Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

185 reviews

_tabby_'s review

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dark emotional funny tense fast-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

5.0

I loved this book
I bought it in 2021 but I only recently had the time to get round to reading it and wow I've been missing out. I originally picked it up because I saw a review where someone had called it "the female American psycho" and at first I was very confused why it was given that title because the only thing they had in common was nudity BUT THEN OMG I UNDERSTOOD WHY THEY COMPARED THE TWO
The unreliable narrator and her unreliable (maybe fake) memories? Delicious
Clark does an excellent job ramping up the danger throughout the book and hiding secrets from us before revealing them in due time
There were quite a few twists in this book that I did not expect at all and my jaw was dropped and I audibly gasped a considerable amount of times
While the writing isn't difficult or complex and it's quite an easy read, Clark still manages to create several layers to a story that is deceptively simple at the beginning.
This book has heavily inspired me which is why I gave it such a high rating.

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beerxper's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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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gewrgia_lightwood's review

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

2.75

This had a very slow start for me 
Yes I read it fairly quickly but idk what kept me coming back 

Irina was one of the most insufferable characters I’ve ever read. I know that’s the point but maybe I’m not that keen on reading unlikable characters. I was genuine annoyed (but that also works as a compliment for the story). 

My biggest issue was this whole “woke” agenda the book tried to radiate. She was thought of as a feminism yet never show anything close to solidarity among women. Also her discomfort in being called working class once, really shows her political agenda. Even her work in the sexualisation of men as a critic in the sexualisation of women felt very “white” feminism to me. 

Lastly her ED never being called out almost made it feel like it was romanticised (along with drugs). 


By the halfway point it started to pick up and by the end it was quite interesting this whole distortion of reality ngl. But at the end of the day it’s hard for me to really enjoy books I’m not attached to its characters. 

The writing was meh at its best 


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harpyd's review

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challenging dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow. Very disturbing and off putting at times, but could not stop reading! 

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allison__'s review

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

4.0


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char_a_lot_te's review

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challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

What the actual fuck.

Scalding commentary on the role of art in our society and the current state of the patriarchy. Absolutely repulsive, don't read it unless you're mentally stable.

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sydneythekydneybean's review against another edition

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dark 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

3.25

Listen... when you pen this as "american psycho for hot girls," I expect "american psycho for hot girls." And it did fulfill that for about the first half. Irinia is so unreliable, messy, manipulative, and overall fucked-up; and hey, I love reading about messy bitches sometimes, but as soon as she stops hyper-focusing on her man-hating/loving photography and starts calling everyone ever a size 2 fat and dumpy, and is constantly thinking about carbs and her weight and blah blah blah, you do start to lose me.

The synopsis of Boy Parts says that Irina goes into a tailspin after she is asked to be a part of an exhibition and that tailspin centers around Irina’s relationship with her obsessive best friend, Flo, and Eddie from Tesco who has attracted her attention. Now, after reading that, I was expecting a lot of interaction between Irina and Flo, and Irina and Eddie. I expected to witness Irina's and Flo's toxic, unhealthy relationship bumped up to 1000. I expected Irinia to become bloodthirsty for the seemingly innocent, insecure, "perfect for the picking" Eddie. I expected violence, sex, manipulation, and like Black Swan levels of obsession. Irina's unpredictable, we don't know how much of her memory we can trust, and I wanted the book to almost gaslight me, as the reader, into believing shit that didn't happen because that's how Irina remembers it. And unfortunately, Boy Parts just didn't live up to my expectations.

I love this book's genre more than I love this book.

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gracepickford's review

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challenging dark tense medium-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

1.0


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evelyncore's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Made me think about glass in the eye more times than I am comfortable with - amazing.

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charlieeew's review

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

5.0


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