BOOK REVIEW: Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill

Only Ever Yours

Author: Louise O'Neill
Published: 3 July 2014 by Quercus
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopian, Science Fiction
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Links: Goodreads

Synopsis:

frieda and isabel have been best friends their whole lives.

Now, aged sixteen and in their final year at the School, they expect to be selected as companions - wives to wealthy and powerful men. The alternative – life as a concubine – is too horrible to contemplate.

But as the intensity of the final year takes hold, the pressure to remain perfect becomes almost unbearable. isabel starts to self-destruct, putting her beauty – her only asset – in peril.

And then, the boys arrive, eager to choose a bride.

frieda must fight for her future - even if it means betraying the only friend, the only love, she has ever known...

Rating:

My Review:

In the space of one book, Louise O'Neill has gone from an unknown author to one of my favourites. Her books will now sit on my bookshelf in that special section that I reserve for authors whose words have truly affected me and changed my life. I rarely fangirl over anything these days, but O'Neill's Only Ever Yours is an undeniable force of nature, compelling a full-blown emotional response from anyone daring to read a book about a topic such as this one.

Only Ever Yours is set in a futuristic, dystopian-esque world where men rule the world and women are created for the sole purpose of pleasing these men. They are crafted – scientifically generated – to be absolutely perfect. They are then raised in the School as eves, where they are trained to one day enter the world primed and ready to please men. The eves are illiterate – only able to communicate verbally or visually – because academic traits are unappealing to men. The eves are emotionless, void of personality or feelings, because this is unappealing to men. The eves follow a strict regime to ensure they are at a target weight, because anything more or less is unappealing to men.

The ultimate goal is to become a companion – a wife to a man, and the bearer of his future sons (giving birth to daughters is strictly forbidden). If an eve is not selected for companionship (this society creates three times as many eves as sons born each year, so only one third will be selected as companions), she will become a concubine – a prostitute, living for the purpose of sexually pleasuring men beyond their companion. If an eve is unfit for either of these roles, she is destined to become a chastitiy – assisting in raising of eves, eternally sexually chaste, and with the role of chastising any deviant eve behaviour.

This book is not one that can be read lightly. Its subject matter is deeply confronting and extremely difficult to read at times, but it is a worthwhile read. It tackles issues such as eating disorders, body image, mental illness and suicide with a feminist poignancy that really hits home. There is nothing uplifting about this book, nothing to really make you happy. Rather, it is a book that sends a message, a warning about beauty culture and patriarchy and the future of our society if we become so obsessed with perfection that we lose our humanity. The focus of this book is on delivering this message – O'Neill doesn't care whether you like her characters or whether you approve of the world she has created – and it does so in such a beautiful, tragic way that will stay with you forever.

"All eves are created to be perfect, but there is always room for Improvement."

The characters in this book – the eves – are all vapid clones of one another. They might have different hair colours, different heights, different skin tones, but in the end they were all created to be identical in their service of pleasing men. It's impossible to like any of them, because (1) we never get to know them as individuals, and (2) they're all equally as annoying as the next one. But that's not to say that they're uninteresting. Quite the opposite. The creation of these characters, their role, the training they receive at the School is all so engrossing and fascinating that it's hard to not become invested in their story. They are pawns of men, their stories tragic and depressing, their fate unfathomable. Yet it is so easy to see ourselves in these girls, their emotions, their ways of thinking. And that's the whole point; this abhorrent dystopian world isn't so far removed from our own.

A lot of the negative reviews for Only Ever Yours stem from readers' dissatisfaction with the characters, their lack of development, and even their flatness – but I would argue that this is the whole point of the book! The eves are crafted in this world to be vapid clones of each other, no personality, nothing distinct about them. It serves as commentary on the world in which they are created, that men think this is the ideal role of women in society. I did not take a liking to any of the characters in this book, and I got confused by the amount of side characters because they were all so similar and blended together so easily. And that is the whole point! You will not like any of the characters that you come across, and you're not supposed to. These characters only serve the purpose of exposing us to this unfathomable world, and they serve their purpose wonderfully.

It is a confronting book to read, however, and if you're interested in reading a book set in a dystopian-esque world such as this one, I would recommend you pick up Uglies by Scott Westerfeld first. Uglies offers a similar critique of beauty culture, but in a significantly less confronting manner. It's one of my favourite series, and having read it first definitely helped to guide my expectations of Only Ever Yours and the way in which I approached this book.

I think this is such an important book to read. It is one that will definitely stay with me for many years to come, and I'm already looking forward to possibly re-reading it before the end of the year to go back and see what I missed my first time around. This is one that I'm sure will be classified as a modern classic one day, and one that I will forever appreciate for changing my outlook on many issues that we currently face as a society.

BOOK REVIEW: Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Obsidian

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Series: Lux, #1

Published: 12 March 2015 by Hodder & Stoughton

(first published 2011 by Entangled Teen)

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Science Fiction

Format: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Links: Goodreads

Synopsis:

There's an alien next door. And with his looming height and eerie green eyes, he's hot... until he opens his mouth. He's infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, he marks me. Turns out he has a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal his abilities and the only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to him until my alien mojo fades. If I don't kill him first, that is.

When Katy moves to West Virginia right before her senior year, she's anticipating a whole lot of boring. The last thing on her mind is getting involved with her sexy, exasperating neighbor – and then finding out he's guarding a mind-blowing secret.

Rating:

Review and Discussion:

[Just a head's up, there are some mild spoilers sprinkled throughout this review.]

The first time I read this book, I was too much of a snob to enjoy it. I was sticking my nose up at it the whole time, too busy comparing it to Twilight to enjoy the story itself. I didn't give it a rating.

The second time I read this book, I went into it with a more open mind, and I came away obsessed. I fell hard for Daemon Black, and I didn't really care about anything else. I inhaled the rest of the series, because I was totally hooked. I rated it four stars.

And now I have just finished reading this book for the third time, a good eighteen months after my second read. This time around, whilst I enjoyed it immensely, I also read it more objectively. This time, I have rated it three stars.

The greatest thing about this book (and the series overall) is how addicting and fast-paced it is. Things are a little shaky and awkward in the beginning, but in no time the story moves into action-packed scenes and heart-racing excitement. The characters are snarky and entertaining, and the whole concept aliens being on Earth is just so intriguing that it's hard to not enjoy Obsidian.

But it is problematic, and I can acknowledge that.

Katy's character is fantastic, and it is easy to love her for her witty remarks and book nerdiness. She is entertaining, kick-ass, and whole-hearted, but she also has her setbacks. Whilst she is strong and independent, she also makes idiotic decisons concerning her life and the safety of those around her. She is proud, and this comes in the way of her common sense at times. She has a number of hobbies, including gardening, reading and blogging, but they are superficially explored that they seem like flat additions to her character in an attempt to make her seem more well-rounded. And although she is logical at most times, her internal monologue is sometimes so sketchy and unrealistic that it's hard to truly see her as a genuine, whole character.

Her friendships are similarly undeveloped. Though she is seen to make friends with two humans in this book, Lesa and Carissa, it is hard to really see them as a substantial part of her life. Katy often talks about going shopping with them, eating lunch with them, or hanging out with them on the weekends or after school, but we rarely see these scenes. And when we do, they are glossed over as Katy hurries to get her story back to the more exciting aliens in her life. Lesa and Carissa have so much potential as characters, but I feel that they are neglected by the author; despite creating them to give the story a grounding in humanity, it's hard to be convinced by this device when the characters are so flat and poorly developed.

Katy's friendship with Dee is a complete 180-degree turn. Dee is very involved in Katy's life from the beginning of the book, becoming her instant best friend, and in a way, this is more annoying than the typical YA trope of insta-love. Their insta-friendship was hard to swallow, because it just wasn't developed in any real or meaningful way. The friendship was somewhat developed, but Dee's character remained flat and unexplored. The friendship was more believable than her character. It was frustrating to hear that they were willing to sacrifice so much for each other, when I had no idea why they were doing it. They didn't read like best friends to me, and so it was hard to be convinced.

The title of Most Problematic Character, however, must be awarded to none other than Daemon Black, the fictional boyfriend who can set my heart racing just as quickly as my rage. Though I love to hate him, I do, without a doubt, adore his character anyway. His arrogance, cockiness but undeniable sweetness makes it impossible for me to not love him. But at the same time, these attributes are his downfall, and I can completely understand and agree with people's criticisms of him. Daemon is not a nice character, and for most of the book, he is awful to Katy. The brief reprieves of his niceness do not excuse his awfulness.

Daemon is rude, vile, controlling, demanding, and abusive at times. He is outright rude to Katy, controlling of who she can go to the school dance with, demanding that she do as he say, stalking her home from school, and just being unnecessarily cruel. I understand this, and I see why he is problematic, but because I have read the whole series before, I find myself able to look past this, because he does significantly develop as a character. Though his arrogance does remain, his other problematic traits are overcome and he develops into a wonderful, well-rounded character who can have my respect. He earns it eventually, but it's hard to give him the time of day when he is so blatantly awful in this first book.

Aside from the characters, there are also problems with the plot and the premise. I've already touched on friendships, but another plot issue I had was the occurrence of seemingly irrelevant and unconvincing events. Katy and Dee going to the restaurant in town, gardening, going for random walks with Daemon to a secluded and random lake for no reason, the constant on-again-off-again raining that seemed to happen, the sudden school dance, and the truck just coming out of nowhere. A lot of what happens in this book is unbelievable, unrealistic and plain eyeroll-worthy. There was no build up to these events, they all just happened suddenly, so it was difficult to see them as something relevant to the plot when they were so clearly superficial plot devices to bring out a brief soft side to Daemon or reveal something about a character. These scenes, without a doubt, were entertaining, but they just had no substantial purpose. It all felt like filler.

I had similar feelings about the paranormal/alien elements of this story. The concept itself is incredibly interesting and exciting and thrilling, and I don't deny that for one second. But I feel that it could have been developed and revealed in a better way. The way aliens are revealed to Katy read like a news broadcast, or a page from a history book. It didn't read like a conversation. It was definitely more for the reader's benefit than Katy's, and it was hard to ignore this. Every explanation was so formal and dull, when they should have been more interesting. And some explanations weren't even given, they were just accepted, which was even more frustrating. It made it seem like the author didn't know her own aliens, and that doesn't sit well with readers. I really wish the aliens could have been developed more in this book, but they are explored in more depth throughout the series if you continue on.

This review must make it sound like I despise this book, but I honestly don't. I love the series because it is so ridiculous and so much fun. It is fast-paced and full of action, and that is what I love most about this book and the series. And whilst I overlooked its problems in my previous reads, I feel that I have developed myself as a reader and am able to have a critical eye on issues, acknowledge them and discuss why they are problematic, but also still enjoy them. As the saying goes, "your fave is problematic", but that doesn't mean they can't be your fave. Acknowledge their mistakes, but don't let that prevent you from enjoying the story overall.

BOOK REVIEW: Risk by Fleur Ferris | Aussie Bloggers Book Club | #LoveOzYA

Risk

Author: Fleur Ferris
Published: 1 July 2015 by Random House
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Australian
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Links: Goodreads, Aussie Bloggers Book Club

Synopsis:

Taylor and Sierra have been best friends for their whole lives. But Taylor’s fed up. Why does Sierra always get what – and who – she wants? From kissing Taylor’s crush to stealing the guy they both met online for herself, Sierra doesn’t seem to notice when she hurts her friends.

So when Sierra says Jacob Jones is the one and asks her friends to cover for her while she goes to meet him for the first time, Taylor rolls her eyes. 

But Sierra doesn’t come back when she said she would.

One day. Two days. Three . . .

What if Taylor’s worrying for nothing? What if Sierra’s just being Sierra, forgetting about everyone else to spend time with her new guy? 

When Taylor finally tells Sierra’s mum that her daughter is missing, Taylor and her friends are thrown into a dark world they never even knew existed.

Can Taylor find Sierra’s abductor in time? Or should she be looking for a killer?

Rating:

Review and Discussion:

This review comes to you today from two perspectives: the first, my reactions as myself, a reader and lover of young adult fiction; the second, and probably more important, will be my recommendation to read this book as a future secondary school teacher. I hope that by exploring both of these perspectives will give you a greater understanding of what this book is about, and whether you will choose to pick it up for yourself.

I experienced a number of mixed feelings whilst reading this book, some good and some not-so-great. I found the first half of the book to be the most enjoyable, because that was where most of the mystery played out; the second half was definitely a lot slower, and for me, less enjoyable. Whilst I definitely kept a critical eye whilst reading Risk, I was able to still enjoy it overall.

It has been a huge six years since I read anything set in Australia, written by an Australian author. My last Aussie read was the Tomorrow series by John Marsden, a staple for anyone in high school. Since then, I've read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, which is about as far removed from an Australian setting as the mainstream USA-based young adult literature. So I went into Risk with positive vibes, knowing that, no matter what, I would love it because it would be relevant to me and I would be able to relate to it, and it definitely delivered on these fronts. It was so easy to relate to this book, its characters, because everything was so familiar to me. Brighton Beach, the St Kilda Marina, high school culture, family relations, everything. It was such a wonderful feeling to finally be able to relate to a book so easily, to know exactly what the characters were seeing, experiencing and feeling. With a few bonus references to the hotness of Chumpy Pullin, I was well and truly in love with this book.

The story itself was an important one to tell, and something that I haven't really been exposed to in YA before. Online predators are a very real danger in society today, and one that we regularly hear about in the news. It is something that I was warned about throughout high school, and though I dabbled in a few online chatrooms in my time, I was lucky enough to be unharmed. But the dangers were definitely there, and I wasn't ignorant to them. Some people aren't so lucky, and Risk tells one such story. But I'll get to more of that later.

The first half of the book, as I've mentioned, was the most enjoyable. I enjoyed meeting all of the characters, getting to understand their complex friendship dynamic, and the mystery and suspense of the novel. I was able to closely relate my own experiences to theirs, understood their attitudes and behaviours towards school, friendships, family and their online identity. I think that Ferris did an excellent job in portraying the emotions and mentality of Australian teens, their complexity, and their not-so-politically-correct manner. I was particularly intrigued by Taylor's conflicting, constantly changing thoughts on her friendship with Sierra in the beginning. We've all gone through fights with our best friends, and it's one of the worst experiences anyone can go through; Ferris captures that sense of inner conflict and frustration, and is able to convey those feelings and experiences to readers in a relatable, unashamed way. In this way, I was able to strongly connect with the characters. I didn't necessarily like them – every character has their fault, and I struggled to really like any of the characters in this book – but they were easy to connect to. I think we can relate to them because they embody our worst decisions at times, and we can understand them, but it certainly doesn't mean we have to like them.

I didn't enjoy the second half as much. What I thought would be the plot for the entire book took only the first 150 pages or so, and from there, I somewhat lost interest in the plot and character developments. It was interesting to see the fall-out from what happened, but I felt it was much slower and repetitive than the first half. So, essentially, my main qualm with this book was that it wasn't long enough. I really believe that it could have been significantly improved had everything been explored in more detail, if we were shown details rather than simply told them, had Taylor not changed her mind on everything so quickly, had conflicts not been resolved over two pages, had we had more time to explore Taylor's conflicting emotions in detail, and really understand her struggle.

But I understand that it was written the way it was, because that's exactly how fifteen-year-olds think and process. Perhaps that was my main issue, that the book was targeted to a younger audience, an audience that I don't fit into anymore. It's been many a few years since I was fifteen-years-old myself, and though I can relate to the character, I struggled to not become frustrated by her thought processes and actions. At times, her emotions felt superficial, and I couldn't fully appreciate them. At other times, her speech or blog posts felt too mature, too monotone and formal, for a fifteen-year-old experiencing the range of emotions that she was. The teens' voices were often indistinguishable from the adults, and it took away somewhat from the believability of what was happening in the story. I think this book was definitely targeted to a younger audience than me, and if I had been able to read it six years ago, I would have rated it five stars without a doubt.

And so despite being unable to enjoy this story to its full potential myself, I will not be deterred from recommending this book to my students in the future.

Which brings me to the second element of my review, where I talk from the perspective of a future teacher. I am currently in my third year of university studies to become a secondary school teacher, on track to graduate as part of the Class of 2016. I am constantly thinking about my own teaching philosophy, what teaching methods I will adopt, and the things I will want my students to gain from being in my classroom. I want them to know about the issues they will face in the world, and how to protect themselves without compromising their own freedoms. Online safety and building a positive online identity for themselves is something that I will endeavour to impart with my students.

And for this reason, I will surely be recommending that my students read Risk, study it, and learn about the real threats that they face from online predators. I think Risk is a hugely valuable resource for teens in high schools around Australia and the rest of the world, and it would be amazing to one day even see it listed as a text on school reading lists. I think that young teens can take a great deal from this book, and so I would like to see as many students reading this book as possible. Reading is a great way for teens to learn about major issues in a non-confrontational way. They don't have to discuss it aloud with their peers or teachers or parents; they can read it in their own privacy, take whatever they want from it, and perhaps discuss it in a manner that is most comfortable for them, when they feel the time is appropriate.

Though the book should not be taken as gospel or the unequivocal truth – it has many issues that teens should be cautious about, such as body/fat shaming and slut shaming – it is a great way for teens to learn about major issues. If guided by schools and responsible educators, I feel that students can learn incredibly important lessons, and are exposed to vital information, from reading Risk. I feel that it's going to be one of those staple books for teens growing up in Australia.

"There are heaps of missing people when you go looking."

I read this book as part of the Aussie Bloggers Book Club, and if you're interested in reading and discovering more Australian literature than what the mainstream promotes, I would definitely recommend checking out their Goodreads page. It's certainly exposed me to a huge range of Australian literature that I didn't know existed, and I can't wait to read more in the future.