Has anyone read Only Ever Yours (feminist YA dystopian)?

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

Only Ever Yours

I just finished it and feel like I've been knocked for six. Has anyone else read it? It's been compared to The Handmaid's Tale, which might be an overstatement but it is certainly very impressive and thought-provoking.

If anyone hasn't read it yet but likes the sound of it, maybe we could do a thread like the old Feminist Book Club threads?

that does look like an interesting read - i've downloaded it onto my kindle

That sounds amazing, I will download it and give it a read. I first read The Handmaids Tale when I was about 9 (my parents were very free and easy with allowing us to read whatever we liked) but am due a reread of that too.

I will lay off the spoilers then, and look forward to discussing when you're done!

It's only 2.84 on kindle so I have bought it and will have a read :)

I've read it Countess. I was disturbed mostly because it wasn't that farfetched! Apparently teenage girls are obsessed with it - hopefully in a good way rather than aspirational

I'm glad teenage girls are reading it.
I can't imagine how much more shocking it would be to read as an actual teenager, though. Just as The Handmaid's Tale becomes a harder read when you're a mother.

I've downloaded it just now.

I will take a look.

I forgot I'd bought this! Will start it tonight.

Started reading yesterday - about half way through - very disturbing but not actually that far fetched - grim. The bits describing how things were for them as younger girls especially made me want to cry...

I read it about 6 months ago, in one sitting. I agree OP it really knocked me for six. Not far fetched at all I don't think.
I promptly passed it on to my teenage Step daughter who loved it and it's been doing the rounds in her year group.

I finished it. Don't want to post any spoilers so won't comment much now except to say that it will linger I think.

I downloaded it when I saw it mentioned here and finished it the same day (last night about 00:30 to be precise!). Best book I've read in a very long time, totally compelling and horrifying. I'm not really a fan of The Handmaid's Tale - perhaps I was too young reading it but for some reason it didn't chime with me. But this one definitely did. It gave me a pain in the pit of my stomach because none of the social elements mentioned are in any way far fetched - they all exist now really and maybe aren't enforced in such an obvious way but are still there exerting their power. Reading it I felt very sorry for my teenage self - what freida believed about herself wasn't a million miles away from what I thought about myself. It was pitched and written very well. Haunting. Would love to talk about the details when everyone is done.

Oh, Countess, I didn't realise this was your thread! I came on to say if you like the book the OP is recommending, you might also like Changed Souls by Harriet Truscott. Amazing book.

I love Changed Souls too - it has an incredibly kick-ass, interesting heroine.

Only Ever Yours is much more feminist in its primary intent, though - it's basically a satire on certain elements of modern society. I think for a lot of younger readers it's going to be their first exposure to feminist thinking.

I finished Only Ever Yours last night.

I agree with TheCountess about its satire & potential to be a great read for teenage girls but one thing about worries me slightly.

I think there are some teenage girls who are already so conditioned into their femininity that they might take this as a validation of this. I think some girls might not see beyond the fact that Freida does not get 'her man', the #1, Darwin & that she does not fall in with the rules & becomes, shock, horror, fat.

I'd like to see it used as a set text in schools, however, with a good teacher to help point out the feminist context of it.

PS Have just downloaded Changed Souls.

Hmm I see where you're coming from magi - but I wonder if that will happen very much. The whole situation is presented as very bleak, I don't think many girls will identify with the characters or want to be in their situation. I'm sure the satire/allegory element will be missed by many though and it would take a good teacher to point it out. I read one review that made it clear the reader didn't get the overall message of the book at all. I'm not sure who the reviewer was but it highlighted how people could see it just as sci-fi novel and not get the underlying theme.

I am so curious as to how a teenage boy would respond to it - would they just find it incomprehensible?

So I read it today in one go. I'm actually haunted by it. The way freida talked about herself was (and is in many ways) the way I talk about myself. In some ways it was too close to the bone because I was tempted by thought processes I thought I had trained out of myself.

I'm going to get Dp to read it as I want to know his reaction.

SPOILERS

i think it highlighted quite well both the advantages and disadvantages for boys under patriarchy. the homophobia (against lesbians and gay men) was explicit. it certainly wasn't a picnic for the boys who weren't "fulfilling expectations" though ultimately their privilege meant that they survived at least. i would hope a teenage boy might understand the difference between not being able to choose the girl he wanted (the disadvantage), and being able to choose a girl at all without her having any say (the privilege and oppression) iyswim

I found it interesting that all the female character's names started with lower case letters, while all the male characters had capitalised names or titles. It's as if the females aren't important enough to even be granted the basic right of a proper name, or seen as a unique entity to be thought of by a proper noun. They are created to be identical, to fit an idealised version of what is acceptable and desirable, while being discouraged from forming any actual personality so are stripped down to their most basic form and therefore sub-human.

Read this on the basis of this thread. I found it far more jarring than 'a handmaids tale' especially because of the prevalence of social media in the book.