this is just one of the ways gender roles are twisted and distorted to allow us to see power disparities in real life for what they really are and provides a space for reflection.

Do I have to smash a glass over the head of every single man I come into contact with, just so I leave a fucking mark? For instance, she forgets that she has to perform a certain role and says whatever the f*ck comes to her because she’s such a girlboss. Our main girl, Irina, is this manipulative psychopath of a woman who takes erotic and explicit photographs (fetish art) of young men for a living. Or the other way around, I think they’re funny and then someone else reads them and is like, ‘This is fucking horrible. The writing is sharp and so is the social commentary and I will definitely read anything Eliza Clark puts out next.Boy Parts follows Irina, a fetish photographer who scouts unconventionally attractive men on the streets of Newcastle to photograph them in her studio/garage. Yet, we also get so many instances that go against what this kind of characterization is trying to establish. Then I found my footing and I couldn't tear myself away from it and ended up sacking off work for hours so I could read the second half in one delirious stretch. The sections written as text messages are amusing as well, with drunk misspellings or autocorrect mistakes that felt true to life. Our mc makes a joke about being raped by the guys she’s hanging out with and what later follows is an intentionally unclear scene where it seems that this guy the mc went to see tried to r*pe her while she was passed out or was otherwise incapacitated and therefore not being able to give consent.

I could keep on comparing it to any number of other transgressive-subject-matter novels ( American Psycho! And you might say that the narrative is less concerned about mapping out the creative process preceding these photos than with over-emphasising what the photos themselves signify. Such as the unhoused boy who possibly meets a bad end who should “feel thankful” for a place to stay and a starring role in her art. it is like AMERICAN PSYCHO, but better, because it delves into a lot of amazing social commentary about sexism, society's inability to see women as the perpetrators of violence because of that sexism, "woke" culture, art and how we consume it, and so much more. but I think that's maybe just because if you tend towards them, you tend to keep a place in your heart for all of them.

But then we are meant to believe that she was in fact traumatized by this so much so that now she herself is subjecting others to the type of trauma she was victim to. 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. There are occasional moments of dry wit, but not enough to sustain what turns out to be a tiring, wafer-thin plot. She had a similar experience when she finished school and went to Chelsea College of Arts: “I went from being in Newcastle, and being fairly privileged compared to lots of people, to going down to London and being like – ah no, I’m actually rough as arsehole. Clark’s short horror fiction has been published with Tales to Terrify, with an upcoming novelette from Gehenna and Hinnom expected this year.