Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

29 reviews

aliclare'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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Addiction, Alcoholism, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Abortion, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Mass/school shootings, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Child death, Torture, Excrement, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Extreme violence.

michaelion's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

1.75

Maybe the real Psychos were the Americans we made along the way...

A book is bad when I have to question what purpose it served humanity. I am a person who fundamentally believes that all art can be made with no reason or goal in mind; art for art's sake; art because the person who made it felt something, felt they had to get it out, felt they had something to share with the world. I read this book because I wanted to watch the movie, yes I'm that kind of person, and I wish I could unread it. What purpose did this book serve to the greater good of humanity? Fuck the greater good, what contribution to humanity does this book give? It has no analysis, no deeper introspection into the era, the mindset of the people. There's no meat on the bone that is this book.

It has its moments and its beauty, for sure. I love the stream of consciousness and unreliable narration, I love the speaking to the audience, the break rom reality and seeing things in the perspective of a movie, sure. Those elements are great. But as a whole? I never question why art is made. There's art I like and art I don't like. It's easy for me to spot art I like, It's easy for me to spot art I don't like, and there are definitely things that lie in a middle grey area, but for all three of those things I almost never question why it was made. It's an inherently fascist idea to say art should have a purpose else it is a waste of time or attention but this is one of the few exceptions I've encountered. The movie better be good after the shit I just read.

And to be clear, I'm not just mad at the content of the book. It was very upsetting sure, but

about a quarter in is when you get to the first kill and it's mentioned nonchalant. So you read almost 100 pages and finally get to the part you came for.

Most of this book is a whole lot of nothing. It works, only because that's the style of this particular type of writing, but once the kills start to ramp up it's like Oh, you wasted my time, and now this is TOO intense. And I'm sure the whiplash was also purposeful, and I'm starting to get a little too nitpicky, but there are things that are more important / could have been more central to the plot that were not given any spotlight.

I tried to find it in my heart to give it a higher rating, I really did, but I can't lie to my future self who will reread this review and go "damn, the book was that bad?" Hi, future self. To answer your question: No. The book was much worse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Grief, Homophobia, Torture, Misogyny, Sexism, Body horror, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Animal death, Addiction, Child death, Hate crime, Racism, Animal cruelty, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Ableism, Death, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Drug use, Blood, Classism, Gore, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Vomit, Antisemitism, Bullying, Confinement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Drug abuse, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Child abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Abortion

zoehakim's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

what?

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Content Warnings

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

caitdanger's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Xenophobia, Violence, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Murder, Transphobia, Torture, Misogyny, Sexual content, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

lizzardbreath's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.5

I understand that this book is satire; however, the content of the book was extremely upsetting and disturbing that I would not recommend anyone to take it upon themselves to read it. This is one of the first books I have ever read where I had to take active breaks away from it for the sake of my mental health. A short video essay explaining the satire was much better than actually putting yourself through the torture of reading this novel. Nonetheless, Ellis portrayed great horror on the white American man, so if you can stomach the gory details, I won’t stop you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, Drug use, Homophobia, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

abbiejad3'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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Torture, Sexual violence, Gore, Drug use, Violence, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Hate crime, Gun violence, Murder, Transphobia, Rape, Racial slurs, Racism, and Physical abuse

brennach'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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Gore, Rape, Racial slurs, Animal death, Cannibalism, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Sexual assault, Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Alcohol, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Transphobia, Antisemitism, Ableism, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Pregnancy, Dementia, and Abortion

jaspercanread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

0.25

I hate men!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Cannibalism, Drug use, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Racial slurs, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Torture, Homophobia, Animal death, Gun violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Racism, and Sexism

icepulsar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

Very dark, brutal. Informative about psychopathy. Critiques people in power who close ranks.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Classism, Transphobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Torture, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Death, Alcohol, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Vomit, Xenophobia, Biphobia, Blood, Body horror, Homophobia, Addiction, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

darwynne's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Disturbing, but necessary. Makes you reflect on real life examples of Patrick Bateman and where they could be (closer than you may think), giving you a very introspective insight into the mind of a psycho in power, made all the more disturbing by others’ lack of care towards the visible red flags throughout the novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Medical content, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Alcohol, Animal death, Antisemitism, Classism, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Xenophobia, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Stalking, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Racism, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Body shaming, Body horror, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Lesbophobia, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Torture, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment