Only Ever Yours

A prisoner repeatedly bangs her head on a mirrored wall and cuts her head, scratches until her hands bleed, and throws things at mirrors and breaks them. Blood is mentioned several times but not described. A teacher hits a student with a wooden spoon; welts are mentioned. A gynecological exam involves the doctor shoving a rod inside a woman very hard and advising the patient to get used to it. A teen is kicked and bleeds. It's hinted that a man physically abuses his teen son.

Sexual politics is a frequent theme. Women exist only to produce male children, provide men with sexual pleasure, and prepare girls and teens for their future roles. Teens discuss sex; they're not graphic but mention watching pornography to see how it's done. A teen mentions seeing women use ping-pong balls and tells a boy she's been practicing with them. Teen boys and girls are paired up and locked in closets, and it's presumed that many have sex. Narrator freida has sex once, but it's not described in detail. A few instances of kissing described briefly. Menstruation is seen as unclean, and freida's first period is traumatic and described vaguely.

Lots of name-calling includes "bitch," "slut," "whore," and "fatass." "S--t," "crap," "ass," "f--king," and "p---y."

Teen girls in school are medicated daily by the teachers and don't always know what they're taking. They take laxatives and ipecac to maintain their weight. Freida becomes addicted to sleeping pills. A teen enjoys a craft beer; a legal drinking age isn't mentioned.

Parents need to know that Louise O’Neill's Only Ever Yours is a dystopian novel about a near-future world in which population decline has resulted in women being genetically engineered and trained from a young age to either produce male children as official wives or provide sexual companionship as concubines, and it's worthy of comparison with The Handmaid's Tale. The only things of value women have to offer society are their beauty and their fertility, and all power is in the hands of a few men. Teen characters live isolated from society in a school where beauty rankings are the only thing that matters, and extreme weight-loss measures such as taking laxatives and vomiting are frequent topics and the source of disturbing images. Fat is not tolerated, and the message that no man could ever love someone who's fat is reinforced. Strong language is mostly derogatory toward women, such as "bitch," "slut," and "whore." Other profanity is occasional and includes "s--t" and "f--king." Talk about sex and how it affects women's bodies is also frequent but mostly vague and not explicit. Teens watch instructional videos of people having sex and mention watching pornography. Blood is mentioned a few times, there's a traumatic first period, suicide is mentioned, and a prisoner injures herself trying to get out of her room. It's a cautionary tale and provides a lot of food for thought about body image and how beauty standards dictate our perceived worthiness.