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Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

294 reviews

aileron's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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makingandbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Outstanding. Loved this. Utterly obsessed with Irina and her distorted view of herself and her world. The whole book is deeply disturbing, told from Irina's perspective who is an incredible unreliable narrator. As her mental health deteriorates, her substance abuse worsens and the line between reality and imagination blurs.
Did she commit murder or was it all imagined?
That's up to the reader to decide and I have a feeling I'm going to be thinking about this one for a long time.

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twentythreeandahalf's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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unhingedreader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My current favourite book, I have recommended it to too many people to count. I have listed some trigger warnings attached to this review and this book will certainly not be for everyone. I would recommend the audiobook version as the author narrates it and it really adds to the experience.

This book is a very visceral read, without giving too much away it has an unreliable narrator and many twists and turns. 

Irina is the kind of friend that you warn people about, she is manipulative and gaslights those around her. Somewhat similar to a car crash scene that you know you shouldn’t look at, but can’t quite look away from. She has some interesting pastimes including drug and alcohol abuse, which she seems to utilise as a crutch to escape her current reality of the under appreciated artist. Apart from her bar job her main career focus is photographing generic looking men that she scouts on the streets of Newcastle. Her photography specialises on fetish art and the book follows her attempting to revive her career whilst being entirely horrible to anyone in her vicinity.

There’s many reasons I enjoyed this book, it sticks with you. Irina’s perspective will have you want to laugh at her dark wit and recoil at her true desires.

I have had the pleasure of meeting the author Eliza Clark who is a very down to earth person that writes some pretty messed up books. I would look into some of her interviews because I really think it adds to the overall narrative of the book.

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tayo2000's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this. 

Boy Parts is a thoroughly engrossing (and gruesome? Brutal? Unhinged??) exploration of gender and sexuality. The power of men over women looked at through the lens of a female protagonist (antagonist?) flipping the narrative on its head. I think I will certainly need some more time to fully digest this and sort my thoughts. Rest assured though this is a five star read. 

Irina is also a sociopath, but that’s a conversation for another time.

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eirasenior's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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houseofjules's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I liked this book, it made me realize that I find stories about fucked up women fascinating. 

It also made me realize that this is what My Year of Rest and Relaxation wants to be and falls drastically short. I have also seen this compared to American Psycho but for girls. And you know what, I liked that story as well (I've only watched it, not read it). 

I think this says something bad about me, just not sure what. But I think this is a successful story because of the commentary rather than the behavior displayed by the MC. I mean, girlfriend needs therapy BAD. But her support system failed her from the beginning, starting with her relationship with her mother and the things she goes on to experience in her early years.

 This is pretty privilege at play as well, which allows her to get away with lots of things. In fact its the main question she tried to find an answer to. This book feel like running your tongue over a recently extracted tooth. Painful, horrifying even, but hard to stop exploring. 

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swagboat69's review against another edition

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4.0


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janainthebooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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thebookgaydar's review against another edition

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dark funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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