Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

6 reviews

documentno_is's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I went into Boy Parts largely blind and was better for it, the shock factor and depravity of the slow unveiling of the nature of our protagonist was more impactful than had I known what to expect. I hated every moment of being in this character's head and yet grapple with

the ways in which she can be both predator and victim.  Our main character is a master of manipulation and drowning in her own narcissism yet we see the multitude of ways she is failed by those around her, fueling her perversions.

In many ways reading this novel felt unbearable, both in the situations conjured up and the thought processes we are made privy to. This book felt cutting and revolting in the same ways

Lolita does

. My only complaint was the plot post London visit, for as shocking and fast paced as it was for the first 4/5ths of the story it puttered out

rather ungracefully to an unsatisfying ending of repetitions as is common of unveiling your central underlying "secret" too early on. We are left in liminal space of not knowing how much of our character's recollection is psychosis and how much is sociopathy, undoing much of the suspense of earlier on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Eating disorder, Drug use, Death, Biphobia, Sexual violence, Blood, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Alcoholism, Vomit, Rape, Violence, Torture, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Dysphoria, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Classism, Body shaming, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Self harm, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Alcohol, and Abandonment

kibiiiariii's review against another edition

dark emotional funny relaxing 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

4.25

Took off 0.25 cus she killed the kitty

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Self harm, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Homophobia, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Lesbophobia, Pedophilia, Transphobia, Grief, Rape, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

solspringsreads's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This book is just American Psycho’s sister, British Photographer. I’m not mad about it, but I don’t think that this is any more disturbing or dark than that. The book doesn’t really “go” anywhere, but that’s kind of the point by the end. It feels wrong to call this book “fun” when it has some genuinely distressing content and themes, but frankly, I don’t know if I totally consider this to be a horror novel—if anything, it’s a character study of an incredibly unreliable narrator who’s (possibly? probably?) done some really dark things and had equally horrible things happen to her, and while the stuff is horrific, I personally never felt like my pulse was “racing” in the way one might associate with a psychological thriller. Even so, I mostly enjoyed this book, though it really significantly picks up in the second half.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Fatphobia, Violence, Blood, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Addiction, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Vomit, Self harm, Drug abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Drug use, and Death

datawater's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Abandonment, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Mental illness, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Physical abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Vomit, Alcohol, Addiction, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

megaoboid's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

loved loved loved. i get that this is a Shocking Statement for the girlies who have no idea how to describe this beyond 'um... female american psycho?' but i loved the main character and identified with her in a lot of ways - we share a very similar background (live in the same place in the UK, even!) and it was almost like looking into a very fucked up alternate dimension in a way. i felt sorry for her and i wanted to succeed and i know that realistically, she can't, and she's doomed to be her mother and to get worse and to rot, but that urge to be SEEN and KNOWN spoke to me so distinctly there was no way i just couldn't love her even despite her terrible cruelty and the things she'd done. 

the book WAS wobbly at parts, will probably age poorly for things that are admittedly funny now but will be nigh incoherent to anyone reading this in 20 years time, and the ending is a bit of a dealbreaker for some (not me, and not after the disappointment of our wives under the sea - that WAS a stinker) but ultimately, it crafted a world that i could understand and relate to in so many ways. really special book for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Violence, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Vomit, Alcoholism, Classism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Death

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, and Pedophilia

perthalus's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective sad 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

Will write review later.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Animal death, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Death, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Murder, Rape, Abandonment, Misogyny, and Cursing

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Cancer, Gore, Fatphobia, Body horror, Abortion, and Body shaming

Minor: Abortion and Cultural appropriation