The whole “everyone is going to talk, it’s a small town” thing was quite frustrating. I felt that the book was a bit sluggish at certain parts and it could have been better paced. She’s a slut, bitch, whore. Once again, Louise O’Neill has evoked feelings of disgust in me when I was reading Asking For It which is as brutal as it is thought-provoking.Īlthough I enjoyed reading it, I didn’t particularly love it. With her razor sharp style, Louise O’Neill writes a story of a girl who “got what she deserved”, reflecting on society’s view on rape. The topic of rape is rather difficult to tackle and that’s what Louise O’Neill decided to do when she wrote Asking For It. She is then slammed and labelled as a slut, whore, bitch. When one party doesn’t agree to intercourse, it’s considered rape. A flawed character with such insecurities that you really have buckets of sympathy for her poor soul. It’s gritty and unforgiving, the way Louise O’Neill writes from the eyes of Emma, an arrogant, vain and utterly despicable protagonist who you will want to hate her. The book focuses on one of the most taboo topics today: rape. When I got the opportunity to read her next book, Asking For It, I just couldn’t say no, now can I? It moved and affected me so much upon finishing it. I read Louise O’Neill’s stunning debut novel, Only Ever Yours earlier this year and it disgusted me so much, I liked it. Photographs taken at the party show, in explicit detail, what happened to Emma that night.īut sometimes people don’t want to believe what is right in front of them, especially when the truth concerns the town’s heroes… She can’t remember what happened, she doesn’t know how she got there.īut everyone else does. The next morning, she wakes on the front porch of her house.

Emma O’Donovan is eighteen years old, beautiful, happy, confident.

It’s the beginning of the summer in a small town in Ireland.

Asking For It by Louise O'Neill