Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. What was your initial reaction to Irina? Did you find her to be a compelling antiheroine, a monster, or something else entirely, and how did your perception of her shift as you read?

2. The guide mentions that Ottessa Moshfegh’s Eileen and Eliza Clark’s second novel, Penance, also explore themes of violence and obsession. If you’ve had a chance to read either of these novels, how do they compare to Clark’s approach to these subjects in Boy Parts? If not, did Boy Parts make you interested in exploring these works?

3. Did you find the novel’s graphic and transgressive nature effective, or did it sometimes feel gratuitous? What was the most memorable or disturbing scene for you, and why?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Irina uses her curated taste in art and film as both a weapon and a shield against her class anxiety. How does your own taste in media, like books, music, or films, help shape your identity or the way you connect with other people?

2. The relationship between Irina and Flo is intensely codependent and toxic. Have you ever witnessed a friendship with a similarly complicated power dynamic? How might you use this friendship to explain the dynamic between Irina and Flo?

3. Irina feels immense resentment and pressure related to her northern, working-class background, especially when she’s in London. Have you ever felt similar insecurities about your background in a certain setting? How did you overcome or navigate these insecurities?

4. The novel opens with an epigraph from Susan Sontag stating, “There is an aggression implicit in every use of the camera.” How do you reconcile with this idea in our current age of social media and constant image-sharing? Do you personally feel that people overshare their lives or violate their own privacy? How private (or not) are you on social media?

5. Eddie’s email to Irina, where he says her affection comes in “scraps” but feels more valuable than a “full meal” from anyone else, is a heartbreaking moment. Why do you think people are sometimes drawn to relationships that they know are unhealthy for them?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Boy Parts is firmly rooted in the UK’s North-South divide, with Irina’s resentment being a key character driver. In what ways does the specific setting of Newcastle help explore broader national tensions around class, opportunity, and cultural identity?

2. By presenting a predatory female protagonist, the book subverts the typical “male gaze” in order to critique it. Does reversing the gender dynamic simply invert the power structure, or does it reveal something new about these concepts?

3. Irina and her friends often use drugs like ketamine and cocaine, which leads to dissociation and memory loss. How does the novel portray the role of substance use in their social scene? Do you see it as a form of escape, a catalyst for creativity, or simply self-destruction?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. What role does Flo’s blog, “therabbitheartedgirl,” play in the story? How does getting this external perspective challenge or confirm your understanding of Irina as an unreliable narrator?

2. Let’s talk about that ending. Irina wades into a pond in London, searching for physical proof of her crime, but finds only trash. What do you make of her final thought, “It isn’t him. It never is”?

3. How does the novel use Irina’s photographic archive to build her backstory? What do her different projects, from the cruel “calling cards” to the surprisingly tender photos of Frank, reveal about her capacity for both cruelty and intimacy?

4. Irina is a classic unreliable narrator, and the truth of her memories is constantly in question. Do you believe she actually killed the boy from the bus stop? How does the ambiguity around this central event contribute to the novel’s exploration of trauma and memory?

5. Consider the different men Irina photographs, like the shy Eddie, the eager-to-please Will, and the anonymous Daniel. How does each of these characters function to reveal a different facet of Irina’s predatory nature and her complex ideas about masculinity?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. You are a curator tasked with writing the gallery description for Irina’s exhibition at Hackney Space, which includes her film of the violent photoshoot with Eddie. What would you write on the placard to introduce the work to the public?

2. Design a project for Irina’s next photographic series. What theme do you think she would explore after the events of the novel, who would her subjects be, and how would the project reflect her state of mind?

3. What might a letter from Flo to Irina, written five years after the book’s end, say? Would she have finally broken free from Irina’s influence, or would she still be entangled in her world in some way?