Review: Asking For It by Louise O'Neill

It's the beginning of the summer in a small town in Ireland. Emma O'Donovan is eighteen years old, beautiful, happy, confident. One night, there's a party. Everyone is there. All eyes are on Emma. 

The next morning, she wakes on the front porch of her house. She can't remember what happened, she doesn't know how she got there. She doesn't know why she's in pain. But everyone else does. 

Photographs taken at the party show, in explicit detail, what happened to Emma that night. But sometimes people don't want to believe what is right in front of them, especially when the truth concerns the town's heroes...

This book/review has trigger warnings for rape, bullying and non-consent.

Review: this is another one of those books that has been on my wish list for absolutely ages and I don't know why it took me so long to read! I was warned before I started this book that it would be a challenging read and it is an intense book but I wouldn't necessarily say it is right to warn someone of this before they even pick up the book and I wouldn't necessarily say that I agree. Yes this book packs a real punch and I did find it intense but just because it was such a good read I couldn't put it down!

This books is definitely for older readers and concerns an 18/19 year old protagonist. I loved the fact that this book was set in Ireland, it has been so long since I have read a book set there and so i definitely appreciated the setting of it. Although I did read the US edition of this and some of the language changes were definitely unnecessary, I couldn't see some of the Irish characters using some of the US words they were using!

Obviously we have the story of something happening to Emma at a party and her not remembering most of it until her brother points out the photos on social media. For this author to tackle something which DOES happen and which IS commonplace but which is NOT talked about was amazing. This is such a hot topic, people thinking that if girls are dressed in revelling clothing or are drinking too much and having a good time, that they are 'asking for it'. The whole subject of consent should definitely be discussed more and I hope that it spurs people who have read or have even heard of this book to ensure that people know what consent is and isn't. 

Nevertheless the topic was dealt with extremely well in this book because we see it all through Emma's eyes. Emma is a popular girl and so hasn't always been nice to everyone, you could say she was a bit of a bully and yet, because the story is told from her point of view, we immediately align our sympathies more easily. Emma's friends and acquaintances all play a big part in this and yet I didn't really warm to any of the other characters except Emma and her brother. There are also all sorts of family dynamics which are covered in this book as secondary story lines and also as contributing factors and it was great to have something other than just this main storyline to focus on. 

One of the other aspects of this book that I thought really worked and made it stand out from other books concerning this same topic is that it deals with the before and the after, not just the immediately after, but the long term. Emma might not be able to do her exams, she is afraid to go out, she clearly has PTSD and I don't think that people often explore the long term effects of something like this and how it can end someones life and the lives of those around them. 

This was a powerful book, incredibly well written and deals with this subject extremely effectively. I love when a book leaves me asking questions and wanting to challenge what I have heard and what I know and this book did that for me. Yes it was an intense read but definitely a worthwhile read and I urge you to pick this one up whilst being sensitive to the content and prepared to asking the question as to whether anyone is ever 'Asking For It'.

To order your copy now, click here!

Review: Who's That Girl by Mhairi McFarlane

When Edie is caught in a compromising position at her colleagues’ wedding, all the blame falls on her – turns out that personal popularity in the office is not that different from your schooldays. Shamed online and ostracised by everyone she knows, Edie’s forced to take an extended sabbatical – ghostwriting an autobiography for hot new acting talent, Elliot Owen. Easy, right?

Wrong. Banished back to her home town of Nottingham, Edie is not only dealing with a man who probably hasn’t heard the word ‘no’ in a decade, but also suffering an excruciating regression to her teenage years as she moves back in with her widowed father and judgy, layabout sister.

When the world is asking who you are, it’s hard not to question yourself. Who’s that girl? Edie is ready to find out.

Review: I listened to this book on audiobook and it was one of those that I would stay in the car to listen to the end of the chapter once I got home from work and even tried to sneak in some lunchtime listening if I could manage it too. I love Mhairi McFarlane's books because they just tell it how it is. Her writing is very honest and is therefore very funny! The start of this book in particular was extremely relatable to me because it began with a journey from the south of England to Harrogate and I started listening to this on the journey from the south of England to Harrogate. I have to say, as well, i was very pleased with the attention to detail in the section of the book set in Harrogate from the taxi firm to the fact that there are very few trains early in the morning, it was all spot on!

I wasn't entirely sure about Edie as a character to begin with because I was worried she would be a bit silly and annoy me, but in the end she really did seem to have her head screwed on right and so I felt i could let my guard down and warm to her. I think my worries were based on the fact that she does seem to regress to becoming a teenager again when she is forced to move back home. Her sister is involved in the story at this point and she is absolutely hilarious, she definitely provided a lot of the comedy in this novel! I really liked getting to know the character of Elliot as well. It was interesting to read about a fake celebrity, a bit like reading Billy and Me, and I think that he was very well-written as a character because I really did feel a bit starstruck whenever he came into a scene!

I really enjoyed the story line, everything that happened was totally plausible and yet it provided total escapism to me on a couple of very long journeys. I think that there were some elements of the storyline that were predictable but there were enough twists and turns to keep it real and keep you guessing. I liked the fact that it wasn't all set in London, I was able to picture places the characters went and the kind of reception that they received there. I would really recommend this book on audiobook but if you already have a hard copy then I'm sure you'll have a fun time too!

To order your copy now, click here!

Review: The Wrong Knickers by Bryony Gordon

For years, women have been told that their twenties are their golden years, filled with fun, parties, sex and glamour. Countless TV shows and movies tell us the same story: this is your perfect decade - don't waste it! You'll never be so happy - or thin - again.

Here, in her hilariously honest memoir, Bryony Gordon gives us a fresh perspective. Like Carrie Bradshaw, she may have had a column in a national newspaper, but her twenties weren't one long episode of Sex and the City, instead they were a decade of hangovers, heartbreak, and hideously awkward mornings-after, all over her overdraft limit.

Told with Bryony's trademark candour, humour and refreshing self-deprecation THE WRONG KNICKERS - A DECADE OF CHAOS is a memoir of a twenty-something Londoner who lived through her Bridget Jones years and survived. Embracing the messier side of life, it is a must-read for any woman who has survived, or is surviving, her twenties...

Review: wow I really enjoyed this book. I love a bit of non-fiction every now and then and this book was so true and so funny that I sailed through it in absolutely no time at all. I think I came to this book at a silty subjective angle since I now have 5 months left of my twenties and am about to move into my thirties therefore I am taking a look back at this decade too but this book gave me a kind of hope that we all go through this time and we all make stupid mistakes in our twenties but that they all teach us something in the long run. 

This book is written from the first person and so you feel the whole way through this book that Bryony is chatting to you over a bottle of wine and some Kettle chips and just recounting to you things she has done. She compares the time she was the only single one at a dinner party to the time you were the only single one at a dinner party. You chat about the horror of trying to find a flat to rent on your own, especially one within an easy commut to work and how it would be so much easier if you were part of a couple. The horror of discovering that the party you decided to spontaneously host was really the worst idea you have ever had, and each anecdote becomes more and more hilarious. 

This woman Is seriously braver that most of us though because she really does lay it all out there for you to see. The drinking, the mistakes, the break ups  and all the feelings that go with that. She tells you about her parents reaction when she decided to drop out of uni and her own feelings when she discovers the affair she was having wasn't quite what it turned out to be. 

If you fancy some laughs and a few home truths then you need to be picking up this book now. If you love Sex and The a City then you will love this book and if you ever made a mistake in your twenties or things didn't turn out quite the way you thought they would then you will be able to relate to this book and you need to sit down and listen to Bryony Gordon's thoughts tourself right now. A must read!