Over the past week, I keep asking myself the same question over and over again:  WHY did I let Ask Again, Yes sit on my shelf for three years, unread?  Oof.  This book.  It's deep; and it's heavy; and it packed an emotional punch that will stay with me for a long time.  And I absolutely loved it.  It's one of those rare reads in which I found I kept having to remind myself that it's a work of fiction because the characters are so complex and well-formed that they felt ever so real.  Heavy subjects are dealt with here with honesty and grace, and I loved that we as readers get to delve deep into each of the main characters... not just seeing the issues of the here and now, but also delving into their pasts.  This was certainly a character-driven novel with a slow pace, which I often struggle with. I did somewhat struggle since I don't read many slow-paced books, but the writing and the story and the characters were so good and so beautiful and so raw that I didn't care.  I was emotionally invested and compelled to keep turning the pages.  In the end, I was sad to close that final chapter.  I suspect I will carry this story with me for quite some time. ⁣