So it’s been a while since I’ve written a book review. And it’s been a while since I finished this book. My life is a little bit crazy at the moment so unfortunately both blogging and reading have come to a bit of a stand still. I’m determined to try and get back on the band wagon though, and even if I don’t get back on my A-game something is better than nothing!
So the last book I’ve managed to finish recently was Asking For It by Louise O’Neill and it was one of those books which really had a lasting impact. I found myself thinking about it so much afterwards, and applying a lot of aspects of it to my own life – not to the extremes of rape, viral images, and a potential court case like Emma experiences in the book, but the way men treat me and other women around me, and in turn also how women react to situations like this. The book makes you hate yourself for thinking, did Emma ‘ask for it’? Of course no one asks for such abuse and destruction of their life, but did she have it coming? You hate yourself throughout the book for doubting your morals of ‘no of course she didn’t – her body is her own’, but it also makes you reflect on things you may have done in the past and think ‘did I ask for that guy to treat me with such disrespect? Did I lead him on? Was I the one in the wrong?’. It’s an incredibly disturbing book but in an incredibly cathartic way. The book is not one you say you ‘enjoyed’, and O’Neill creates this plot to push boundaries and make you think. I won’t go into details of the plot as it’s one of those books I would urge you to read without any kind of spoiler so you get the full impact of it. I wanted to read this book for such a long time, and it was really worth the wait.
After reading Asking For It I discovered that some YouTubers I watch actually read it as a part of their ‘Banging Book Club’. They did a quick overview video, and a more in depth podcast discussing every detail of the book (so don’t listen to it unless you’ve already finished the book!), which I’ve linked below if you want to hear more about it. On a side note, I’ve also read O’Neill’s Only Ever Yours which I also could not recommend highly enough!
The spoiler-free review video by Hannah Witton, Leena Norms, and Lucy Moon:
Super-duper spoiler-filled discussion podcast:
cathadaz 