Review: Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill

Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill
Format: eARC
Published by Quercus on 3rd July 2014
Pages: 400
Genre: YA, Sci-fi, Dystopia
Rating: 
Add on Goodreads

In a world in which baby girls are no longer born naturally, women are bred in schools, trained in the arts of pleasing men until they are ready for the outside world. At graduation, the most highly rated girls become “companions”, permitted to live with their husbands and breed sons until they are no longer useful.

For the girls left behind, the future – as a concubine or a teacher – is grim.

Best friends Freida and Isabel are sure they’ll be chosen as companions – they are among the most highly rated girls in their year.

But as the intensity of final year takes hold, Isabel does the unthinkable and starts to put on weight… And then, into this sealed female environment, the boys arrive, eager to choose a bride.

Freida must fight for her future – even if it means betraying the only friend, the only love, she has ever known…

**I received a free digital review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. This in no way affects my opinion of the book.**

Warning: this book is SO DARK and deals with a LOT of triggering themes. Eating disorders, body dysmorphia, rape, homophobia, addiction, abuse, suicide... I'm probably missing something. But god, I wish everyone could read this book.

Like, you see that cover? Just look at that cover and think about it for a moment. Think about that title, that tagline, all the implications of it: "Choose a girl to own forever." Jeanette Winterson was totally right when she said, "A dark dream. A vivid nightmare." That's what this book is. I have to say: I fucking loved this book. But it was also really, really depressing.

Review: Seven Second Delay by Tom Easton

Seven Second Delay by Tom Easton
Format: Paperback
Published by Andersen Press on 1st May 2014
Pages: 336
Genre: YA, Sci-fi, Thriller
Rating: 
Add on Goodreads

Mila has 7 seconds. 7 seconds to fight. 7 seconds to escape.

Seeking a new life on the futuristic Isles, Mila’s time runs out – she’s captured by Agents, who implant her with a phone that broadcasts her every move. Now she’s on the run, hounded by an elite fighting force who is convinced she poses a dangerous threat to society. Her only advantage: a seven second delay.

It’s a race against time.

**I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.**

I had no idea what to expect with this book, since there are no reviews on Goodreads or anything, and it came out just last week. And what I got was a highly readable and entertaining novel, fast-paced and packed with action, with just the slightest taste of romance.

Review: Coda by Emma Trevayne

Coda by Emma Trevayne (#1 in the Coda series)
Format: Paperback
Published by Running Press Kids on 7th May 2013
Pages: 320
Genre: YA, Sci-fi
Rating:
Add on Goodreads

Ever since he was a young boy, music has coursed through the veins of eighteen-year-old Anthem—the Corp has certainly seen to that. By encoding music with addictive and mind-altering elements, the Corp holds control over all citizens, particularly conduits like Anthem, whose life energy feeds the main power in the Grid.

Anthem finds hope and comfort in the twin siblings he cares for, even as he watches the life drain slowly and painfully from his father. Escape is found in his underground rock band, where music sounds free, clear, and unencoded deep in an abandoned basement. But when a band member dies suspiciously from a tracking overdose, Anthem knows that his time has suddenly become limited. Revolution all but sings in the air, and Anthem cannot help but answer the call with the chords of choice and free will. But will the girl he loves help or hinder him?

Coda is stunning.

It has a tremendous cast of characters, a breathtaking plot, and most of all, it's a love song to music itself. It's about the freedom that creative expression brings us. It's about addiction, set in a world where the government uses music as a drug to control its citizens. It's about love and family and sacrifice.

Trevayne's writing style is so lyrical and subtle and absorbing. Everything she describes is so palpable. I was almost moved to tears several times.