Cover Image: Don’t Ask

Don’t Ask

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Member Reviews

I was granted a copy of this book by Netgalley, in exchange for my honest opinion. Some TW you will find in this novel, sexual assault, rape and substance abuse.
This book took me a wile to get into it, was a little bit confusing at first to understood and remember the different characters perspectives. But got very interesting, this story revolves around a free DNA test promotion, and how at the end the results can impact people’s lives. The story takes us through different generations of two families, it was well done seeing the impact on how families and their backgrounds get unfolded and truth’s get unveiled and the weight they carry and cause on everyone around, the way relationships get damaged and the memories changed them.
Something that it got me the most to get into this narrative it’s the way the timelines were wrote.
Over all it’s when I got into this book was a very interesting book with a very enjoyable storyline, if you enjoy different characters perspectives and diferente timelines this is definitely a book to pick up. Read it in one sitting.

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Maybe this book wasn’t for me, but I found it very uninteresting and could not get into it. The switch POV’s and times made it really confusing, didn’t get past page 50.

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This book wasn't for me.

I didn't like the writing flow as it really confused me, switching narrative and timelines without enough warning (in my opinion). As someone from Ireland and whose family raised me in the '80s and all this kind of drama and storytelling, I was very disappointed that I couldn't enjoy it.
I do appreciate the background and the attempt.

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Don't Ask wasn't for me. I read the 1st chapter and I wasn't being grabbed. I wouldn't let this put you off.

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Thank you to NetGalley for obtaining a copy for me to review.

The book starts immediately into the story premise about the results of a DNA test. Don’t ask is really the premise of the book. However there are so many characters effected by the DNA results you really need to write them down as they occur or you are at a loss in the book.
However, what would you expect from a DNA test result but having an impact on all the characters impacted by the results.
This book is no different than any DNA result. . If you can keep up with the characters and whose at risk it’s an interesting story. But what would you expect from a DNA test kit between two people to start.

A young woman who is engulfed with a rock band who is involved in a sexual encounter finds herself totally caught up in the entire story.

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I could not finish this book. It's very hard to read as all of the information is jumbled together. The paragraphs are incredibly long and winded. While reading, it often felt as if the author was trying to shove a bunch of back story, as well as quirky metaphors down my throat in a very short amount of time. I would not recommend this read.

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A light yet enjoyable read for anyone who wants to detach for a bit and set foot into another world unlike their own. Paul Carroll sets a scene you feel you know intimately.

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This book description was very interesting, and I had really looked forward to reading it, but there were some key aspects of the book that caused me some difficulty to read. This book is listed as a "whodunnit" built on secrets and DNA tests. It goes into great detail about the background of all of the characters, and there are a lot of characters. The key concept of this book is that they are all interconnected somehow, and with this many characters there are lots of ways for them to be connected.

This book switches between the points of view of multiple characters, which is something I absolutely adore in books. It also switches between different years/decades and locations as well. All of these things are great on their own, and sometimes even great together, but where it fell short for me was the lack of clarity in the switches. It could take me full paragraphs before I realized whose perspective I was in, where we were, and even then I sometimes had no idea when we were. There weren't any distinguishing markers to break up transitions and so it was just up to the reader to figure out the who/what/where/when of the chapter - which sometimes had multiple answers per chapter. This book also takes place in England, in different locations across the decades, so there is a lot of specific British slang & references, which is not a problem but if you aren't prepared for it/understand the slang it makes it a lot more difficult to read.

The concept of the book is amazing, and the characters are really well developed, I think for me the biggest holdups I had came from my inability to keep track of where I was and who was talking. For anyone who is able to get past that faster than me will have an amazing book on their hands.

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Based on 2 families who’s lives intertwine across generations. The story is written in both the past and present as you learn about each character and their journey to the present day.
Nice and easy to read, good character depth. I really enjoyed this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the read.

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This was not a great book. Easy to read, definitely. But did the author have anything interesting or nuanced to say? No. I would read it if I found this in a free library and I needed to pass the time. But would not read it if I had other options. The author seems to have tried to write a popular book working in all the gimmicks and pop culture of #metoo, music, glamour but it all seems surface level. Like AI wrote it?

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This was pretty interesting, it took me a few chapters to get into it. I felt like instead of having a few well described main characters, there were a lot of surface descriptions for the many characters. The book jumped back and forth between different times and it took me a little to get used to it. I did enjoy the story however.

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I was granted an advanced copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book was a decent mystery with multiple time periods at play. It took a bit of getting use to with all the different characters, but over time I got used to it. Mr. Carroll could use a bit more polishing on his shifts from past to present in the text because readers should be able to easily differentiate the timelines, but overall an enjoyable read. Definitely light and breezy fiction to read this summer.

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This is an interesting quick read.
The story is about a free dna test promotion and how the results impact on people’s lives.
The narrative does flit from the past to the present , but this didn’t impact on my enjoyment , as sometimes can be the case .
The characters include members of a glam rock band , a retired teacher and a contestant on a talent show as well as a solicitor. It’s based both in London and Leeds.
I found the writing easy to read and the characters had some depth , it was a quick read and I found the conclusion inevitable . I look forward to reading more in the future from the author

Thanks to NetGalley and Troubadour Publishing Ltd.

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