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clowningaround's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Tldr: he is really an american psycho.
Graphic: Racial slurs, Cursing, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual violence, Blood, Child death, Death, Rape, Classism, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Lesbophobia, Animal death, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual content
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Abortion, Antisemitism, and Pedophilia
solspringsreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Death, Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Excrement, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Stalking, Cursing, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, Abortion, Alcoholism, Child death, Classism, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, and Sexism
pilvinentaivas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Homophobia, Gore, Death, and Cursing
Moderate: Child death, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Gun violence, Racism, Emotional abuse, and Drug use
zoemaeboonz's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book was a hard one to get through; by page 80 I was already considering whether this would be too gory for me to finish reading. I am glad I got through this book though and whilst I would not recommend it to anyone or read it again I do think that it is a good work of fiction. The way in which Ellis portrays a character with such realistic psychopathic qualities and depersonalisation - a very manic sense of mind is really well written. I don’t think I will ever read a novel where such mental illness is portrayed with such unapologetic truth. It is clear that Ellis got his inspiration for most of the very graphic murders from psychopaths such as Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer. I found myself actually skimming through some parts or even having to put the book down at points because of how intense these scenes were (most notably the rat one because wtaf). Bateman is not being romanticised in this novel nor is he being portrayed as a likeable character by the author. The way it is written is through this very manic first point of view and in times when Bateman depersonalised from himself we saw the passages being written in third point of view. This book will probably sit with me for a bit and I find myself having to write about it because of this - most notably the amount of Xenophobia and slurs that were in this book was definitely hard to read and the fact that the term ‘yuppie’ was the least derogatory term put in the book says it all. The quote that probably sums up this book for the reader in a way that can make you understand the bigger picture in this novel is probably this: “…and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I am simply not there.”. This is not an easy read because it is not meant to be an easy read; Bateman is a psychopath and a horrible person and all the things written affirm this about the character and who he is. Though I disagree with the back of my book saying it’s ‘one of the greatest novels of our time’ I can agree that it is a good work of literature that I will gracefully never lay eyes on again.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Animal death, Cannibalism, Death, Dementia, Biphobia, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Cursing, Dysphoria, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Rape, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Islamophobia, Racial slurs, Sexism, Abortion, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Infidelity, Torture, Homophobia, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual violence
Minor: Vomit
nessages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Murder, Rape, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Antisemitism, Homophobia, and Alcohol
madisone's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Ableism, Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Gore, Rape, Drug abuse, Child death, Racism, Violence, Animal death, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Abortion
kuataapixi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
also, while not on every page, the gore is very graphic and detailed, but technically skippable. (i think this is pretty well known, but it was literally nauseating at one point)
anyways, bret easton ellis’s style of writing for this book is so fascinating. written from the perspective of patrick bateman, a highly unreliable narrator, he makes significant use of stylistic punctuation, and even lack thereof to mimic real thought and speech patterns. individual syllables being italicized, missing spaces, missing end quotes, seemingly endless stream-of-consciousness paragraphs, the form alone is quite enthralling. additionally, the fact that patrick’s violent episodes
patrick is, in spite of his high amount of wealth and attractiveness, deeply insecure. patrick attempts to keep a cool, hip persona, attempting to fit in as much as possible. he obsesses over clothing, grooming, music, etc., often going on long winded tangents that make him sound like a walking advertisement. he even almost has a panic attack when
however, patrick’s wealth and attractiveness are essentially meaningless in a world where everyone is wealthy and attractive. he often confuses various high ranking executives with others, and they talk without either of them being sure of the other one’s identity. in fact,
in spite of ellis’s amazing dissection of upper class american consumer society, i do think it could be improved by having a person of color as one of the high ranking officials around him. for all the reader knows, all of the people around him are just white; while it further reinforces ellis’s point about the demographics of the richest people in america, that is, most of them are privileged white men with nothing standing in their way, it would have been interesting to see patrick’s reactions and feelings towards seeing a person of color (he hates literally all of them) with the same economic status as him.
all in all, i think american psycho is a fascinating book to read. horror? absolutely. but definitely also an amazing piece of satire on how american consumerism has destroyed american society.
Graphic: Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Murder, Gore, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Hate crime, and Gun violence
Moderate: Infidelity, Racism, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Transphobia, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Classism, Homophobia, and Sexism
sparky63's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Graphic: Cannibalism, Classism, Murder, Vomit, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Child death, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Drug use, Gaslighting, Animal death, Blood, Death, Sexual content, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Addiction
amessina3399's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Ummm...wow. I'm not even sure where to begin. For context, I've never seen the movie, and I thought 'what the hey, I should read the book first'. Surprisingly, somehow, I really enjoyed it. This book is a really interesting satire of consumerism and elitism in such a capitalistic place as NYC, while also being a fascinating stream-of-consciousness look at the mind of an incredibly mentally ill individual. As a book, the narrative voice is far more interesting and important than the actual plot itself. That being said, I knew that this book was going to be dark and gross, but I was not prepared for HOW dark and gross. Most of the book is fine, but there are a handful of chapters that are extremely descriptive in the gore, and horrifically 'creative'. I have a pretty strong stomach, and multiple times I needed to take breathers from chapters being too intense for me. *If you choose to read the book and want to try and dodge the worst of it, the chapters titled 'Girl' or 'Girls' contain the worst of the worst*. Other than that, I thought it was a brilliant read and for the most part, incredibly well written. It would have had 5 stars from me if it weren't for a few things: 1) while some of the gore was appropriate, a good chunk of it was a bit too gratuitous, although it could be argued that it was necessary for the reader's understanding of the character, 2) it's a VERY slow read, and doesn't pick up much until the halfway point, 3) some motifs were very well-played, while others were a bit overused and overdone, 4) gonna be honest, not a fan of the ending. I somewhat understand what the point of the ending was supposed to mean, but I just think it fell a bit flat in its efficacy compared to the rest of the book. But other than that, if you're looking for a genuinely funny, dark, and macabre character study, I would recommend this book.
Graphic: Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual content, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Vomit, Animal death, Racism, Blood, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Body horror, Death, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Murder, Alcohol, Body shaming, Ableism, Fatphobia, Abortion, Antisemitism, Addiction, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, and Violence
elsmith09's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Gaslighting, Hate crime, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Sexism, Drug use, Gun violence, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Torture, Addiction, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Physical abuse