Only Ever Yours

By: Louise O'Neill

Narrated by: Emma Weaver

Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's Summary

Winner of the Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year Award.

Eves are designed, not made. The School trains them to be pretty. The School trains them to be good. The School trains them to Always be Willing. All their lives, the eves have been waiting. Now they are ready for the outside world.

Companion...concubine...or chastity. Only the best will be chosen. And only the Men decide.

©2014 Louise O'Neill (P)2015 WF Howes Ltd

Critic Reviews

"Utterly magnificent...gripping, accomplished and dark." (Marian Keyes)

"Deserves to be read by young and old, male and female, the world over in the same way Harry Potter and The Hunger Games were." ( Sunday Independent)

" The Handmaid's Tale meets Mean Girls." ( The Vagenda)

As bad a book as the narrator

Truly terrible book that gets tired after chapter 2. Unlovable protagonist. Poor writing. A plagiarised Handmaid’s Tale. Just read some Margaret Atwood instead. Narrator’s mispronuciations: Belying. Bellying Pixalated. Pixaltated. Finality. Finalty. Chasm. chasm (like church) Ubiquitous. Ubiquious. Fervent. Feverent. Chaste. Chaast

Absolutely Frightful

This book left me stunned at both the frightfulness of the society one gets to glimpse at and the eerie similarities to our own.

If you intend to sleep soundly or feel at peace ever again, then stay far away. If however you value an incitement to compassion and empathy this book will give you that in spades.

An interesting premise but bad narration very offputting!

I liked this premise from the outset, although I think it could have been fleshed out a bit more. I I would like to know more about the dystopian world in which the characters live, outside the school setting, and I'd like to know more about the different motivations of the girls as well, as they are quite difficult to differentiate. But in general I liked the idea and it was definitely gripping and well-paced, with some interesting messages and warnings. However I do think the poor narration of this audiobook detracts from the story, which is a shame for the author. The reader mispronounces a number of words - I had to rewind to work out what word she meant in a couple of instances - and uses very weird intonation that makes it tricky to know exactly what tone the author is going for. I think probably better to read the actual book as the narration is distracting.

Great book, poor narration.

Gripping, thought provoking, unputdownable. The only let down was the narrator, mispronounced words, wrong intonations etc... Would much prefer Aoife McMahon telling the story.

A narrator who can't read?!

The book is good but the narrator is AWFUL. Dystopian fiction worth reading. Just don't get the audiobook.

Disappointed

the last few chapters felt like the author didn't know where they were going with the story. it was a real disappointment as I felt so invested and then it was a huge build up for a quick dull solution that didn't live up to the quality or writing style of the rest of the book which left me thinking....is that it?
the narrator stumbled over pronunciation in places but was pleasant to listen to otherwise.

Enjoyable but poorly read

I quite enjoyed this - well enough written to keep me listening until the end - and will buy a copy for my 12 year old niece. I found the narrator lacked nuance and regularly mispronounced words so I was taken out of the story and became frustrated.

Story is fine, narrator is terrible

I though the story was interesting enough, though I did get bored and found myself not really caring about all the girl drama at several points. The ending was really chilling though, so that saved it for me.

The narrator has very weird intonation, she put emphasis on certain words that didn't really work, plus she would often SHOUT something and then say, "I whispered," and vice versa, which really took me out of it. Some very weird choices there which rubbed me the wrong way.

awful

overblown teen angst with a pointless ending. constant mispronounciation from narrator. don't waste your time

fluff

This book was recommended to me by a friend and colleague. It is not going to become a classic and it isn’t particularly literary or ‘worthy,’ it’s just entertainment. She said it was one of her favourites so I thought I would give it a try. This is a Young-Adult fiction Novel about a group of girls, or Eve’s, that have been designed for either prospective husbands, to be concubines, or to teach new Eves. As it says on the cover, think Handmaid’s Tale meets Mean Girls. Although it is dystopian and set in a fictional future/present, I felt it was a scathing look at the bullying culture and picture perfect, instagram culture of young people today. It was deeply disturbing and upsetting. Keep it well clear of any young people with self-esteem issues as it could be very triggering. I found it entertaining enough and thought-provoking but honestly it just wasn’t for me. I could totally see myself falling in love with it if I had read it as a teen, but as a 30 something woman who is very comfortable in my larger than life body, I found it all a bit sad and trivial. Glad I read it though as it was an interesting concept.

great read

loved it, gripping read. Scarily true to real life. would highly recommend! easy read too

poor narration

Ok dystopian novel. Terrible narration with words often mispronounced. This spoils it completely - I.e. 'bellying' for 'belying".