Reviews

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

libraryofhayley's review against another edition

2.0

2.5*

issyt's review against another edition

4.0

a well crafted dark comedy, mocking finance bros. Patrick Bateman is a pathetic man who cares so much about his physical appearance and how rich he is that he will tell you the brand, and price of every single item of clothing he comes across and a whole 2 page skincare routine to come with it. The multiple chapters called "girls" are probably some of the most gruesome pieces of writing i've ever read filled with pornography that had my asexual self putting the book down as it got too much at points, and then the brutal torture of the prostitutes he is sleeping with. A really good read but definitely not for everyone.

neemsxo's review against another edition

challenging dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.5

nicolamb's review against another edition

3.0

Ugh. This is a difficult book and very hard to rate. For its importance in literature, I'd give it 4, for personal enjoyment it's a 1 or a 2, so let's go middle ground at 3. I mostly hated reading this, however at times I was gripped and appreciative of what it had to say about capitalism and the struggle many men find in having to be 'fit', 'handsome', 'successful', and how this burden can cause severe repercussions in the psyche and men having to find 'alternative' outlets for frustration, to put it very very mildly.

However I found it very hard to read the abhorrent depictions of violence against women, I mean I get that this is part of the exploration of the damage that men and toxic masculinity can do, but it was incredibly hard to read. The bigotry is strong with this one, but it is there for discourse, rather than solely shock factor.

rgonzal7's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-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

3.5

aliclare's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Addiction, Alcoholism, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Abortion, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Mass/school shootings, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Child death, Torture, Excrement, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Extreme violence.

laraamtk's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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

jfers's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

lulu_mizuno's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

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

5.0

softmellow's review against another edition

4.0

"This is not an exit." Honestly felt like a loop that never ended and progressively got worse, ultimately going back to the same shit.