Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

65 reviews

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

kay222'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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Hate crime, Murder, Rape, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

noor_sidhu'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

4.0

I would give this book a higher rating. But the sheer disgust and bewilderment this left me in makes me hesitate. It was a really good read though, and dear lord I won’t forget it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Fatphobia, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Classism, Car accident, Bullying, Body shaming, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Gun violence, Body horror, Alcohol, Rape, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Vomit, Xenophobia, Murder, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Cursing, Child death, Cannibalism, Antisemitism, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Islamophobia, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Sexual violence, Hate crime, Torture, Blood, and Gore

readyourbookshelf's review against another edition

dark reflective 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: Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Cannibalism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Violence, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Abortion and Domestic abuse

seanamcphie's review against another edition

challenging dark funny 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Gun violence, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Cannibalism, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Classism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Abortion, Ableism, and Eating disorder

weirdodari's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

4.5

I think the very first line of this novel “Abandon all hope ye who enter here” perfectly describes what you’re about to experience in this story. It truly feels like every page is one step deeper into hell. But it’s absolutely brilliant. A twisted, dark, hellish story that I think will reward anyone brave enough to read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Classism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Murder, Sexual violence, Ableism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Vomit, Drug use, Racism, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence

art_books_chemistry's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

Holy moly this freaking book. I won't put all the notes I took on my phone into this review but I can tell you there are BOATLOAD of them. I'm also a bit mad. My favorite part of thrillers/mysteries etc is guessing the whodunnit or twist as early as possible. This is why bonus points go to authors that throw me off and actually surprise me at the end. Ellis here (in my opinion) took the lazy way out and didn't actually throw a twist; it's a twist by omission (sort of). -_-  I'll refrain from going into more detail since it would give spoilers. With that being said, I sort of did guess what was going on very very early on though I second guessed myself for most of the rest of the book. Hence the pages of notes, I was throwing out all sorts of crazy theories. 

This was my second attempt at reading this book and I almost DNF'd it again (though that thought came after chapter 2 instead of halfway through chapter 1 this time). But I knew my husband liked the movie and I do my best to read books beforehand when I know a book exists. He had a fun time reading my notes as I went through the book since he knew the whole story already. Which by the way; I will admit that the movie adaptation was one of the best I've ever seen. I believe with maybe a few exceptions the entire dialogue script were quotes from the book. I actually liked some of the edits they made for the movie; like overlapping some of Bateman's monologues into other scenes. I also knew beforehand that Christian Bale was Bateman and visualized him the whole time. Absolutely perfect casting. 

Which brings me to THE MONOLOGUES. These are half the reason I almost DNF'd the book again. We have entire chapters on random subjects. Don't get me wrong, you get me started on a subject I love like beer, whiskey, toxicology, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, tea, baking, whatever I can go on forever but why would you do that in a book? In an interview at the end of my audible version, Ellis talked about how he considers American Psycho a sort of  autobiography (also concerning if you have read or watched it...) so my guess is a decent chunk of this book is straight stream of consciousness writing. If you've never read stream of consciousness it gets weird and very hard to read. I did some back in high school English and psychology classes; it's a great tool for finding ideas or for therapy but not very publishable. 

This also deserves a major content warning: it gets extremely more graphic, gore-y, and sexual the further you get into the book. So definitely don't pick this up if you are in any way squeamish! **Mild spoiler**

Like a rat being inserted into vaginal cavity stuffed with cheese and then cut in half with the woman with a chainsaw to see how far into her it ate.

 

Overall, I do like the social commentary about sociopathy and drug abuse in white collar NYC in the 80s/90s. But so much of the dialogue was repetitive, boring, or tangential which made it hard to keep focus. There really was not major plot either; the book just keeps going as basically a diary for Bateman until it just...ends. I'm also not a huge fan of this lack of closure. Feel free to message me to gripe about this fact if you agree. xD Honestly, I don't recommend this book but I could see it appealing to some audiences. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Drug use, Homophobia, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Classism, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Torture

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

ashleigh_nicole's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Car accident, Child death, Cursing, Physical abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexism, Abortion, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Vomit, Violence, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

ru_th's review against another edition

challenging dark funny 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

… there is an idea of a Patrick Bateman, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there. It is hard for me to make sense on any given level. Myself is fabricated, an aberration. I am an noncontingent human being. My personality is sketchy and unformed, my heartlessness goes deep and is persistent. My conscience, my pity, my hopes disappeared a long time ago (probably at Harvard) if they ever did exist. There are no more barriers to cross. All I have in common with the uncontrollable and the insane, the vicious and the evil, all the mayhem I have caused and my utter indifference toward it, I have now surpassed. I still, though, hold on to one single bleak truth: no one is safe, nothing is redeemed. Yet I am blameless. Each model of human behavior must be assumed to have some validity. Is evil something you are? Or is it something you do? My pain is constant and sharp and I do not hope for a better world for anyone. In fact I want my pain to be inflicted on others. I want no one to escape. But even after admitting this — and I have, countless times, in about every act I’ve committed — and coming face-to-face with these truths, there is no catharsis. I gain no deeper knowledge about myself, no new understanding can be extracted from my telling. There has been no reason for me to tell you any of this. This confession has meant nothing …

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual content, and Torture

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, and Racial slurs

Minor: Abortion and Panic attacks/disorders