Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

272 reviews

mariball's review against another edition

challenging 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

Irina Sturges, a character that really personifies “female rage“ and more. I hate her for the things she’s done-

murder (both human and animal), spiteful cruelty to her friends and acquaintances, exploitation in the name of art

- yet also pity her because of the horrible circumstances she endured as she grew up. Clark’s prose is so strong, assured, and darkly humorous that you feel like you’re in the novel, watching Irina descend into unfathomable darkness again and again, at some points holding your breath in shock, fear, and disgust. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Drug use, Blood, Body horror, Eating disorder, and Sexual content

alex_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Addiction, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

hades_hotline's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

1.25

I don’t know how to feel

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Gore, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Torture, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Vomit

_tabby_'s review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Cursing, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Alcohol, Addiction, Body horror, Drug use, Gore, Murder, Sexual content, and Vomit

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Animal death, and Rape

Minor: Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Cancer

elfieissleepie's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty

Brief description of a cat being killed.

beerxper's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Addiction, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Drug use, Fatphobia, Body horror, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Self harm, Gore, Eating disorder, Animal death, Blood, and Gaslighting

gewrgia_lightwood's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Drug use, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Vomit, and Addiction

Moderate: Blood, Death, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Body shaming, Rape, Murder, Animal death, Bullying, and Self harm

Minor: Abortion and Classism

fujo_cat's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad fast-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

4.25

Full review here: https://fujoreads.tumblr.com/post/744584555725488128/boy-parts-by-eliza-clark

This book gave me a lot to talk about, but if I had to summarise it: this is a deep dive into an exasperated woman’s mind and how trauma can shape your whole thinking. The writing is crude and realistic but jaded and there’s a lot of themes to make us reflect on various issues. 

Personally, I love flawed protagonists and cast, so this was a great read for me, even if heavy at times. It’s one of those reads that made me stay a bit too late reading, so definitely a page-turner! 

If you don’t enjoy unlikeable characters or crude ways of showing heavy issues, I wouldn’t recommend this. You’ll just have a bad time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Rape, Drug abuse, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Homophobia

ciaraohara's review against another edition

1.5

This is a confusing one bc on one hand this is such a well written book. The attention to detail and the understanding that Eliza Clark shows of narcissism and narcissistic cycles of abuse is amazing, and the writing was really captivating. Each and every character was developed so well and appropriately given that they were seen through Irina’s eyes, and her portrayal of people on drugs was also (I am told) very accurate and very well done. 

The reason for my rating being so low is unfortunately just that I found the book so triggering bc of my own experiences which !! is not super fun. I don’t feel I can rate a book higher if it caused me so much genuine distress, no matter how good the writing is. However I thought that it was thought provoking and well written and I would read more by her - provided that I look up the content warnings first. 

I’m sorry for the low rating Eliza Clark, please do not beef me ❤️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Animal death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Transphobia

lunsbooks's review against another edition

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Eating disorder, Gore, Self harm, Animal death, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Xenophobia, Classism, Biphobia, and Cancer