Draft:Only Ever Yours

• Comment: Please be sure to find reliable sources for the Themes section - if this is your own opinion of the text, this is WP:OR. asilvering (talk) 02:53, 24 November 2024 (UTC)

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Only Ever Yours is the first novel by the Irish author Louise O'Neill and published in 2014. It's a dystopian science fiction novel exploring themes of friendship, beauty standards, sexism and betrayal.

Plot

Only Ever Yours is set in a future society in which women are no longer born naturally. Instead they are designed and raised to fulfill men's pleasure. Girls are born scientifically and are then shipped off to schools in which they get trained and raised on how to become the perfect companions for their future husbands. They are taught that their only purpose in life is to get selected by a man, and the only way to be selected is to conform to unattainable beauty standards. Not only do the girls have to look perfect, they are also taught to always submit, they have to be willing, never say no and at all times listen to what their future husbands may want. The girls, who are called "eves" are under complete and total surveillance at the school and have to follow strict rules, for example staying within the acceptable weight range. At the day of graduation the eves will be sorted into one of three societal roles. The most desirable role is to become a companion and get chosen by a man to be his wife. Only the highest ranked eves have a chance at becoming a companion, the rest either become concubines or chastities. Concubines are forced to sexually satisfy men and chastities remain at the school as teachers, raising a new generation of eves.

The book revolves around the friendship between two best friends, Isabel and Freida, during their last year before graudation. During the months leading up to the ceremony Freida notices that Isabel has started distancing herself. Not only has she stopped speaking to Freida but she has also started gaining weight, causing her to fall from her top ranking. This conflicts Freida, on one hand she feels giddy about for once in her life being ranked higher than Isabel, on the other hand she worries about what is causing Isabel change. As Isabel isolates herself more and more, Freida unsuccessfully tries to reach out. Her best friend leaving her and the pressure to look perfect for the ceremony causes Frieda to slowly spiral out of control. The obsession with becoming a companion is starting to consume her. When Isabel keeps pushing her further away, Freida stops her attempts to reconnect and instead starts hanging out with the popular eves of their year.

Around four months before the ceremony, the boys who will select their companions start visiting the school. The eves are put through different tests while the boys observe them, looking for their future wives. The boys also get to select one girl per visit to do a "heavenly seventy" with, which includes spending seventy minutes in a closed box together. To Frieda's disbelief she gets chosen for heavenly seventy by Darwin, the son of a judge and the most handsome out of all the boys. She and Darwin keep growing closer during the visits and she does everything in her power to keep him interested. However, it all starts to go downhill when Darwin tells Freida a big secret. Instead of keeping the secret like she promised, Freida decides to trust one of her new friends and tells her. Soon after, the whole school knows. After Freida's betrayal, Darwin starts completely ignoring her. This causes Freida to completely lose control. Darwin was her only chance at becoming a companion, since none of the other boys had picked her. She becomes more and more desperate and in a last attempt to reconcile she begs Darwin to choose her for heavenly seventy one last time before the ceremony. He reluctantly agrees and when they're in the box Freida begins pleading for Darwin to choose her as his companion. Asking a boy to choose you is strictly forbidden and when the chastities at the school hear about what Freida did, they put her in isolation. After days of isolation Freida is brought before the court who decid her punishment shall be to become a chastity. At the ceremony, it's finally revealed why Isabel had been acting so strange. The "Father", who founded the society they live in, has chosen Isabel as his new companion. Since Isabel had known this beforehand, her acts of rebellion had been attempts to make herself unappealing enough to avoid companionship with the much older man. Freida however, upon hearing the court's decision, has become a shell of a human being, not caring about anything or anyone. After the ceremony Freida starts her preparations for becoming a chastity, her hair gets shaved and her womb is surgically removed. After only a few days of training one of the superior chastities comes to talk to Freida. The chastity informes Freida that Isabel has committed suicide. Freida is also told that the only reason the court gave her a mild punishment was because Isabel had pleaded to the Father. Now that Isabel is dead Frieda's immunity has been revoked. The novel ends with Freida being shipped off to a place that is called "the Underground" to be killed and used as a guinea pig for scientists.

Major Themes

One of the major themes in Only Ever Yours is friendship and throughout the novel the relationship between Isabel and Freida plays a major part. Since childhood, the girls have shared a strong bond. They grew up together in a harsh school environment with only each other to count on. When Isabel starts to withdraw and isolate herself, Freida is torn on what to do. Her attempts at reconciliation are in vain and Isabel is unreachable. At the same time, Isabel is gaining weight, causing the other eves to reject and pick on her. Freida has to choose between saving their relationship or maintaining her own social standing in the school. Their friendship crumbles as Freida slowly gives in to the societal pressure to fit in and joins in on tormenting Isabel. Even then, when Freida decides to isolate herself from Isabel, she can't completely leave her alone. Freida keeps trying to understand what made Isabel change and constantly asks the chastities if they know how she's doing. In the end, Isabel's and Freida's friendship shows how in a society where girls are taught to see each other as competition, even the strongest of bonds will fade.

Another major theme in the novel is beauty standards. Only Ever Yours illustrates the extreme pressures on women to look perfect in a dystopian society. The girls are taught that their only worth as a person relies on their appearance. Their peers are their competition, not their friends. Only the girls who fit the beauty standards are of importance, only they will become companions. The society in Only Ever Yours fosters an obsession with looks. Any flaw is punished, for example gaining weight leads to forced exercise sessions and diets. Freida is a clear example of how the system affects the girls. As they come closer to the ceremony, Freida becomes more and more fixated on her appearance. She obsesses over how the other girls look, trying to be more like them and change everything about herself. At one point she completely stops eating, causing her to lose so much weight she faints. But nothing she does seems to be enough, there is always more for her to fix. She needs to be skinnier, prettier, better. Even as one of the top ranked eves, Freida can't see herself as anything but disgusting.

Gender roles are also one of the major themes in Only Ever Yours. The novel takes place in a society where women's only purpose is to serve men. Since birth the girls are conditioned to believe that they always have to obey and submit. They are raised in schools, completely isolated from the outside world, where they are taught that women have no value of their own, a woman's value lies in whether a man finds her useful or not. At the age of sixteen, girls get selected into one of three social categories, companions, concubines and chastities. To become a companion a girl must be chosen by a man, she then has to live as his wife. She is expected to birth as many sons as possible and serve her husband until he finds her no longer useful, then she will be killed. The concubines are used for men's sexual gratification, they are not seen as people but rather as objects. All their personal needs are disregarded as their only purpose is to get used by men. Chastities are the women who teach at the schools, forced to reinforce the system that they themself grew up in. They are denied any freedom and sense of identity, getting their hair shaven and womb removed. The structure of the system lies in women being subordinated to men. Whatever role a girl gets sorted into, she is either being used by men or reinforcing the sexist system.

Genre and style

According to Goodreads, Only Ever Yours is a dystopian science fiction novel. The book is written through a first-person perspective and caters to young adults.

Development history

'Only Ever Yours is the debut novel of the Irish author Louise O'Neill. In an interview with the publishing house Quercus Books, O'neill says the inspiration to write Only Ever Yours came to her while she was living in New York and working for Elle magazine. O'Neill had moved to New York at the age of 25, and while working suffered a relapse into the eating disorders she had struggled with since 14. The fashion industry and her relapse gave her the inspiration to write Only Ever Yours which was published in 2014 by the British publishing company Quercus. Only Ever Yours is a standalone novel but covers the same themes as the author's other works, for example themes of feminism.

Literary significance and reception

In an article published by The Irish Times the journalist Charlotte Eyre describes Only Ever Yours as a "Fierce, timely feminist tale that should be read by everyone". The author Sara Gilmarthins, writing for Irish Times, called the book "A cross between the film Mean Girls and Margaret Atwood's book The Handmaid's Tale". The novel has a 3,76 star rating on Goodreads and has been given generally good reviews from readers. However, the book has received some backlash from readers who believe the book is too extreme for a young adult audience. On the website Common Sense Media, one parent reviewed the book as containing too much sexual content to be appropriate for teens.

Awards and nominations

Only Ever Yours has received awards since its publication. In 2014, the book won the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Award for Newcomer of the Year. The award is a notable one and the only literary award supported by all-irish bookstores. Only Ever Yours also received the YA Book Prize in 2015 and the judges described the book as a "refreshing take on the dystopian genre". In the same year Only Ever Yours also won the Eilís Dillon Award for a "First Children's Book", an award that is presented for outstanding children or young adult debut novels.