A review by whittaker
Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

challenging 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

4.75

Irina is the pinnacle of unlikeable female narrator. But her story is gripping. Part of it is: did any of it happen? And then the second part, completely dependant on the answer to the first part, an answer we will never get: is she a psychopath or is she traumatised? There's parts that argue she is a psychopath, she is not crazy, but rather cold, calculated and this may all be a product of her trauma. And then there's parts that appear to show how unreliable and unreal her account is that implies she is traumatised, and whilst the events didn't happen - she has convinced herself they have. I don't think anyone in this novel was likeable - but it's proof that a book does not have to be likeable or palatable to be outstanding. This book is infinite shades of fucked up, and I think it should be marketed as such. And it drops from 5 stars because I don't think it /is/ what it boasts to be, with the blurbs and quotes on the cover. It does explore gender, especially female psychopathy, but it isn't stressed upon enough how disturbing this book is, and how it isn't a novel that explores misogyny the way Convenience Store Woman and countless other novels do. 

This book kept me gripped, truly, and I enjoyed it so much, whilst enjoying it not at all. It is not necessarily a book I would recommend to the masses, but I would recommend it to people who enjoy horror, especially female driven horror. That is what I think this book is, a psychological horror, and I don't know who the victims are: if they're in the book or if they are us.
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