Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

136 reviews

ten_telegrams'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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

hydecircus's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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 mean obviously it's hard to rate a book like this without either sounding completely insane or completely ignoring its cultural impact and message. Trying to rate it on a technical level, it's a genuinely great read, but a very difficult one. One of the only books I've ever read to leave me genuinely sick to my stomach in some scenes. A lot of reading it is just going "oh I understand why that wasn't in the film", either because its so graphic it would just be completely impossible film/get approved for film, or because its just so downright boring. You don't go into this book expecting just how many clothing and product and music descriptions there are going to be. And the weird part is -- it really does work! Get through the endless brand names and pages of graphically described rape and you come to an ending that punches you directly in the gut, somehow everything that came before leading up to it perfectly. I don't mean the actual, last scene (which in the flim serves as one of the first scenes), I mean around page 349 (in my copy), when

the tense changes from first person to third. You've known Patrick was an unreliable narrator basically all along, but nothing cements it quite like him completely dissociatibg from himself, in the worst moment of his life, becoming another character rather than the protagonist, and then, when he recovers, shifting seamlessly back into first person.

It's not a book I'd recommend without reading the content warnings, and even then I might suggest watching the film first considering just how much nastier the book is. Even so, I'm glad I read it and I think if you can handle the subject matter you should give it a go, especially if you enjoy unreliable narrators.
EDIT: ok honestly after reflecting a bit i think its just one scene that is like. really bad and i probably just shouldve have read it while eating and you guys would probably be fine 👍 i think its better than the film but maybe the film makes the message more accessible also. still rotating this book around in my head maybe ill change my mind on this later

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Abortion

sennaje's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• 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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

binaryenigma's review against another edition

dark sad 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

1.25

It's a waste of time, with the occasional torture and murder scene in between.
In concept, it's not bad, a satirical commentary on American society, but reading through it, I couldn't even be interested in it, just too boring.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment

It's just boring, then more boring, then more boring, then there's a murder scene, then even more boring, and boring again, then a murder scene, etc The book does not have any ending really, it just cuts off on a boring part, the main character doesn't even get caught for anything, even though he's extremely sloppy

annilikesbooks's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-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

3.75

It's a wild read. The first hundred pages are a bit dull but after that it's a crazy ride. Like some pages were so graphic I had to skip them but it's so gripping that you had to finish the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Cannibalism, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

catell's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

1.0

It only got interesting half way though. Skipped a few chapters at the start and the music chapters. 
Listened on audiobook on x2 speed to get through quicker than reading as it’s SO BORING to read
Enjoyed the murder scenes but if it weren’t for them I would never have finished the book 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

gringolet's review against another edition

challenging dark funny 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

4.5

A book which really reflects the flaws of certain rating categories. The main character is the opposite of lovable, that's the point. Great book for people who hate capitalism and are okay with reading about a rat eating a woman from inside out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

alxjasper's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

khoystoboy's review against another edition

dark tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Cannibalism, and Classism

Minor: Abortion

angie10110's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

would i re read this book? Honestly I have no idea 

This was one the craziest books I have read so far, some chapters I felt like I was just reading words with no meaning. This book was good but I also felt like some chapters were written for the sake of being disturbing, the way the author describes things was very well written and gave me a lot to visualize. The beginning portion of this book started off very strong including the middle portion, the ending felt like I was in a dream like nothing was actually happening yet so much has already happened. I wanted to put the book down at certain scenes but i couldn't help myself. I have seen the movie and the movie is tame compared to this book, i don't think i would recommend the book to people who have watched the movie for its popularity and if they aren't avid readers. My favorite chapter in this whole book is when Patrick and jean are at the café and talking to each other about people and why jean likes him and his whole "there is an idea of a Patrick Bateman" monologue because it goes into more depth about this man and what he really thinks about himself and about what he is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism