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menderash's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
roseaboveyou'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
4.0
It’s a lot of people’s favorite book and I get why. I have the strongest positive opinions on the writing style. The satire is hilarious (my favorite running gag is the bizarre food and fusion restaurants). But. This book needs every content warning under the sun. No reader should go into this book blind, and it’s widely known for the extremely graphic content, which is sexual, violent, and gory. There’s a type of person who finishes this book, and if you aren’t that person, do not force your way to the end. You’re going to have a terrible time.
I read this book fifteen years ago or something when I was an edgy teenager, and at first I was shocked at remembering mostly the Wall Street Guy stuff and not a lot about The Other Stuff, but I realized it must have been a hell of a lot easier to have a text and skim the super gross stuff. That’s just not possible with the audiobook. There’s also random stuff dropped throughout, so even if you skip sections, you’re still not really going to be able to avoid it. It’s often very abrupt, and hearing the words out loud makes me feel voyeuristic about stuff I don’t want to be voyeuristic about.
I’m not squeamish; I read plenty of things that are gross and gory and violent, and I watch plenty of movies and television in the same category. And I’d even argue that the amount of detail supports the consistency and structure of the text, and that it’s supposed to be there. But jfc.
It’s a love it or hate it situation, and to be clear, I love it. There’s obviously a lot of content in the book that isn’t, well, that. Some of which makes me literally laugh out loud. But yeah. Don’t listen to it. It’s excruciating. Honestly, you miss some of the best details about the book, but the movie is fine, and I don’t feel nearly as gross when I finish it.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
sarah_piette'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
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism
levitatingnumeral'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? It's complicated
4.0
Let’s start from what I loved most: Bateman’s vapid monologues. I see many reviews saying they made the book incredibly dull, but I actually found them to be unbelievably valuable in showing just how superficial and self-obsessed Bateman is. It’s clear he is completely unaware of the utter indifference anyone else would show towards his obsession with himself, and Bret’s narration is flawless. It truly felt like I was hearing a narcissist talking, 100% immersion.
On the other hand, I must admit I struggled a bit to keep track of the level of Bateman’s unreliability. Since the characters were (purposefully) so similar, at times I would catch myself wondering if it truly was Bateman unreliably reporting the actions of his peers or if it was me mixing up the characters. I will give Bret the benefit of the doubt, though, because maybe this was the very effect he wanted to create. He has talked about how the core of the plot is something he himself is unsure of and left open for interpretation, so perhaps it was his intent to make us readers wonder at all times whether we were misremembering or if it was a lie. It would make perfect sense, in the context of Bateman’s constant manipulation.
What I definitely wanted more of, though, was… a certain kind of consistency in two specific aspects:
1. The effect of drugs on Bateman. We see him, at one point, break down and practically black out. But after the worst occurrence, it seems like this aspect was just left out.
2. The ending. It felt so abrupt I was completely lost. I wanted maybe a few more threads to be pulled tighter. I don’t want answers, but maybe I would’ve enjoyed if I had relevant, confusing points being weaved into a torn, fuzzy, mismatching fabric to drive home just how unsure I should be.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Abortion, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Biphobia, Eating disorder, and Racial slurs
solocupofearlgrey'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
2.0
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, and Classism
evelyncore'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
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism and Addiction
Minor: Abortion
freyabarton'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
2.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
lord_cookie'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
3.0
American Psycho is not a book I’d recommend easily to many people. It’s hostile and our main character Patrick Bateman is a misogynist, racist, superficial prick who spends far too much money and thoughts on clothes and beauty products. And as many critics, readers and Ellis said: It’s somewhat boring. There are many chapters simply listing which clothes people wear or what his beauty routine is. Further in it’s more and more violent gory depictions of torture often starting with hardcore pornography. Still I liked the book. FThe movie adaptation is my second favourite movie and I was pleased how many scenes were in the movie. Also Ellis himself said he wrote the book at a time when he lived this lifestyle and grew alienated and this book comes from anger and even though I’m really far from the lifestyle the anger here deeply resonated with me. Some moments are so absurd they are definitely funny. The big difference to the movie is the amount of violence and gore. Towards the end it grows more heavy. I’ve read a lot of horror books these last 3 months but this was the first that made me grimace because there are some really disgusting things happening. To top this all I’m a sucker for unreliable narrators and when something is left open like here. We never truly know if Patrick committed these crimes. There are hints but in the end it’s the reader who decides what happened.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Moderate: Antisemitism
Minor: Animal death, Gun violence, Self harm, and Abortion
laurengvrce'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
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, and Classism
Minor: Child death
moosereads1'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
2.5
That being said, there were several things I took issue with in this book. For starters, the countless pages full of misogyny, racism, and homophobia drove me nuts. Yes, it helps convey how awful Bateman is (though you'd think the serial killer part would convey that enough), but it felt so excessive.
Speaking of excess, this probably could have lost at least 100 pages if all the repetitive name brands were removed. Every page it felt like was Armani this, Ralph Lauren that. This was seen in the descriptions of restaurants and food as well - going to this restaurant and getting reservations at that restaurant and getting this food and that food every single time... if anything, props to Easton for coming up with dishes like salmon meatloaf and jalapeno pudding. I know it was designed this way to show just how materialistic rich people are, especially with the comments that more expensive = inherently better, but it made a large portion of the book mind-numbingly boring. I really struggled to get through the first half of the book because it was so slow and I was so bored. It didn't help that some of the gore bordered on gratuitous, serving very little purpose after a certain point.
I really wanted to enjoy this book. A satirical horror story that commented on the narcissism and materialism of the rich? It should have been a fantastic read, but it just wasn't. Pages upon pages of monotonous descriptions of clothing brands and bizarre foods to bore the reader followed by the whiplash of outright pornographic scenes and graphic gore did not make for an enjoyable story, and this is coming from someone who has absolutely no issue with disturbing/gory books and movies. It just wasn't it for me.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism