Boy Parts

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Despite the darkness, she was drawn to the character, in part because there is still a relative dearth of stories about young women from the north-east of England.

The whole absolute power corrupts absolutely maxim may come to mind, though Clark is also careful to show how just because this story is about abuse doesn’t mean that all kink or dom/sub relationships are inherently abusive and harmful. The story could have been a lot more effective if the tone had been camped up, so we could have something along the lines of Jennifer’s Body (which is by no means a perfect film but at least it's entertaining and self-aware). Clark has a sharp eye for the ways people try to represent themselves and there are some great insights into behavior in this book, and how Irina is able to hone in on it and exploit it.

I also didn't really like the dialogue which I thought was formatted a little weird and maybe could have been a little more realistic? This has notably addressed the entertainment industry, with horror stories surfacing of monsters of anywhere from massive wealth like Harvey Weinstein to niche fame like Ryan Adams abusing and harassing women and many have paused to consider how we process the art of monstrous men (such was the title of Claire Dederer’s viral essay, which you can read here). Boy Parts may just take the prize for the most disturbing book I've read this year for a number of reasons. Clark’s short horror fiction has been published with Tales to Terrify, with an upcoming novelette from Gehenna and Hinnom expected this year. in ‘boy parts’, however, eliza clark turns this on its head, employing a fetishistic female gaze instead of the infamous ‘male gaze’ which we’re all used to.

And I am fond of the 'she’s not feeling too good' subgenre, contemporary books that are characterized by a caustic tone and explore the lives of women who are, you guessed it, not feeling too good and are depicted as alienated and self-sabotaging … I also do not have a problem with books combining dark humor with violence, My Sister the Serial Killer is a fave of mine. It seemed that the story didn’t really know what kind of character it wanted us to read about so it went all over the place. Note* Boy Parts does include a number of mature themes and content inlcuding lots of drugs, sex, language, sexual abuse, and violence.

The main character is distinctly unappealing, which can sometimes work, but not here, as there is no sense of why she became so morally vacuous in the first place. This shakes you around like a rag doll and you love it as you begin to see Boy Parts as your dominant partner and while you are going to get pleasure you are also going to get pain. This is not unlike the depiction of the poet-turned-murderer in Distant Star, who uses actual photos of women he killed as an art exhibit that even distresses his fellow fascists, that he ‘ looked down on the world as if he were standing on top of a volcano; he saw you and me and himself from a great height, and, in his eyes, we were all, to be quite frank, pathetic insects.

Irina represents a lot of power abuse, such as how being photographed by her is framed as an honor to these men. Highly recommend and understand the hype, but just a heads up, this is definitely one of those, “no plot just vibes”, books.Shocked to hear it comes in pints, and wondering if my simple Hobbit songs are good enough for these grand halls and their talking toilets. Explores the darkest corners of artistic practice, sexuality and violence with bold wit and fearlessness. With classics such as Ted Hughes's The Iron Man and award-winners including Emma Carroll's Letters from the Lighthouse, Faber Children's Books brings you the best in picture books, young reads and classics.