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aliclare'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
3.0
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.serenspace'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
3.75
Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Drug abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Murder, Torture, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Misogyny, and Pedophilia
clowningaround'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
5.0
Tldr: he is really an american psycho.
Graphic: Racial slurs, Cursing, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual violence, Blood, Child death, Death, Rape, Classism, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Lesbophobia, Animal death, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual content
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Abortion, Antisemitism, and Pedophilia
solspringsreads'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
1.75
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Death, Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Excrement, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Stalking, Cursing, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, Abortion, Alcoholism, Child death, Classism, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, and Sexism
saint_eleanor'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
5.0
I'll start off by saying this book gets 5 stars bc it deserves nothing less but that doesn't mean I enjoyed reading it 100% of the time, in fact i actively hated reading a lot of it lmao.
There are like 2 main camps when it comes to American Psycho: one camp says it should be banned bc its misogynistic, horrible, far-right, etc. The other camp says that it's the alpha male handbook, and that patrick bateman is peak male performance. Both are really off-mark imo.
In the first place, misogynistic characters do not make a misogynistic book. Pretending misogynists don't exist in our writing is completely counter productive. Additionally, this is literally the most anti-masculine, anti-capitalist, anti-yuppie, anti-1% book I have read in a long time. The author paints Patrick Bateman as the most pathetic, bootlicking, bandwagoning, whiny, narcissistic P.O.S. and I really don't understand how you could come away with any other impression.
Ellis repeatedly makes the point that Bateman is in love with Donald Trump and will do/say anything Trump does/says (80's NYC remember), including switching up arbitrary opinions. He is a self-proclaimed pedophile, rapist, racist, and necrophiliac. Additionally he is completely materialistic, lost in a Kafka-esque nightmare ruled by sound systems and skincare products and is totally obsessed with 'having the best thing'. Not to mention his obsession with every single person's outfits throughout the whole book. I hated him so much i was actually seething half the time. This book is especially terrifying because Bateman is as real as any real-life wall street psychopath, there are so many men like him IRL.
Some of this book was hilarious actually, the monkey TV thing, the 'kill all yuppies' napkin that struck fear into the heart of poor pathetic patrick, and the 5-men-choosing-where-to-eat thing was hilarious. Additionally, Patrick keeps telling everyone over and over that he's homocidal (if we believe his narration, not sure i do) , but his handsomeness and his wealth overshadow his obvious lack of a soul and social skills. He is the opposite of charming, he is actively unsettling, and yet the environment that he's in completely pushes men like him to the top of social circles. When people tell you who they are, LISTEN!! Also I personally think that his absolute hatred of women paired with his love of men is evidence of internalized homophobia and that Bateman is in fact, gay. I think is is especially plausible due to the fact that Ellis has said that he based parts of Bateman on himself when he was in a really bad place (Ellis is gay & talked about how he used to sleep with women and hated it, which would translate well to this point in Patrick's character), which seems like a really complex and maybe overlooked aspect of this that the Sigma Males don't want to acknowledge. Additionally the only character in the whole book that really freaks him out is
Anyway, loved this book. I really couldn't put it down even when the gore was almost too much for me and I wanted to rip Patrick's head off. You can also tell it's good bc of how long this review is. Fuck Patrick, fuck wall street, fuck yuppies, and fuck the guys co-opting Christian Bale's photo for their dumbass Alpha Male grindcore instagram accounts, yall did not pay attention.
Graphic: Abortion, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Classism, Physical abuse, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
sparky63'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
0.5
Graphic: Cannibalism, Classism, Murder, Vomit, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Child death, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Drug use, Gaslighting, Animal death, Blood, Death, Sexual content, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Addiction
pagesforwings'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
2.5
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Hate crime, Murder, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Xenophobia, Animal death, Antisemitism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence
amessina3399'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
4.75
Ummm...wow. I'm not even sure where to begin. For context, I've never seen the movie, and I thought 'what the hey, I should read the book first'. Surprisingly, somehow, I really enjoyed it. This book is a really interesting satire of consumerism and elitism in such a capitalistic place as NYC, while also being a fascinating stream-of-consciousness look at the mind of an incredibly mentally ill individual. As a book, the narrative voice is far more interesting and important than the actual plot itself. That being said, I knew that this book was going to be dark and gross, but I was not prepared for HOW dark and gross. Most of the book is fine, but there are a handful of chapters that are extremely descriptive in the gore, and horrifically 'creative'. I have a pretty strong stomach, and multiple times I needed to take breathers from chapters being too intense for me. *If you choose to read the book and want to try and dodge the worst of it, the chapters titled 'Girl' or 'Girls' contain the worst of the worst*. Other than that, I thought it was a brilliant read and for the most part, incredibly well written. It would have had 5 stars from me if it weren't for a few things: 1) while some of the gore was appropriate, a good chunk of it was a bit too gratuitous, although it could be argued that it was necessary for the reader's understanding of the character, 2) it's a VERY slow read, and doesn't pick up much until the halfway point, 3) some motifs were very well-played, while others were a bit overused and overdone, 4) gonna be honest, not a fan of the ending. I somewhat understand what the point of the ending was supposed to mean, but I just think it fell a bit flat in its efficacy compared to the rest of the book. But other than that, if you're looking for a genuinely funny, dark, and macabre character study, I would recommend this book.
Graphic: Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual content, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Vomit, Animal death, Racism, Blood, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Body horror, Death, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Murder, Alcohol, Body shaming, Ableism, Fatphobia, Abortion, Antisemitism, Addiction, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, and Violence
elsmith09'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
4.5
Graphic: Gaslighting, Hate crime, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Sexism, Drug use, Gun violence, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Torture, Addiction, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Physical abuse
auroraa_21's review
- 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
Graphic: Murder and Physical abuse
Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Homophobia, and Drug abuse