Reviews

The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis

Only show reviews with written explanations

moondustreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

whatrayreads's review

Go to review page

dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

teatoto's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Capolavoro assoluto! Forse un pochino troppo esplicito e spinto nelle scene di sesso e di violenza, ma per il resto bellissimo. Le atmosfere sono quelle cupe da dark academia di Donna Tartt, i protagonisti sono dei ragazzi dissoluti che si drogano e vivono nella lussuria, ma la loro storia rapisce il lettore fin dalle prime pagine. Sembra ruotare tutto intorno alla figura di Robert Mallory, nuovo arrivato a scuola, figura misteriosa, per il quale Bret, il narratore, inizia a provare sentimenti contrastanti di odi et amo, attrazione e repulsione. È tutto inquietante, affascinante, misterioso. Bellissimo. Questo libro è un capolavoro. Bret Easton Ellis mi aveva conquistata durante la presentazione. Confermo che mi ha conquistata ancora di più con la sua scrittura. Fra le prossime letture sicuramente American Psycho! Leggete Le schegge!

worthit's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

readwithharry's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

OH MY GOOD GOD. This book is PHENOMENAL, but needs to come with some serious trigger warnings - if you want a spoiler free description, think of a cross between ‘American Psycho’, ‘The Secret History’, ‘These Violent Delights’, and then add some teenage nihilism, drugs, sex, and private-high-school rich-kid drama.

Admittedly, there were a few points where I actually had to stop reading, but that comes with reading Bret Easton Ellis.

Ellis is gifted at describing moments in time, and at capturing a ::feeling::

This is a complete and utter mindfuck, yes, but if you’re prepared for the dark stuff, i could not recommend this more. I read this pretty much non-stop for 6 days, and my copy of the book is now heavily annotated and highlighted (and drenched with my tears - and my tea when I spilled it in shock).

Nostalgic, lustful, and extremely powerful - literally couldn’t recommend this more.

Content Warnings

colormiele's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

anarchoduck's review

Go to review page

4.0

Unfortunately at a certain point the descriptions and plot points get quite repetitive, especially when every second event is introduced as some sort of culmination, a tension is created that the story simply can't live up to. I think this is intentional because it fits the agitated state of the narrator and his deep desire to keep the audience intrigued, it's still tiring but I guess necessary for the atmosphere and the characterization of the protagonist. I understand that the insert of film and song titles might have annoyed some people (it was the street names for me) but listening to the Spotify playlist along the text is a real addition to the reading experience and I got to appreciate the work that went into the selection.

All in all the novel is more about the state of mind of someone who is constantly observing, losing touch with reality but finding pleasure in the patterns he creates by imposing narratives on his surroundings. The reader is constantly in conflict between buying into Bret's saturated version of the events and being irritated by his point of view. Because I decided to let Bret entertain me, I might have enjoyed the novel more than others, the ending still wasn't able to hold or smoothly dissolve tension, that is possibly to underline the unreliability of the narrator, however it somehow left me dangling wanting something else.

1jessml's review

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

shortasianman's review

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Coolly grotesque.

Who is to say why I enjoyed this but not Catcher in the Rye? It remains a mystery to me.

caseyaonso's review

Go to review page

5.0

(3/17/2024 reread) listen i loooove marinating in a long ass book told from the perspective of someone who irl would be Absolutely Insufferable. the second time around this is just as good. there’s so much you pick up on that makes it just as gripping and exciting even though you know how it’s going to pan out… or do you!!! year of the cat i will never listen to you the same but i have yet to meet a fat ass ambiguous book i didnt like

(3/3/2024) eerie… tense… gripping… had so much of what i love to read about and was long as shit like YES we are so back!!! i cannot wait for this to be adapted

More...