Have you ever read a book and had to ask yourself 'why exactly did things go wrong?' or 'how did things come to how they did?' I don't think there's any such thing as pointlessness when it comes to creativity. Rather, if a work comes off along the lines of that, I just tell myself that I'm probably not among it's target audience and move on. However, everytime I read a book and the author goes ahead to thwart everything the book stood out for in the beginning, I get so frustrated.
For the context, and for this review, let me explain why I was so hurt after reading this book. Few days ago, I scrolled through my e-library and came across this book with a wonderful synopsis. In a world where women, known as eves, are nothing but vessels for beauty and objects of male satisfaction, we're exposed to Freida.
Freida is a young 16year old girl who barely ever makes it to the top 10 beautiful girls among her mates but tries so hard to be accepted by her fellow girls, even if it means hating on her true best friend. Being 16, and in final year, they await the inheritants (the men) and all the promises of a world outside the school which they never set foot in. In that world, when eves come of age, they're divided into three - companions (wives to powerful men), concubines and chastities(trapped in the school forever, teaching the next set of young girls).
Trying so hard to not end up a concubine nor a chastity, Freida does all she knows to do, to end up a companion but alas, her motives go against everything women stood for in a world such as theirs. Resulting in an end worse than that of chastities and concubines, combined.
Now, when I read the synopsis, I was thrilled because it seemed promising. I delved into it and although it's premise was disturbing, I didn't mind. I sat to read and it kept me hooked from the very beginning to the end. The idea was a very fresh one and I loved it so much for that. Everytime I read a page, I turned to the next with more anticipation that I did the previous one. Soon enough I found myself at the last page, wondering how we ended up there.
Simply put, the ending of this book haunted me. It took me days within my busy schedule to read this book and everytime I did, I revelled in how interesting I found it such that when I finished, it took me days to process it's ending. The turn of events at the end was so quick, reading the last few pages felt like a passage. Days after I was done reading, my thoughts subconsciously trailed off to it, wondering how that could have been the end for our character who had so much potential?
Our protagonist did so many dumb things. Why trade people who have only served you loaves of bread for those that serve you breadcrumbs? It wasn't just making sense and with how things worked out for her, I was beginning to think the author favoured her so much, seeing how she kept on getting it good, after all she did. But that end? I didn't see it coming, and I didn't like it.
Maybe this book wouldn't have gotten to me the way it did, had we not been misled. We were introduced to a new character halfway into the book, and our new male lead proved to be almost everything a book boyfriend was meant to be, at first. Why the switch then? I still can't wrap my head around it.
There are actually many things I can't wrap my head around in this book. Another, is the girls' lifestyle. How it was subconsciously imbibed in them to hate each other, and to constantly be in comparison with one another. I couldn't get how they all lived like that. The amount of jealousy they directed towards each other was even harder to endure than the rigorous beautification processes they went through. Such lifestyle seemed horrifying to me.
This was more of a book rant than it was a review, thanks to the amount of frustration this book caused me. I'd rate this book a 7/10 because although the ending was left me in disbelief, I completely enjoyed the process of reading. This is the kind of book you throw aside the moment you finish reading and go for a walk almost immediately because whatever excitement you held while reading it was extinguished at the last page. And that's why I wouldn't recommend Only Ever Yours.
Thanks for reading.
Images are screenshots taken from my e-library.