Only Ever Yours by Louise O’Neill

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Dystopian fiction, YA fiction
Content warning: strong discussion around weight, disordered eating, counting calories, and body image

I read this book as part of the #SassyBooks blogger book club. Each month they pick a different book to read and review. This month the chosen book was Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill. I'd never heard of it before but I’m a big fan of dystopian fiction. I was really looking forward to getting stuck in...

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Summary

The book is set in a future world, where baby girls are no longer born naturally. Instead, they are bred and brought up in schools. There, they are taught lessons in how to be 'perfect' and how to please men once they're released into the outside world. At graduation, the 10 most highly rated girls are picked to become companions (wives). The remaining girls become concubines or chastities (teachers in the schools).

The story follows freida and her friend isabel, who are two of the most highly-rated "eves" in their final year at school. As the pressure mounts, frieda becomes determined to succeed, while isabel seems hellbent on self-destruction...

Review

It's hard to explain how I felt about this book. It was highly addictive, and I ended up finishing it within a few days. I even stayed up late one night because I just couldn't put it down! On the other hand, some parts are incredibly dark, which made for some uncomfortable reading at times.

At first the girls can came across as quite shallow and vapid, which I found a little frustrating. However, as the story progresses, you come to realise this is all due to the society that they've been brought up in. It's very cleverly written. Even down to the way the female characters' names aren't capitalised to show just how unimportant they are compared to the men. It's a pretty terrifying vision of the future and really makes you think.

The only part that I thought let it down was the ending. It seemed a little rushed to me. I won't give too much away, but there seemed to be this massive build up, but the mind-blowing finale I was expecting just never came.

Conclusion?

Overall this is probably one of the best books I've read so far this year, and I couldn't stop thinking about it even after I'd finished it. It's not often I get that with a book, and for that reason, I would definitely recommend giving it a read.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?