Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

81 reviews

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

cxmeron's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective 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

3.75

Some people find the 5 page, 10 page even, rants Patrick goes on to be a downfall of this book or makes it boring and tedious. However, as a neurodivergent person, the way he forms his thoughts and the correlation between each topic (not to mention his hyperfixation of expensive clothing brands) I find very similar to how I also form thoughts which personally made it very easy to read though. Not to mention how funny some of these part of the book are. 

If you want a book that is the definition of having an unreliable narrator, this is the book - I'm pretty sure even Patrick doesn't know what's happening most of the time. Although this may come across confusing and messy, Ellis writes in such a way that this mess and inconsistencies draw you in. All the characters are flawed and basically no growth happen to them because they are just pawns to Bateman, nothing more than insects, which comes across perfectly. To the point where when supporting characters do get growth it paints the illusion that Patrick is changing, growing, but there truely is no hope for this man. 

Finally, as a person who reads a lot of gore-filled and violent books, the violent scenes are truely some of the most disturbing I've ever read. Bateman's intense descriptions of these acts have the same attention to detail as if he was talking about his designer brands which makes apparent how much joy he takes in these tendencies. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Animal cruelty, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Torture

savyy's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Blood, Domestic abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Torture, Body shaming, Child death, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Body horror, Animal death, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Mental illness

issyd23's review against another edition

dark funny 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

4.5

Great book. I want to read Paul Owen’s novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Transphobia, Alcoholism, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Classism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Torture, and Vomit

Literally everything in this book is cause for a trigger warming imo

daisiescaroline's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

I hate that I liked this book so much. It’s been on my to buy and read list for a good couple of years but I could never be bothered to actually do anything about it. I’m so glad I read it though.
Ignoring the content, I loved the writing and narrative style and it was so easy to keep reading it and wanting to attempt to follow the thoughts and semi-disjointed story.
The actual content and characters were presented so well, in a way that as much as I probably shouldn’t have enjoyed it, I definitely did. 
There weren’t any cats but honestly, I wouldn’t want them in it anyway.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

blurhill's review against another edition

challenging dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Death, Racial slurs, Violence, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Sexual content

Moderate: Cannibalism

Minor: Abortion

kkalicky94's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Murder, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

t_c_g_'s review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

prockmatt's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

2.0

This book is vile and hard to read but there’s definitely something in it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Violence, Xenophobia, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Alcohol, Death, Animal cruelty, Child death, Classism, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Drug use, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

chatseur'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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Classism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Child death, Gore, Hate crime, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, and Torture