Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

94 reviews

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Classism, Murder, Racism, Sexual violence, Addiction, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Xenophobia, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicide, Vomit, and War

Minor: Dementia, Genocide, and Death of parent

_kaylinconn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

I find it very difficult to rate this because I definitely did not enjoy reading it. However, I can’t rate it poorly because the things that it did, I understand and respect. I think for what the author was trying to accomplish, he did it well. There are things here and there that I’d nitpick, but I understand the purpose they serve nonetheless.

But I don’t feel as though I could rate this higher then a 3-3.5, because it’s content is so foul. Which I know I signed up for, but none of this was enjoyable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Animal death, Child abuse, Torture, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Blood, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Be careful. Take breaks, don’t force yourself into anything

sourcherryyy'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 had such a hard time reading this book because of how gruesome and drawn out some of the chapters were. i ended up skipping whole chapters, mainly if they were too gross or the ones that explained whitney houston's discography for no reason. the book was so chaotic and really not worth the read if you enjoy the movie. too much racism and misogyny and torture porn for my taste

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, and Sexual content

Minor: Abortion

hollystopreading's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-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

4.5

The book really makes you appreciate the movie even more. Don’t be afraid to skip over bits if it’s  traumatizing and/or boring. Not very plot heavy and doesn’t outright say anything in particular which allows people to warp it to fit sexist/racist/classist/homophobic views but is OBVIOUSLY NOT in support of that. What Ellis thought was an extreme example that clearly points of the flawed views of businessmen is now seen as a twisted goal for men on Reddit to aspire to. :/ totally sick.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Classism, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Homophobia, Gun violence, Cannibalism, Misogyny, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Ableism, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

addythebookbat's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Murder, Sexism, Torture, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Antisemitism, Gore, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Abortion

belladonnashrike's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

well that's the MOST disturbing book i've ever read! and probably will ever read!

content warning for literally everything but also for excessive mentions of donald trump

ramble incoming:

something that started to bug me about 3/4 of the way through was how gratuitous the murders of women were...i don't typically read anything that depicts such brutal treatment of women but i read this because i love the film and because i know that at its core, this is a satire, so i ignored my discomfort for most of the book. bateman doesn't necessarily target women and i would say that to generalize his killing patterns, he's mostly opportunistic. he kills easy targets - the unhoused, sex workers, random women he meets at bars, random kids and animals who aren't with a guardian/owner, etc. occasionally he does kill someone he knows personally (such as his ex from college and paul owen), but i wouldn't say he just operates on misogyny. but the only murders that are memorable are those of women. this surprised me because i didn't feel this way when watching the movie and i would say that it's mostly because of the treatment of paul owen/allen: in the film, his death is a spectacle. it's such an iconic scene and is just as over-the-top and lengthy as the rest of bateman's murders. in the book, it's over and done with within a page or two and isn't as memorable as what he did to, say, christie. the only murders (and by association, rapes) that are lengthy and disgustingly descriptive are of women. at first this didn't feel like any bias on the author's part but the more i read the more uncomfortable i became because it just feels like the author was sort of playing out fantasies with some of those heinous acts. maybe it's just because i am automatically suspicious of any man who writes about gender violence in general, but it just felt so off to me at that 3/4 point. in the film, we see him kill men and it doesn't seem like he simply enjoys killing women - the messaging there is that he enjoys murdering people in general. if paul's book death was as gory and over-the-top (and just, so fucking disgusting) like his female victims, i wouldn't think this. if the deaths of other men, such as the homeless man with the dog, were just as descriptive, again, i wouldn't think this. but when the only murders that are written in such a way are that of women victims... it makes one think. the fact that i can't really tell if this is commentary on misogyny or not troubles me.

i think that the book depicts bateman's descent into madness, along with his excessive drug usage (which certainly contributes to his hallucinations and skewed view of reality), much better than the film does. it is also obvious from the first twenty or so pages that these men are constantly being mistaken for someone else, when in the film it's not really blatant until the end scene where bateman is confessing face-to-face with his lawyer discussing paul. i do enjoy the added humor in the film, which i will mostly attribute to christian bale -- he was perfect for this role. so perfect that i did read the book in his voice. 

also, i've heard that people think this book is really boring and complain about it but i think it's obvious that that's the point. bateman and his colleagues live an incredibly boring life, so boring that the specifics of his work are never mentioned. everything is superficial. it's the same reason why everyone is described based on what they're wearing. even when describing attractive women, the most bateman says is "nice tits" and "blonde." everything is pointless! everything is meaningless! the critique that is given on businessmen in the 80s, as well as american consumerism, is perfect. just absolutely on the nose. it's supposed to be a little boring!

i did like this and i am glad i read the source material for the film. i need to think about it some more. but i am uncomfortable with the treatment of women because i just can't decipher the tone there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Gore, Vomit, Cannibalism, Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Murder, Gun violence, and Racism

Moderate: Drug use, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Addiction, and Alcohol

Minor: Abortion

caterpillar's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Body horror, Abortion, Violence, Alcohol, Drug use, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Rape, Racism, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

lish_e'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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Homophobia, Vomit, Alcoholism, Sexism, Cannibalism, Addiction, Racism, Sexual violence, Rape, Toxic relationship, Murder, Drug abuse, Gore, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal death, Pedophilia, Classism, Infidelity, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Abortion

ashy_slashy's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

As a feminist, I love this book because it is a satire of the upper-class business men of Wall Street and it's altogether a fascinating read. Furthermore, the book remains interesting even though you could argue it has no ongoing plot. In fact, I would argue that it's one of the greatest books of all time. Patrick Bateman is such a complex character and experiencing the world through his lens was one of the most fascinating experiences of my life. Obviously, this is great for people who like main characters to be more morally corrupt. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, Blood, Sexual violence, Rape, Misogyny, Child death, Cannibalism, Sexual assault, Torture, and Gore

Minor: Antisemitism, Racism, Abortion, and Racial slurs

winsomefish's review against another edition

challenging dark funny slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual violence, Torture, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Gore, Rape, Alcohol, Classism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Cannibalism, Ableism, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Excrement, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis