Only Ever Yours

This book is so hard-hitting. I've never been so emotionally drained after reading fiction- because this isn't fiction. It's feminism at it's finest, with a genuinely terrifying dystopia in a market saturated with them.

So I read the final page of “Only Ever Yours” and was incoherent for about half an hour. Literally. Thats how good it was. Unbelievably believable, , compelling, utterly riveting and scary as hell when you think how much of this imaginary world could so easily be our reality given a simple twist of history or fate, I was completely undone by the whole reading experience.

We follow along mostly with frieda – she’s an “Eve”, a female bred for the pleasure or service of men. She is at “school” learning to be perfect, respectful, pleasing and beautiful, and hoping to be ranked in the top ten which almost guarantee’s that she will become a companion, wife to a man with the sole purpose really of bearing him sons. Each day is filled with a number of classes and activities to ensure perfection in all things – weight, skin, hair, and attitude. When Frieda’s friend Isabel starts gaining weight disproportionately, Frieda is torn between supporting her in her time of need and maintaining a distance. But Isabel is behaving strangely and all is not as it appears.

It is really difficult to put into words the impact this book has – Ms O Neill has a unique writing style which literally pops off the page – you are drawn into this strange yet oddly familiar world – where even when there is a drug for everything, the young girls face the same issues that can be found in our world. Bulemia, anorexia, self esteem issues and peer pressure. The school environment is very similar to high school – the popular girls rule, any sign of being different is frowned upon. As the time moves ever closer for the ceremony that will see the girls move into their next life as either companion, concubine (basically prostitutes) or chastities (those who remain in school and teach the next generation) frieda’s world starts to disintigrate into madness as she struggles to maintain her worth. It is heart pounding, captivating and often hard to read.

I am deliberately being a bit obtuse about plot details – it will shock you, enthrall you and completely absorb you during the time you are in it, but if I tell you too much of the whys and wherefores the impact will lessen. And that would not do, oh no not at all.

This book is most definitely “The Handmaids Tale” for a new young generation – Whilst it is dark, uncompromising and utterly daunting to read as a woman, it is and should be a classic in the making. If you want a happy read, an uplifting and redemptive tale then look away now – this is stark, unrelenting and absolutely gut wrenching, yet completely fascinating and will make you consider a lot of things. If my daughter were still a teenager I would be throwing this book at her. I’m probably going to throw it at her anyway. This one will stay with me for a long time.

Basically, just read it now. Thats all I really NEED to say

It is rare to find a book as thought-provoking as this one. It follows the natural conclusion of our appearance- and social media-obsessed society, a culture where women are objects to the extent their names are not even capitalized and pharmaceuticals regulate their weight and their sleep. I want to recommend this title to every teen girl I now, to illustrate exactly what happens when "feminist" is considered an obscenity, "there is always room for improvement," and women must always be willing to submit to men (if they are lucky enough to become either companions or concubines). I think this will be a blockbuster.

Brilliant, relevant and enraging all at once. Is this an amazing book? YES! Will it be easy to read and give you fuzzy feels? HELL NO! But I think it's something every woman of every age NEEDS to read!

This was a particularly hard book for me to read, and I'm pretty sure it'll be for any woman out there, because it holds a mirror to the ugliest parts of ourselves: our envies, our self-hate and self-doubt, how we've all sometimes agreed to some injustice to stay on someone's good side, how we lose control of ourselves and our bodies... and all that hate and those messages about the perfect body, the Vomitorium, the kcal blockers... it reminded me of some less than stellar moments of my teenage self and made me want to go eat some chocolate because I could.

A dystopian story set in a future where women are designed and created, not born, raised together in Schools where they're prepared for their future as companions, concubines or chastities, the only roles allowed to women now. And as the best dystopians, it is so scary because it could be true. Women, specially young girls, have no real rights, no right to think for themselves or to ask questions, they only exist to give birth to sons, please men or care for the other eves. What are the eves? They're the women, and they are as unimportant as to have their names without a capital letter.

So many of the things that happen in the book are already happened, albeit in a smaller scale. Women are still treated as property in many countries, and even in the first world ones, the pressure to look perfect, to be perfect, to be thin, to look perfectly composed, to not be overly emotional and the fact that women still turn against each other for petty reasons instead of focusing on fighting for what's important really, like true equality.

We follow the story from freida's POV, one of the eves in her final year at the School, hoping to be chosen as a companion. I had the biggest swings with freida that I've ever had with a character, I kept on going from hating her to pitying her to understanding and empathy to loathing and wanting to shake her, time and again! She wants attention and she puts up with so MUCH to get it, risking everything for approval.

As I said, this is a MUST READ BOOK and if you know or find any girls out there that think feminism is not their issue or relatable, give them this book and make them think about that it says!

Despite how I needed a break now and read from reading the book, this is a brilliant book and deserved to ger more out there!

While 'Only Ever Yours' has a disturbing premise, women are bred to please men either as their companion or as concubines. The story was compelling and haunting, which left me reeling at the end and still thinking about the story the next day.

This story is told from the point of view of one of the young women, Frida, who is in her final year at the school. We see her trying to survive in a group of 30 girls are competing against the elite set to become a companion. While struggling to survive she clings to her tenuous 'friendship' with the popular girl and begins to spiral out of control. Occasionally, I found Frida to be a frustrating because of her poor decision making skills and her fixation on the other girls, which the school had taught them to do.
I found this book to be a great statement about how society focuses on weight and beauty standards along with the less overt forms of bullying young women tend to utilize.

This book drew me in and had me thinking about it until I finished it, though I definitely want to pull out my hair after the ending.

Despite being a totally dystopian world that is (hopefully) very far from our own, it was so easy to fall into this world and to truly envision it and imagine how it might be. Though there were many really unusual concepts, O'Neill weaved each beautifully in so that as a reader I understood the world she created without needing to have each concept explained. My only concern with this book was the plausibility of how this world was created, as the plausibility of life being set up as was a little hard to accept. However, I suspended my disbelief and had no other issues.

This book was incredibly thorough on details. Small stylistic choices such as not capitalising the names of females, calling eggs 'eggies,' and calling girls 'eves' like Eve, the biblical character, really placed me in this world she's created. I'm definitely going to have to reread this one because there were a lot of well placed hints and cues that I only noticed thinking back on the book. This book is an incredible example of world building.

The characters were artfully designed in a manner that felt scarily like real-life. Though the girls in this society are created and raised differently than those in ours, I could see similarities and patterns. O'Neill writes very strongly and Freida's voice was very natural and flowing. Discerning her mental state was simple thanks to the writing.

This also includes great social commentary on sexism, and, more subtly interwoven, racism. It does have a lot of similarities to "The Handmaid's Tale" but it has its own entirely new spin that sets it far apart.

I am satisfied with the ending, also. Perhaps displeased, but respectfully satisfied and impressed.

It'll leave you thinking and wondering about the mediocrity of simple life and the lack of importance every day might bring against the importance simple decisions hold. I know I'll be mulling this one for a while.

What a chilling and thought-provoking read! I absolutely devoured ONLY EVER YOURS in one sitting and loved every minute of it! This book kept me on the edge of my seat! Such a great read!!

Absolutely amazing. So phenomenal.

Review on goodreads and blog post to come.