A review by knkoch
Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

God, this one flayed me a little. It's an examination of mental health and multigenerational wounds that repeat upon lack of repair. There is healing and hope here, too, a realistic sort, and yet almost unbearable pain. And then what comes after, because there's always an after. How do we come back from seminal events, turning points, or breaking points? How does it change not only a person's lifestyle but their perspective? How do children grow around trauma, and later understand it as adults? The author used time jumps unexpectedly, in order to cover more ground, and I came around at the end to liking that. Not every book needs to be 900 pages, as this would have needed to be to cover the 60-some year span in detail. It felt real, as there often are years or periods of life that pass by quickly without fanfare. It's a pointed emphasis not on life's usual milestones but on the important emotional events we survive. 

I think my own experiences with
Spoiler alcoholism in families
really impacted my perspective. This was the first time in awhile I read something that made me physically stop and shudder, and it's the sort of thing I might use content warning settings to either avoid or at least be aware of in future. That's not the entire book, by far, but it was significant to me. 
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