Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

81 reviews

odderikat'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

1.0

So graphic and gory it was hard to read. It was like staring into the eyes of commercial, corporate America while it tries to eat you alive. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Racism, Abortion, Blood, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Excrement, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Cannibalism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Physical abuse

edelstein's review against another edition

dark funny slow-paced

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

3.0

Ellis has a colorful command of language, especially when it comes to the description of mutilated bodies, much to the displeasure of my stomach. As the novel went on I would spend more time scanning through pages with a grimace on my face as he described

the charred, oozing, grafted, gaping holes of the corpses left in Bateman's wake

.  The violence bordered on gratuitous at times but in the world Ellis paints it was never out of place.

The book delivered it's core message well, but was willing to sacrifice the reader's enjoyment for this. No character entered a scene without a handful of paragraphs describing their type of cuffs, tie, coat, the way it was set, and the brands it hailed from, emphasizing Bateman's worldview. Long after the message was delivered, this pattern stayed strong. For the entire novel. It was effective, but again, a  prime culprit of what dragged this novel out to near 400 pages.

All in all, to see where the movie adaptation drew from adds a lot to the viewing experience, but not enough to recommend this to others.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Gun violence, Death, Animal death, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Rape, Misogyny, Hate crime, Sexism, Racism, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Classism, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Blood, Antisemitism, Animal cruelty, and Addiction

farheenfarheen's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

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

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

scarlojazzy's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense 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: Torture, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Violence, Sexual content, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Blood, Sexism, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Mental illness, Ableism, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Gun violence, Gore, Fatphobia, Drug use, Drug abuse, Cursing, Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Death

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

aliceberg's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

2.75

Extremely graphic and disturbing scenes in the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual violence, Eating disorder, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, Physical abuse, Addiction, Torture, Sexual harassment, Violence, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, and Death

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

sennaje's review against another edition

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Animal death, Alcohol, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism, Gore, Violence, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Racial slurs, Addiction, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Vomit