Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

123 reviews

eg_demps'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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Mental illness, Gun violence, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Torture, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Abortion, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Infidelity, Murder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Body shaming, Classism, Child death, Child abuse, Racism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Blood, Gore, Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Confinement, Sexual assault, Rape, and Racial slurs

sheila_the_glasser's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Cannibalism, Child death, Cursing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Addiction, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Abortion, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Blood, Drug use, Torture, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Bullying, and Death

porporina's review against another edition

challenging dark funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body shaming, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Classism, Colonisation, Gore, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Vomit, Abortion, Death, and Fatphobia

jamesmcevoy's review against another edition

challenging 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Drug use, Hate crime, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Biphobia, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Death, Cursing, Racism, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Torture

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

popspops8'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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Torture, Drug abuse, Death, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Animal death, Misogyny, Cannibalism, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Antisemitism, Body horror, and Body shaming

readyfordeath151's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

5.0

This book was a very hard but rewarding read for me. I loved the social commentary throughout the book, I thought it was done well. Definitely check the content warnings because like I said this is a rough book but overall I had a good experience reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Cannibalism, Gore, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Racism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Mental illness, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Drug use, Xenophobia, and Infidelity

Minor: Antisemitism and Transphobia

marinapaso11's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Animal death, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Abortion

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

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

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

Minor: Abortion and Suicidal thoughts