Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

31 reviews

sas_lk's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• 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

3.5

i don't know what to feel, i don't know, i don't know. at a loss rn. XD

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism

sierrabowers'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

2.5

This book was disgusting and filled with gore. I honestly was not prepared for the amount of gore that was given. I was disappointed at the plot. It was not interesting at all, and was just a horrible person murdering people. Why would I want to read that? Toward the end, the author was alluding to the fact that the main character may have been hallucinating the entire time and never actually murdered anyone? And also switched from 1st to 3rd person point of view during an episode. That could have been a metaphor for his dissociation. Overall, I do not recommend, and it was a waste of my time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Stalking, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

janset's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.0

This is the most graphic book have ever read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Transphobia, and Toxic friendship

sheriffseraph's review against another edition

challenging 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Abortion

teleportsbehindyou's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

t_c_g_'s review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

lizzy_hatesreading's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

Hard to read. I give the author credit for his imagination. Book does get a reaction out of you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Take breaks reading this book

orange_flower's review against another edition

dark sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abortion

ebb_and_flow's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Eating disorder, Rape, Grief, Car accident, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

moonzetsu's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-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

4.75

I've never been so conflicted on a book. I loved yet hated it, it's a fantastic book that I'll never read again, a book I loved yet will not recommend to anybody bar a select few of my friends. 

Let's get one thing straight: This book can be terribly boring. Our lovable, stand-up protagonist Patrick Bateman loves to go into great detail about the clothes people are wearing and the accessories they have on their person. He goes into chapter-long monologues about his morning routine and music he listens to. I forced myself to drudge through these parts out of morbid curiosity. (Things will get graphic in the spoiler tags, so click at your own risk.)

And the murder/torture scenes are some of the most stomach-churning I've ever had the (dis)pleasure(?) of reading. This book is told from the POV of a narcissistic sociopath and it shows - the murder scenes are described with the same monotone boredom as the sex and casual chatter scenes. For example, when Bateman

stabs the eyes out of a homeless man and maims his dog, and that's one of his LEAST heinous murders

it is described as the most natural thing in the world, almost like he's done it a thousand times before, the most natural thing in the world. I've never put a book down out of nausea before, so congrats, Ellis.

Very few of the characters in this book are remotely likeable people: they are all shallow, self-interested people, with few exceptions. Jean, Bateman's secretary, and the various sex workers Bateman hires,

all of whom except Jean meet terribly grisly, sexual ends.

Let's get another thing out of the way: this book is misogynistic. This is not to say Ellis himself is misogynistic, I don't know the man enough to describe him as such, but Bateman especially seems to have it out for women, and treats all but two like dirt: only because it would be suspicious for him to do so.

Of course, given that Bateman is hinted to be very mentally ill and hallucinating the murders, there's a chance few or none of these happened at all.

The writing style is.. odd. As mentioned previously, it is from the POV of a narcissistic, shallow sociopath, and everything is described as such. Chapters can start and stop mid-sentence,

especially when Bateman is having a psychotic breakdown or panic attack

and it feels as though everyone is talking over each other. 

It's a fascinating book and a scathing critical satire on consumerism that still applies today. Despite my high rating, however, I can't recommend it to anyone. It's extraordinarily hard to push through, be it because of boring fashion, conversation, or gruesome murder/torture scenes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Mental illness and Antisemitism