Only Ever Yours - Louise O'Neill

I would just like to begin this review by congratulating Louise O'Neill for winning the 2015 YA Book Prize for this book. I wasn't very far into the book when the winner was announced, but now that I've read it, I can say with absolute certainty that it was well-deserved!

freida and isabel were best friends, right up until their final year of School. On the seventeenth anniversary of their design, the eves will be placed into the third of society that will best suit them, and they will begin their usefulness. This will either be as a companion to a wealthy Inheritant, as a concubine, or as a chastity.

As the Ceremony approaches, the eves start to fall apart - and they need to be perfect, if they want to be a companion. And when the Inheritants start visiting the School, it's every eve for herself.

The world Louise has created is so eerie, because this could actually happen. In this post-apocalyptic word, freida is obsessed with watching the Nature Channel to see what the world used to be like before companions and concubines.

At first, the lack of capitalisation confused me, and then it hit me - Louise is a genius! The eves names are in lower case because they are less important than the Inheritants, who have capitalised names, and even the names themselves are more important - Darwin, Albert, Isaac, Sigmund etc. They have been raised to choose which girl they want as their companion, knowing that they can also have the concubines when they get bored.

I think the biblical imagery is important in this book too. The Father created the Noah project that saved the human race, and everyone is thankful to Him. Companions can only produce sons now, since they have been modified that way, so eves must be designed to carry on the race. 

For every Inheritant, three times as many eves are designed, to give them a wider choice, as well as making sure each third has enough eves. They are taught for twelve years how to please men and what men like - it's sick, but it was interesting to read, and it's message was so powerful. It really challenges how men treat women in our own society, and shows us the worst case scenario of what could happen if things don't change.

I really enjoyed this book, the front cover perfectly encapsulates what the book is about, and that is what drew me to it in the first place. I will definitely be recommending this book to whoever will listen to me!

Verdict: 4/5