about what the message is. It could have been written without the romance and Amber and her friend would have stood out more, the romance really was an unnecessary distraction

Absolutely loved this! I found it so refreshing and unique.
The format of the book was very interesting with the dual POV and the topics engaging and powerful and the serious topics were handled in such a respectful way. My only off point with this book was the jumps in time, it made the pacing of the book feel a little off. Other than that it was an amazing read!

Ask Me Anything isn’t just any YA romance. This is a badass YA romance about a girl who codes, a boy who codes, and each of them making a sincere, honest effort to help their fellow teens.

I’m no coder, but I find the world of people who do absolutely fascinating. To be able to wire in and spend hours completely focused on one objective is seriously impressive and I’ve always loved the moral code that comes with it. To hack or not to hack. Why hacking isn’t “wrong” at its most base form. Where to draw the line between what is considered a prank and a malicious invasion. Seriously fascinating to me.


So, it’s pretty safe to say that when I saw the premise of this Molly E. Lee book, I was hooked. An entire YA romance built around a badass girl who not only codes, but who wants to make the resources she finds most helpful, her parents, available to her peers for all the sex education their conservative school refuses to give? That is most definitely a story I need in my life.




To kick things off, I need to admit that this is my first Molly E. Lee book. My TBR has had several of her books on it for years (her covers really speak to me), but I just hadn’t made it to her wonderful worlds yet. This will most definitely be changing in the very near future, as this story has peaked my interest in all the ways.

Anywho, getting back to all things Ask Me Anything: I was intrigued by the back cover blurb for this book, and charged full steam ahead into the story without a second thought. I am so glad I did. Amber and Dean’s relationship is all the kinds of wonderful and complicated you could possibly want it to be. Their secret challenge, their more secret feelings, their baseline friendship, their shared interests, all of it combines to create one of those perfect friends-to-lovers-but-not-really-because-they’ve-had-all-the-feelings-for-each-other-all-along kinds of stories that I have a tendency to cherish and keep close to my heart.



Putting aside my messy, gushy affection for Dean and Amber’s love for a second, I definitely want to talk about each of their characters outside of the other.

When we first meet Dean, he’s Amber’s casual, code-obsessed acquaintance, whom she’s definitely been crushing on from afar. And who can blame her? His general demeanor had me swooning over him from the start. His dedication to protecting his sister from herself, his light-hearted attitude toward his nosy family, and his need to find some way to put the world right had me more than a little excited about the kind of relationship he and Amber could have.

Not to mention how into her he is. Like any teenager, he’s scared to tell her, especially because they both sort of declared themselves intentionally single. But that doesn’t stop him from reminding her that he’s thinking about her. Whether it’s by bringing her favorite coffee to school in the morning, dropping her an IM late at night, or just giving her a safe place to talk, Dean proves he is a quality friend from the start.

The other half of this epic duo, Amber, is my favorite kind of heroine. The kind that tries to do right by everyone. She’s also the kind that internalizes blame and guilt even when it doesn’t necessarily apply. I’ve kinda sorta been that way my whole life, and it’s so refreshing to see a teenage character who takes responsibility for even the unintended consequences of her actions.

It’s integrity. That’s the thing that Amber has in spades. She’s not perfect. She definitely thinks a little too often about how people see her. She undervalues her place in the world and what she has to offer. But she’s whole. She’s not piecing herself together based on what she thinks her friends want her to be. She is a girl who loves to code, who hangs with her friends, who loves her parents, and has plans for the future.

Okay, now for the gushing. These two are ADORABLE from the start. The intense teenage hormone rush is there, making both of them hyperaware of the other’s presence, even when they’re wired in. And even when they both declare they don’t have time for relationships. Even when they both make mistakes.

And that hormone-induced attraction is just the beginning. Their friendship, their emotional connection is more substantial than anything biology could possibly have done. They grow so close and bond so thoroughly throughout this book. I really cannot oversell how much I love Amber and Dean’s love story. It’s fresh and fun, has a truly heinous antagonist, and has some pretty realistic and interesting teenage drama.

Thank you, Molly, for giving us this book and these characters. Thank you for letting us into this world and showing us all the different kinds of parents there are out there. Thank you for giving us a pair of teenagers that take responsibility for their actions and work hard to make the world better. But most of all, thank you for giving us a teenage love story full of sweetness, affection, and most of all, respect.

If anyone’s looking for me, I will be haunting Audible for the audiobook for the forseeable future so I can revisit Amber and Dean’s story again and again.

Ask Me Anything is available now. Get your copy from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indiebound, or Book Depository, and don’t forget to add it on Goodreads, too!

Review 4.5 out of 5
ASK ME ANYTHING by Molly E. Lee is a perfect example of why I continue to love reading young adult books as an adult. It's smart. It's thoughtful. And it deals with real issues that teens experience every day. In the book description Amber says "I should've kept my mouth shut." I'm so glad that she didn't.

What I loved:

Families who communicate and support each other - Amber and her parents; Dean and his siblings
The thoughtful blog posts and the intention behind them
The friendship and relationship between Amber and Dean
How empowered Amber feels as she continues to answer questions on her blog and how she begins to take her own advice to heal herself
All of the code speak and the challenges and how Amber and Dean admired each other and pushed each other to be the best

One of my favorite moments is when Amber's mother describes how her relationship changed from friendship to more. I won't go into details because this is something that readers need to experience for themselves, but it is hilarious to me and made me laugh out loud.


Favorite Quotes:

"Don't ever Google anything with . . . " She huffed. "Just don't Google. It's dangerous."

AND

"He's perceptive and kind and funny. And when he holds my hand or when I hug him, it's like being underneath my favorite blanket and skydiving at the same time."

ASK ME ANYTHING is so good. It's smart and it's funny. It tackles serious topics while still being a love story that you can swoon over.

#DC #StaySexy #StayHealthy

I loved it!

at wilmont academy abstinence-only education is the only way to talk about sex. never mind that the student populace is left confused and underinformed about sex, relationships and how to keep yourself safe from assault, pregnancy and other stds. ask me anything opens at the annual student lecture about how sex is all that is wrong with the world, and our heroine, amber is so over this attitude. but she's not sure how to make things better for her friends.

or for herself really. until recently she had a boyfriend, but after he assaulted her at a party she's struggling with trust, safety, and guilt. for a young adult novel, the way the characters talk about and experience sex is open and upfront, so if that isn't what you are looking for in your young adult fiction, then this is probably not the book for you.

that being said, the openness and honesty about sex and the consequences of sex and nonconsensual sexual situations is absolutely wonderful. when dean (amber's male hacker counterpart) challenges amber to a white hat challenge to wilmont's evil principal, ed tanner, amber starts up a blog that allows the student body at large to comment and ask questions about anything.

amber has an erotic romance author mom and a psychologist dad to help her figure out the correct way to handle some of the tricky questions sent her way. but when the blog comes to tanner's notice, he blackmails dean into helping him dox the anonymous blogger, inadvertently pitting him against amber.

some of the tension comes from the fact that the leads keep a lot of information from one another, which is somewhat ironic in a book that aims to be open and honest about interpersonal communication especially in romantic relationships. and there is this prologue scene that i would have begged the author to cut if i'd been editing this, because it's so completely unnecessary and useless. the same scene is included later in the text. those are my least favorite kind of prologues. and i already hate prologues in general. i'd tell most readers to just begin with chapter 1, honestly. skip the prologue you don't need it and it kind of spoils the dark moment.

but other than that, i actually really, really loved this book. amber and dean are just so great together. and even in the dark moment where he says some pretty harsh things, you kind of get it because he's been blindsided twice in a short span of time, and his betrayal looks worse than it is.

oh and as much as i hated the prologue, the epilogue in this book is really sweet.

**ask me anything will publish on may 7, 2019. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing in exchange for my honest review.

I love absolutely every. single. thing. about this book:

-our main character, Amber;
-Dean;
-Amber’s incredible relationship with her parents, who are some of the most amazing parent characters I’ve seen in YA;
-Dean’s relationship with his siblings, especially his younger sister, Tessa;
-Amber’s best friends, Hannah and Jake;
-Dean;
-all the white-hat hacking and coding talk;
-Amber’s issues with trust and Dean’s overwhelming desire to be the one she can finally trust;
-the sex-positive discussions and beautiful portrayal, in YA-appropriate fashion, of one’s first time having sex;
-Dean;
-the honest and unflinching look at relationship abuse and issues of consent;
-the pitch-perfect teen voice in the questions sent in to Amber’s Ask Me Anything site;
-and, oh, did I mention...DEAN?!

Seriously, this book is close to perfection, and I highly recommend it to any fan of YA contemporaries. I think it’s obvious from my bullet points above that there is frank discussion of sex, sexual abuse/trauma, LGBTQ relationships, and more here, that may require a warning for some readers (either due to age or potential triggers), but I have to say I find this book so refreshing and honest and, frankly, educational that I would not hesitate to give it to a teen reader. Love, love, love ASK ME ANYTHING by Molly E. Lee and cannot recommend it highly enough!

RATING: 5 heartfelt stars!

**Disclosure: I received an early e-copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This review is voluntary on my part and reflects my honest rating and review.

I want to thank NetGalley & Entangled: Teen for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review

I enjoyed reading this book, I appreciate that authors are encouraged to touch things such as sex education in YA literature, it’s very important that young people are actually enjoying of reading an entertaining plot but also can inform themselves at the same time, you know?. I liked that aspect of the book a lot and I think it was very well handled

TW: Sexual Abuse & Trauma

The book follows Amber, she’s a computer genius and she’s very dissatisfied with the way in which her school handles sexual education, in a rather old-fashioned way. So she decides to create a totally anonymous blog where anyone from her school could go for any advice about sex and relationships. What she didn’t expect was for the blog to go viral, but it did it, and now the school administration is trying to finish with the blog and for that, they’re using Dean, Amber’s coding crush, to find out the identity behind “Ask Me Anything”. But if Dean finds out about Amber’s secret she may lose him forever and, on the other hand, thousands of teens will stay with no one to turn to.

I really liked the book, I think it’s fun, easy to read and quite educational, but on the other hand, I had some problems with the romance, which was quite uncomfortable to read for me.

I like how it all starts from Amber’s concern about the lack of sexual education in her school, I think this is something very important to discuss so I like that this has influenced on Amber to take matters into her own hands, and even when she herself hasn’t had sexual experiences as such, she has so much interest in helping others. I think it’s great, and it shows great maturity on her part. So the sex education part, as such, I think that’s really well executed. I like how we can read a bit of the question on Amber’s blog and know a little more about the doubts the guys have about the topic. I think it might even be helpful for some people, which is great. The book also encourages you to talk about it with your parents, which is sensational in my opinion.

The book focuses on our two main characters, Dean and Amber, both are super coding geniuses, so there is a lot about computers and things that I don’t understand lol, but I think it’s interesting if you’re into those things. I like Amber as a character, she’s determinate, but at the same time when you start to get into her head and discover the things she has had to hide, her fears and her pain, you get to appreciate more what she does for others. She has a beautiful couple of friends who are always there for her and also some lovely present parents when I say presents, YES, I mean that they’re there accompanying her at every step and every decision and I LOVE that, we need more of that in books really.
Dean talks and thinks in very disturbing ways for me, I don’t know, the writer tries to make him the good and super hot guy and I’m like, ugh, really?. He’s created in a way that’s about making him look like the perfect guy and that’s unrealistic if you ask me.

Let’s talk a little about romance, which was my biggest problem with the book. There’s a moment in the book where Amber begins to be closer to Dean and vice versa, they end up sharing more hours after school and they begin to know each other and make friends. And until that moment, although the dialogues are cheesy and childish, I thought it was cute and I was fine with that. But then Amber begins to feel that Dean might want something else or having other feelings, and although she also thinks that he’s super handsome and everything, she explains to him that she’s not ready to date with someone since she recently broke up with her boyfriend and that was very hard for her. Dean’s very empathetic and understands, which is great but then immediately after saying he understood it begins to have out of place comments trying to connect with her in some way and is so uncomfortable to read. I understand that he likes her and that’s fine, but you have to respect if someone tells you that she’s not ready for something else , but after Amber repeats the same thing over again, he continues to have that attitude of conquest all the time and I understood, at that moment, that this character would be very difficult for me and he was, I don’t like him. He tries to be comprehensive and sensitive but it is too much for me.

The dialogues of the romantic scenes are too cheesy, and I like corny, but this was beyond that, it was very cringy.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, sexual abuse is touched and I can’t say much about it because spoilers but I want to mention that I think it’s very well made and the main characters handle it in a very real and hard way, so if it’s something you’re sensitive about, I recommend discretion.

Although the romance wasn’t for me, I don’t think it’s a bad book, in fact, I think it’s very good, it has a very easy and quick to read writing style, and it’s about sex education, so that’s really important. So I think I would recommend it even though there are some things that maybe weren’t for me because I think they could be for you. I think that in the parts where should be good, it is, so if you feel like giving it a chance, I think you might enjoy it.