A review by leilabintik
Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

dark 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

4.25

tI will be thinking about Irina for a long time. As do all the characters that meet her.
Unless they're dead.
Startling, evocative and wildly entertaining, Irina romps around Newcastle and London, using and abusing anyone and anything she can get her beautiful ugly hands on. 
With all the makings of a psycho-killer, I found myself questioning how awful this woman really is and how much of this is real. And so, I fell exactly into the trap Clark layed out. What can a white attractive woman get away with? Why will no one believe her terrible terrifying awfulness? Irina, stuck in this trap herself, will do anything to get out of it. Harm herself, harm others, anything to leave her mark. 
I have met people in this book, recognise them, and I have met parts of Irina, though not all of her thank god. The desperation these characters feel, most of all Irina, is a palpable inescapable haunting. To be taken seriously, to have love requited, to feel anything at all. 
As the book reared its end, I thought Irina might kill again and get her come-uppance this time. Though she does sow the seeds her own downfall socially and career-wise, Irina is still trapped, chasing a high.
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