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elons_love_child's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Ableism, Abortion, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Sexual assault, Torture, Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Blood, Misogyny, and Rape
Moderate: Antisemitism, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Abortion, and Infidelity
zoemaeboonz'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
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
zoehakim's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Cursing, Drug abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Antisemitism, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Rape, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Sexism, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Dementia, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Body shaming, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Xenophobia, Fatphobia, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Eating disorder
marjati_reads'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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child death, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
cxmeron'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
3.75
If you want a book that is the definition of having an unreliable narrator, this is the book - I'm pretty sure even Patrick doesn't know what's happening most of the time. Although this may come across confusing and messy, Ellis writes in such a way that this mess and inconsistencies draw you in. All the characters are flawed and basically no growth happen to them because they are just pawns to Bateman, nothing more than insects, which comes across perfectly. To the point where when supporting characters do get growth it paints the illusion that Patrick is changing, growing, but there truely is no hope for this man.
Finally, as a person who reads a lot of gore-filled and violent books, the violent scenes are truely some of the most disturbing I've ever read. Bateman's intense descriptions of these acts have the same attention to detail as if he was talking about his designer brands which makes apparent how much joy he takes in these tendencies.
Graphic: Homophobia, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Animal cruelty, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Torture
kkmk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Classism, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Addiction, Alcoholism, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Animal death, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
litltlehistorian's review against another edition
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Violence