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A review by kitten_nuisance
Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Okayyyyy, so I have been looking to read something dystopian in this ilk, and I have a hard time describing what I mean when I try to put it into words, so this was a good choice! I mean something like the bicycles episode of Black Mirror, or the Somni 451 section of Cloud Atlas, if anyone has suggestions. This book has resonance!
There was a lot to like, a lot to like even though I hated it (social commentary), a lot that didn’t make logical sense but I can easily forgive that in a dystopian book that isn’t about exact realism. Where I think I fell down with this was 1) the YAness of it all, and 2) the pace of the story.
There are some very specific YA tropes employed in this book, and that’s not what I prefer to read. Sometimes it can be okay. I felt like the ideas in this book were so interesting that it was a shame to waste it on YA drama, though!! I love an unlikeable character or antihero, but this was more one of those times when I grow to hate the protagonist because their decisions are too MIND BOGGLINGLY STUPID, and I become bored because caring about them and what happens to them was what was driving the story. I felt like this wasn’t even one of those things where it’s like, “well, that was dumb, but she’s so young, and she hasn’t experienced much, and her priorities are out of order. . .” She knew better than this and had other options. Ugh. Some very icky stuff happens to her toward the end as she tries to fix her mistake, but honestly, she had kind of lost my sympathy, and that’s maybe a bit much, but that’s taking into consideration that this was a work of fiction and she is not a real person.
As far as the pace of the story, a lot of the middle becomes repetitive (which is what their lives are like, but sadly did not seem to be a stylistic choice), and we are given hints about a Really Big Mystery about the protagonist’s best friend throughout, from the first scene, pretty much. It’s hit upon again and again and again and again. . . almost in every scene! There is Something Very Different about this friend. It became way more interesting to me than Freida’s own life! They draaaawwwwwww this out, estranging the main character from her friend (why?? why couldn’t she just be friends with her original friend like usual and get more info?? She really didn’t think or worry about her as much as she should!!), and you’re kept guessing through the YA love triangle and dumb choices, and I just wanted to scream into the book I DON’T CARE ABOUT FREIDA ANYMORE, OR DEFINITELY ANY OF THESE MEAN GIRLS; GIVE ME ISABEL!!!!
You find out what is Very Different about Isabel at **94%**. Isabel knew all along what was different about her (not a spoiler; you see throughout that she’s aware of her privilege). What could have saved the book for me would have been if she had confided this in Freida midway, or even 2/3 or 3/4 of the way, instead of Freida being the worst friend in the world to her and almost never talking to her, leaving it to be so rushed at the end. The whole end of the book for all of the characters really felt like the Micro Machines guy was rattling off the plot closures as fast as possible.
My final complaint is that I felt that this book was doing a thing where it just baaaaarely dipped its toe into having on-page LGBTQ+ rep, but it felt like it was done in a way you often see Disney do it, or media in the 90s, where there was a hint but plausible deniability because it’s never really laid out the way a hetero relationship or attraction would be laid out. I think the author was maybe not purposely angling for plausible deniability, and it was really just the limitations of the world and the way information was available to the characters. I thought it would be a lot more interesting if this was explored more in “realtime.”
So, I loved a lot of the ideas of the world and the building of this reality for this society, and I’m kind of a sucker for that. But the setting can only hold me all the way down for maybe a short story, not a full length novel.
There was a lot to like, a lot to like even though I hated it (social commentary), a lot that didn’t make logical sense but I can easily forgive that in a dystopian book that isn’t about exact realism. Where I think I fell down with this was 1) the YAness of it all, and 2) the pace of the story.
There are some very specific YA tropes employed in this book, and that’s not what I prefer to read. Sometimes it can be okay. I felt like the ideas in this book were so interesting that it was a shame to waste it on YA drama, though!! I love an unlikeable character or antihero, but this was more one of those times when I grow to hate the protagonist because their decisions are too MIND BOGGLINGLY STUPID, and I become bored because caring about them and what happens to them was what was driving the story. I felt like this wasn’t even one of those things where it’s like, “well, that was dumb, but she’s so young, and she hasn’t experienced much, and her priorities are out of order. . .” She knew better than this and had other options. Ugh. Some very icky stuff happens to her toward the end as she tries to fix her mistake, but honestly, she had kind of lost my sympathy, and that’s maybe a bit much, but that’s taking into consideration that this was a work of fiction and she is not a real person.
As far as the pace of the story, a lot of the middle becomes repetitive (which is what their lives are like, but sadly did not seem to be a stylistic choice), and we are given hints about a Really Big Mystery about the protagonist’s best friend throughout, from the first scene, pretty much. It’s hit upon again and again and again and again. . . almost in every scene! There is Something Very Different about this friend. It became way more interesting to me than Freida’s own life! They draaaawwwwwww this out, estranging the main character from her friend (why?? why couldn’t she just be friends with her original friend like usual and get more info?? She really didn’t think or worry about her as much as she should!!), and you’re kept guessing through the YA love triangle and dumb choices, and I just wanted to scream into the book I DON’T CARE ABOUT FREIDA ANYMORE, OR DEFINITELY ANY OF THESE MEAN GIRLS; GIVE ME ISABEL!!!!
You find out what is Very Different about Isabel at **94%**. Isabel knew all along what was different about her (not a spoiler; you see throughout that she’s aware of her privilege). What could have saved the book for me would have been if she had confided this in Freida midway, or even 2/3 or 3/4 of the way, instead of Freida being the worst friend in the world to her and almost never talking to her, leaving it to be so rushed at the end. The whole end of the book for all of the characters really felt like the Micro Machines guy was rattling off the plot closures as fast as possible.
My final complaint is that I felt that this book was doing a thing where it just baaaaarely dipped its toe into having on-page LGBTQ+ rep, but it felt like it was done in a way you often see Disney do it, or media in the 90s, where there was a hint but plausible deniability because it’s never really laid out the way a hetero relationship or attraction would be laid out. I think the author was maybe not purposely angling for plausible deniability, and it was really just the limitations of the world and the way information was available to the characters. I thought it would be a lot more interesting if this was explored more in “realtime.”
So, I loved a lot of the ideas of the world and the building of this reality for this society, and I’m kind of a sucker for that. But the setting can only hold me all the way down for maybe a short story, not a full length novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Eating disorder, Homophobia, and Rape