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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fujo_cat's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

char_a_lot_te's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

sydneythekydneybean's review

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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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