Book Review - Only Ever Yours by Louise o'Neill

I was given this book as a gift for my birthday and I am so grateful. 

I loved this book from the very beginning, I couldn't put it down and finished it within a couple of days. O'Neill's imagery is hauntingly beautiful. In the tradition of distopian fiction, the likes of 'Never Let Me Go', this book follows exceptionally well. 

The story follows the journey of the eves; girls who are designed to become the best they can possibly be. The opperative work being 'designed', like a car or a new cell phone. The eves are hatched and numbered, brought up like cattle just awaiting slaughter. 

Fron a feminist point of view several moments in this novel had me cringing and feeling phyiscally sick to my stomach. But I had to realize that is the point of the book; it makes you feel for these girls. The main character frieda is very relatable; I too have been stuck in a school system that I questioned the logic of. I loved frieda as a character, the whole time I was saddened by the treatment of her by the other eves and wanted to give her a hug. Same with isabel, she was a character I would have desired as a friend but during the course of the novel you could tell there was something seriously wrong under the surface. 

I would recommend this to anyone that has an interest in feminism, or enjoys novels from a female point of view. This novel is much akin to one of my favourite books 'The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls' by Emilie Autumn, also a story of a group of girls that have been stripped of their identity and used for the pleasures of men. 

Some people may be sensitive to some of the behaviours of the eves. They frequently engage in self-damaging behaviours that are encouraged by their caretakers, the chastities. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, I sincernly hope Louise O'Neill writes another books in this style.