Only ever yours - Louise O'Neill

eves are designed, not made.

The School trains them to be pretty

The School trains them to be good.

The School trains them to Always be Willing.

All their lives, the eves have been waiting. Now, they are ready for the outside world.

companion . . . concubine . . . or chastity

Only the best will be chosen.

And only the Men decide.

My thoughts:

I have been thinking about this review for a while now. The book was intense, brutal, a future I hope will not come true.

I read it in one sitting. I am not sure I even blinked while reading. I just could not stop, the horror, the normality of it all.

All their futures suck. But if they are engineered right, maybe they will not feel those kind of feelings.

This is the future. Not a lot of people left in the world. Women bear sons. Girls are made, and then put to live in a "school" until they are chosen or not. 

You can be chosen as a companion, this is the best according to all, you have sons, you are killed at 40. You do everything your husband tells you, you are his slave. If you do not give him a son he will send you to the Pyre.

You can be chosen as a courtesan, which technically is a prostitute. You must do everything a man tells you, and you must look like you are loving it. You will never have children.

Or you can become a Chastity, take care of newer generations of girls. In silence, alone. It's not like this is a good choice either. They are all miserable choices, ones you do not make, they are made for you.

Or you can be sent underground and never seen again.

At school you are taught to do all the things a woman must do. And you must obey, be proper, never cry, always be calm. You must look good, be thin. Be perfect, and there is always improvement. You are never perfect. And you are always being told that.

In this world we follow freida. As a girl she is property and therefore she is freida, not Freida. Who can't sleep. Who is afraid of not looking her best for picture day. Who has gained a tiny bit of weight. Who must lose it or she wont be chosen. Who wants to be like the nr #1 girl. Who is a follower. Who breaks herself in trying to follow. Who gets broken by others trying to be perfect, thin and pretty.

The atmosphere is horrible at that place. Nr 1, nr 1! You have to be chosen by the right man. If he wants to beat you you will smile and thank him.

I could talk for ages on the misery of it all. And it was so good. A world were women are cattle. A fascinating world in it's horror. All choices will be bad, and what will happen to this class?

My version was the adult version, I have no idea what that means. But a YA version came first, and then they wanted to market it to adults too. Maybe they made it darker. All hope is lost to those who enter here.

Conclusion:

I totally recommend it. 

Cover

That doll is creepy, but it fits, they are dolls, being made

Paperback, 400 pages
Published July 2nd 2015 by Quercus (first published July 3rd 2014)
Dystopia, fiction
For review