Asking For It (novel)

Asking For It is a book by Irish author Louise O’Neill that was released in 2015.^[1] It won the Bord Gáis Energy Book of the Year award.^[2]

Asking For It

First edition
Author	Louise O’Neill
Publisher	Quercus
Publication place	Ireland
ISBN	978 1 78429 586 8

It has since been adapted into a play, which in 2018 won the Audience Choice award at the Irish Times Irish Theatre awards.^[3]

Premise

When Emma, a popular girl and the queen bee of her secondary school—a character whom O’Neill deliberately portrays as dislikable—is raped by several boys from her hometown, she finds the world she has built crumbling around her as the town turns against her.^[4]

Critical response

Giulia Mastrontoni has said that novels such as Asking For It present an opportunity to introduce conversations about rape to second level school students. Though this can present issues, Mastrontoni contends thats conversations focused around novels with a sound criminological approach, such as Asking For It, would allow students to "better understand the insidious implications of rape representations, and […] to question their standpoint on rape in a safe, educational environment."^[5]

References

1. O'Neill, Louise (3 September 2015). Asking For It. Quercus. ISBN 978-1-84866-820-1.
2. Fá;tharta, Conall Ó (20 December 2015). "Louise O'Neill's Asking for It scoops top literary award". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 20 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
3. "ASKING FOR IT". ASKING FOR IT. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
4. Muchbooks (10 April 2016). "Asking For It by Louise O'Neill- review". the Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
5. Mastrontoni, Giulia (Winter 2021). "Introducing Rape to High School and College Students: An Analysis of Asking for It". Taboo. 20 (1). New York: 160–172. ProQuest 2509029315 – via ProQuest.