Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

382 reviews

jil_m's review

dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Rape, Body horror, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, and Vomit

oywiththepoodles's review against another edition

dark 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Toxic friendship, Animal death, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Self harm

hjb_128's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Violence, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Pedophilia, Self harm, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Torture, Cursing, Body horror, Blood, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Animal death

Moderate: Biphobia, Fatphobia, and Classism

sofiaboebia's review

challenging dark reflective sad 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

4.25

this book was intense with a lighthearted “nothing matters” tone, in the creepiest way. The last chapter sums this up completely and is a stunning ending to such a gripping book. It almost feels stereotypical but not, it feels like it relies on shock but it doesn’t, it’s well written but almost not. The last line leaves you mouth open, but not particularly shocking. The book follows a deeply attractive woman’s sabbatical from a bar job she was forced to take. excessive drug use, mania, and clearly phycopathic behaviors leave her recollection of the story questionable and unreliable. The first 200 pages are a slow build of a clearly messed up woman living here life as a photographer and partying but the last 100 pages take a dark and gorey turn. This book follows her vengefulness and almost rage, and as awful as she is, she is an compelling and (for some of it) almost forgivable main character(this obviously has to do with her narration as well). This book is almost entirely character driven, nothing “just happens” to her except for the reason she is on a sabbatical in the first place. Although it is plot driven there is no positive character development to speak of, throughout the book she looks through her archives of photos and reflects, but clearly she has been a similar person for a long time and will continue to be.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Vomit, Self harm, Alcohol, Torture, Sexual violence, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Gore, Rape, Addiction, Body horror, Drug use, and Sexual assault

begumisu's review against another edition

dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Blood, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

maddiechristine15's review

dark

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Blood, Body horror, Drug use, and Gore

Moderate: Eating disorder, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

isaarusilor's review

challenging dark tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Body horror, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Rape, Vomit, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail

moriarty94's review

challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.25

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

. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Self harm, Violence, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexual violence, Eating disorder, and Drug use

stories_of_the_soul27's review

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Addiction, Body horror, Blood, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault

bella_cavicchi's review

dark 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

4.0

I found this compulsively readable and incredibly dark.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Rape, Child death, Self harm, Medical content, Violence, Vomit, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Murder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Grief, Excrement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Body shaming, Blood, and Animal death