A review by documentno_is
Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

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.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings