Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

100 reviews

komiification's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was genuinely so fucking wild. It's like a modern American Psycho set around the power imbalance women have. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

pola_pocket_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

dark fast-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I can't say I liked the book because I truly didn't, which is weird because unhinged women characters is my cup of tea. But damn Irina was truly unlikable. Some parts were funny but the whole book was just an acid trip. Very much unreliable narrator which I loved. Ultimately I kept reading the book because I simply couldn't stop. I guess the story was entertaining and Irina was so crazy I wanted to see what the hell she would do next. I feel like nothing really happend, the closing of the book wasn't strong enough for me so I don't think I'll be recommending or reading this book again.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

itsameh's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

elliebunnbunn31's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

thesannaclause's review against another edition

Go to review page

  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

holy shit. this book is insane. i did enjoy the unreliable narration and additions of texts and emails as a way of storytelling. the protagonist is so unlikable and by the end i truly couldn't fathom how she had anyone in her life. this was a challenging story in an easy to read format. i would 100% recommend reading the content warnings before reading <3

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

yorggeorg's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad tense 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

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

tayo2000's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark funny 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

5.0

I loved this. 

Boy Parts is a thoroughly engrossing (and gruesome? Brutal? Unhinged??) exploration of gender and sexuality. The power of men over women looked at through the lens of a female protagonist (antagonist?) flipping the narrative on its head. I think I will certainly need some more time to fully digest this and sort my thoughts. Rest assured though this is a five star read. 

Irina is also a sociopath, but that’s a conversation for another time.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

documentno_is's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

mcrespo's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark funny reflective tense fast-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

4.0

so irina female raged too close to the sun, and ended up being a
  rapist/murderer
, and unfortunately, no matter how funny she is and how much i relate to her proclivity for pretty men she can boss around, i cannot “support women's rights and wrongs" into liking irina, but she is such a well written character. clark knows how to write a complex female character, and i'm a sucker for an unreliable narrator. clark is funny and witty throughout this novel, however, this book won't be fun unless you are very mindful of the trigger warnings, so keep it cute and check those before you read. this novel also can be definitely insufferable if you can’t get past irina's white woman bullshit loaded with manipulation and forced tears. she's not a likable character, but she sure does go through a lot of the worst parts of the girl experience, and clark does an incredible job touching on important topics such as relationships of abuse, power dynamics differences amongst the sexes, and how social structures shape every aspect of human life down to sexual desire. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

pantslint's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark funny 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

3.75

I wouldn't call this an enjoyable read, but it certainly is an engaging one. It's really accessible, with contemporary speech and pop culture references. And it's like watching a catastrophic train wreck happening in slow motion, on a foggy day,
until suddenly you get clocked in the head with a giant camera.


Irina is hilarious and a great unreliable narrator—she had me feeling like I was descending into a k-hole with her, questioning her version of reality alongside everyone else around her.
I love how women are written here, how they (and ultimately, we) are both victims and perpetrators of misogyny and the male gaze.
Mom to Irina. Irina to Flo, Sera, and literally everyone else.


I wonder what the fuck I have to do for people to recognise me as a threat, you know? It's like... am I even doing this shit? Have I even fucking done anything?

Irina's pretty privilege doesn't make her immune to gender based violence (the opposite, actually), but her literal crazy psychotic bitch behavior is just chalked up to 💅 hot girl shit. Men literally don't see her as dangerous in the same way that women find men dangerous.

Lots to ponder from this book—makes me want to explore other books with similar themes that other reviewers mentioned, like My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh and Tampa by Alissa Nutting.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings