ARC Review: Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas

Despite what her name might suggest, Heart has zero interest in complicated romance. So when her brilliant plan to go to prom with a group of friends is disrupted by two surprise invites, Heart knows there's only one drama-free solution: flip a coin.

Heads: The jock. He might spend all night staring at his ex or throw up in the limo, but how bad can her brother's best friend really be?

Tails: The theater geek...with a secret. What could be better than a guy who shares all Heart's interests--even if he wants to share all his feelings?

Heart's simple coin flip has somehow given her the chance to live out both dates. But where her prom night ends up might be the most surprising thing of all...

Title: Ask Again Later
Author: Liz Czukas
Series: none
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: March 11th 2014

Rating: 4 stars

Thoughts:

Fun, fun, fun! Lately I've been reading a lot of heavier/more serious books, and I needed a break. I needed somethinf cutesy and fun and fluffy. Ask Again Later is the perfect book for that. It was just so incredibly FUN to read, and it's been a while since I've felt like that!

Now, I know some people thought this, so let me make this clear: Ask Again Later is NOTHING like Pivot Point. Clear? Good. So, if it's not like Pivot Point, what is it like? It's cute! And funny. I actually laughed out loud a couple of times. If you know me, you know how incredibly hard it is to get me to show some emotion while reading. (Before I start sounding like a robot: I do feel emotions while reading. I can be incredibly sad or extremely happy or very angry, I just don't show it. I have also never cried over a book: I simply can't.)

Most characters were nice. I enjoyed Heart's unique, funny and not too serious voice. She's a really likeable protagonist, if a little weird and naive at times. But to be honest, that just added to her personality. If I had to pick a favorite character, though, I'd immediately scream RYAN at you! I don't even know why I love him so much, but I do. I loved reading the 'TAILS' parts (i.e. with Ryan in it) and he was just so cute and awesome. Schroeder/Chase was a character I liked too, although I feel we didn't get to know him very well.

Some characters were absolute jerks, though. I really disliked Troy and Phil. They were pretty much assholes and they only seemed to care about alcohol. And, to be honest, Troy was sort of pathetic. I really did like how Tara, Phil's fabulous girlfriend, turned out though. She could have easily been painted off as the 'perfect' mean girl, but instead she shows signs of depth in the parts we get to see her and she even made Phil apologize for his behaviour. Yay for non-mean girls! She's actually really nice to Heart, even when the latter didn't always fit in with Tara's group of friends.

The romance was cute. I'm not going to tell you who the love interest is, since it might be considered a spoiler. Even though I didn't feel we got to the LI that well, it was obvious that he cared for Heart and he was really nice to her (most of the time). I didn't SHIP IT LIKE CRAZY but I did want them to end up together. Also, no worries, there is no instant love to be found, even though the novel is set during one night

Although the plot isn't exactly brain-shattering or WHOA - no real twists, actually - I didn't mind at all. This story is just so much fun and I feel like there doesn't need to be an OMG-I-never-saw-that-coming twist or mind-blowing plot. As long as the book was going somewhere and stayed being awesomely cute and funny, I was happy.

In all, this was so cute and funny and exactly what I needed. I loved most of the characters and their banter, and the romance was definitely cute. This book was just so. much. fun. Ask Again Later is a delight to read!