Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
It was actually quite a refreshing palate cleanser to have a main character that you wanted to punch in the face for being gormless, hapless and lackadaisical.
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
the way he writes about the lack of care his main characters have is so interesting to me
DNF I think this triggered a mental breakdown
dark
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“People are afraid to merge on freeways in Los Angeles.”
Less Than Zero - Bret Easton Ellis
This is a cold, unsettling portrait of 1980s Los Angeles youth - rich, bored, and emotionally adrift. Though not without its flaws, the novel leaves a lasting impression. It’s a disturbing read, yes, but also a quietly thoughtful one, and in its bleakness, I found a sliver of hope.
This is a cold, unsettling portrait of 1980s Los Angeles youth - rich, bored, and emotionally adrift. Though not without its flaws, the novel leaves a lasting impression. It’s a disturbing read, yes, but also a quietly thoughtful one, and in its bleakness, I found a sliver of hope.
The story follows Clay, a college freshman returning home to L.A. for winter break. Over a few disjointed weeks, he floats through parties, drugs, casual sex, and the hollowed-out remains of relationships with friends like Blair, Trent, and Julian. As he drifts from one scene to the next, observing without intervening, he becomes increasingly alienated by the violence, addiction, and apathy surrounding him. There’s no grand climax or redemption arc, but that feels deliberate: the emptiness is the point.
One scene that particularly stuck with me is when Clay sees a billboard that says, simply, “Disappear Here.” The line disturbs him, and it stood out to me too, maybe because it captures so much of what this book is about. It felt like a warning, or maybe a quiet panic: the fear that Clay will become like the people around him, so desensitized and emotionally dulled that he will, in essence, disappear. The billboard reappears in the background like a specter, hinting at how easy it is to vanish into numbness when you stop feeling.
The world Ellis creates is sad, violent, and emotionally vacant. At times, the writing feels deliberately flat and repetitive, mirroring the emotional deadness of its characters. This can be frustrating, especially when you’re looking for meaning or movement, but it’s also part of the novel’s power as it forces you to sit with the discomfort. And yet, for all its darkness, I didn’t find "Less Than Zero" completely hopeless. In Clay’s discomfort, in the fact that “Disappear Here” haunts him at all, there’s a flicker of something different. Clay hasn’t disappeared yet. He still sees, still feels unease, even if he doesn’t act on it. Maybe that’s Ellis’s quiet message: in a world where so many turn away, the ability to still feel disturbed matters. It means you haven’t gone completely numb.
Though steeped in the cultural references of the 1980s, the novel doesn’t feel dated. Swap the music of Blondie and Elvis Costello for today’s playlists and the VHS tapes for Instagram stories, and the themes hold up. Alienation, overstimulation, moral fatigue - they’re still with us.
"Less Than Zero" is not an easy read, nor a comforting one. But it captures a very real emotional landscape with clarity and restraint. And while it’s a bleak book, it also left me with the quiet reassurance that for every person who “disappears,” there are others who still care enough to be disturbed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content
I loved this book when I read it back in high school. It's a bit depressing though. But it's very interesting, thought provoking, and gives you a lot to ponder upon when you finish it.
challenging
dark
fast-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