SuitabookThe Exact Opposite of Okay
Laura Steven
- Reading
- Read alongside an unhurried conversation about consent and digital privacy. Pause if the public scrutiny feels intense, and invite discussion of when seeking adult help could matter.
- Themes
- Sexual autonomy and double standards: Izzy’s sexual choices become the basis for public judgement, while the novel contrasts her treatment with male entitlement and expectations. The extracts present the shaming and double standards as unjust, while supporting Izzy’s right not to feel ashamed of consensual choices.
- Privacy and online harm: Private sexual material is stolen or shared, producing a website, widespread attention and serious social consequences for Izzy. The treatment is presented as harassment and public shaming rather than as justified punishment for private behaviour.
- Humour and coping: Izzy narrates events with snark, jokes, parenthetical asides and an irreverent voice while harassment wears down her confidence. The book presents competing or mixed signals about this.
- Worth knowing
- Expect explicit sexual content, strong language, public humiliation, online harassment and discussion of death. Alcohol may also be mentioned. Humour sometimes becomes deliberately provocative, so reactions may depend on comfort with irreverent jokes.