I'm a huge fan of Molly E. Lee so I was excited to read this book and I did enjoy it but I would defintley say it is for more mature YA readers. I felt like for some of my older HS kids this would be a very valuable read. The questions that are answered on the Ask Me Anything site are good questions with solid answers and it's clear Lee cares about getting the right info out there. I liked the romance, I like the main character and I liked the way that it took ideas of assault and dealt with them. I am actually teaching Speak right now and I feel this would be a good story to recommend to some of my more mature readers. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I’m loathe to use ‘text speak’ or modern colloquialisms in a review but this is one woke novel.

Let’s set aside the hacking and wicked computer coding skills, because this is only a small part of the story, and let’s be honest here - well over my comprehension.

Sex education is not a how to. I repeat it is NOT A HOW TO. Teenagers have, are and will continue to engage in sexual behaviour regardless of their level of education in it. The importance of such education is to ensure that they go into it with armed with enough knowledge to make an informed choice. This is something severely lacking in modern curriculums. So I naturally loved the idea of an anonymous, supportive and helpful blog where young women could ask the tough questions and get the help they needed when other avenues were not open to them.

But the hook for this book for me is dealing with the trauma and stress of a sexual assault. The guilt, the self doubt, the protective walls, and the total fear of letting a new person in after such an event.

All of it was treated so tenderly, so sensitively, that it’s basically a novelisation of an Ask Me Anything blog.

Well written, well-developed characters, Well done!

Thank you to Molly E. Lee, Entangled Publishing LLC, and NetGalley, I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5 stars for the originality and great concept. The summary reminded me of Netflix's "Sex Education", which is a show that I absolutely love for its originality and quirkiness. I was expecting this to be similar and it kind of started off that way but it didn't deliver as I hoped.

I found myself wishing for more quirkiness and more fun. I wish there was more of an in-depth representation of coding and not just a mention of the characters sitting at their laptops, coding away. I wanted more of the blog, more of what made it unique and refreshing, rather than the basic and typical teenage filler/fluff.

Amber was an okay lead. Something about the "victim" storyline didn't sit right with me and the fact that it kept repeatedly coming up as though she was going to have to overcome this and have some major character development didn't pan out the way I thought it would. In fact, perhaps it's horrible to say, but I actually found it quite a bit annoying. And Dean, aka Mr. Dreamy Hacker boy, was okay too. He didn't piss me off nor did he stir up some other emotions in me. He was just fine. In all honesty, they were kind of forgettable characters.

The one part of the book that actually had me cheering was the blog post about women empowering each other instead of tearing each other down. That resonated with me and was so glad to see it discussed, fiction or not.

We're constantly told that Amber is strong, but we don't "see" it until we're 60% of the way through and by that point, it's hard to believe. I don't want to be told that she's strong. I want to be able to read it and feel it. She was broken about something and she eventually overcame it, but even when she had the opportunities to stick up for herself, her knight and shining armor came in to save the day. I wanted her to come full-circle with the blog in the end by shouting it from the rooftops and was kind of disappointed that she didn't.

Side note - What's up with all these male love interests in YA novels letting out "growls" from their chests? Why is this a thing? How is this a thing? Has it always been a thing and I've never been so bothered by it until recently? Can we please stop describing sexual tension with "a growl rumbled from his chest" and etc? Please? Really. Every time I read "growl" a little part of me dies. No one "growls" in real life unless they're some kind of animal. It's not sexy. Kay, thanks.

*** I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of ASK ME ANYTHING by Molly E Lee. All thoughts and opinions are my own.***

Fed up with her school’s antiquated abstinence only approach to sex ed, Amber creates an anonymous sex education blog ASK ME ANYTHING not realizing her crush and coding rival Dean would be tasked with finding the source of the blog.

I love female centric, sex positive books for teens. ASK ME ANYTHING conveys that message without ever being a Book With A Message. Although she’s had a boyfriend for a while, Amber’s a Virgin by choice, not until marriage, but until she decides she’s ready and with the right person. Most of her friends are sexually active and assume she has been, but she’s open and honest when asked. Amber doesn’t feel pressure to be anyone but who she is. She’s a great role model, fighting against lack of information under the guise of education.

I’m old enough to have sexually active grandchildren, so I didn’t connect as much to the coding subplot, but I think it will appeal to teen readers with a nod to Amber being a superior coder who happens to be a girl (as opposed to a girl coder).

ASK ME ANYTHING is a rare book I’d recommend as appealing to all readers.