Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Boy Parts

This book really struck me. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about it.

Irina sucks. She's a horrible person. She is mean and self-centered, dehumanizing and manipulating everyone around her. She gives very little thought to the consequences of her actions, with one very notable exception.

I feel bad for everyone who has the misfortune of interacting with Irina. Why does Flo hang on after all these years? What could she possibly love about Irina, or the way Irina treats her? Why would Finch want to hang around her, after seeing how she treats Flow and hearing Irina's critique of his photos.

Irina's decisions stressed me out. She put herself in so many dangerous situations, and then tried to brush them off. She is such a misandrist (which I understand, to an extent, after some of her experiences), but is also subject to patriarchal standards of beauty and female behavior - and projects that onto everyone else. Irina seems to hate men, objectifying them and physically hurting them whenever she can. But she her hatred and objectification of other women only seems to be mental and emotional.

This detestable and unreliable narrator made for an interesting story. It made me wildly uncomfortable, made me think, and made me set it down and take a lap after a particularly gory description of self-harm. Irina was right when she said,

"I wonder what the fuck I have to do for people to recognize me as a threat?"

Had Irina been a man, her models would not have hidden their fear or hurt behind haughty fake masculinity - or fear of being turned in to the police for assault.

No one saw Irina as a threat because she was pretty and skinny and talented. They saw her as a conquest until it was too late. And Irina took advantage of that, even when she hated it.

Overall I really liked this book. It was a harsh reminder that people make poor choices when it comes to people we love(d) or want to love/notice/have sex with us. I do wonder what happened to Mr. B - I think he knew

the Polaroids were real and he cut himself off for fear of being implicated

Content Warnings

stories_of_the_soul27's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I am very happy that this genre exists. This genre could have its own literature course very easily.

Irina is unlikable and unreliable. She is cruel, unhinged and broken (?). She is powerful in the sense that she knows the screws she needs to tweak to get her ways. She picks up this average looking men and makes them feel desirable by clicking racy pictures of them. The whole power dynamics is so hypnotic. She is so controlling and manipulative of her subjects. They bow to her because she plays her part well. She knows how to dress, how to talk and exactly how to reply to keep everyone on the hook. She fishes the insecure ones and completely exploits and uses them. There’s certain kind of cruelness to her. She sneers when she hears her male contemporary getting awards and recognitions by photographing already sexy women models while Irina is building things literally from scratch with average looking men.

The jump between present and past was so smooth and the timing was rightly done. Her crazy actions completely threw me off sometimes. Irina does a lot of unjustified things. And she will continue to do so unless she has a massive breakdown or she is stopped. She was abused in her teenage years and the way her mother treats her to this day is another reason why Irina cannot be nice to anyone. Irina is mean and vile through to her core. She does not even spare strangers without acting against them even it is in small ways. She is obsessed with being skinny in the most unhealthy ways. She cannot let go of her girl best friend whom she just wrings and uses like a dishcloth.

Irina’s job is one which has also put her in harm’s way. Calling unknown men to her home to be photographed in a fetishised way her cost her security. Still she plowed on. Stupid or brave? A disparity definitely because if roles were reversed it is again women only who are in danger. Irina is also a regular drunk and addict. This has also lead to her safety issues. She knows this and yet she goes on with this lifestyle. She is self destructive. Either she believes that the worst has already happened to her or she believes that she won’t let the men (or patriarchal society) stop her from living her life the way she wants.

The books after second half goes on to becoming more dark and visceral. More of Irina’s unhinged actions are thrown a light upon. She asks a question at one point about how far she can take it before someone tells her to fuck off without trying to justify her actions. I think she is frustrated for not being taken seriously because she is a woman from a working class with a middle class upbringing. The world she is trying to venture into and life she wants to build for herself is one full of posh, upper class people. It is very far out of her reach.

I do believe our surroundings while growing up make us who we are. Part of Irina is because of that. But I also believe that we are our choices. So yes some part of Irina is crazy like a psycho. She simply likes violent shit and is always willing to take it a bit too far. Her choice of movies and what she does to her models is evidence of that. But yes she is a victim too.

I will reread this book again after a few years later and try to critically judge the themes then after reading a bit more of books in this genre.

Content Warnings

astraea93's review against another edition

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dark 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

4.5

Eliza Clark is a strong writer, one who will leave a mark on anyone that reads her works. She may be the best author I've come across in years. I'm giving this a 4.5 because the story itself was so horrific that I can't say I enjoyed it, merely I strongly respected the way Clark depicted the growing insanity of the main character. This book is not for the faint of heart.

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kates_cupcakes's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Feels like a fever dream, you experience the hallucinations as she does and because she’s unreliable you don’t trust her. Heavy drug use and alcohol fuel the plot and it keeps the pages turnings at almost a dizzying speed. This book makes you feel lost in time, almost as if the world stops

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editorgrrl's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Irina (or did her mam name her “Irene”?) is a painfully thin female bisexual Patrick Bateman (complete with business cards and cleaning products) from Northern England.

An unreliable narrator, she drops names, watches ultra violent films, and wishes she were a stone cold bitch rather than a plumber’s daughter who’s only working part time at a seedy bar so that her mam will continue to pay half her rent.

If you hate unlikable characters, this is not the book for you. I found it darkly humorous, and a little sad.

Content Warnings

robbie_d94's review against another edition

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dark funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I'm quite a tough reviewer with 3.75 being categorised as "Excellent" in my review matrix. I found this book extremely funny while being equally disturbing as the main character becomes increasly disassociated through the book. Would recommend.

Content Warnings

writeasiread's review against another edition

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challenging dark

Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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