Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

13 reviews

evelyncore's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Sexism, Stalking, Violence, Antisemitism, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Body horror, Blood, Torture, Vomit, Gaslighting, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Kidnapping, Cursing, Classism, Hate crime, Body shaming, Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Rape, Cannibalism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Ableism and Addiction

Minor: Abortion

michaelion's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

1.75

Maybe the real Psychos were the Americans we made along the way...

A book is bad when I have to question what purpose it served humanity. I am a person who fundamentally believes that all art can be made with no reason or goal in mind; art for art's sake; art because the person who made it felt something, felt they had to get it out, felt they had something to share with the world. I read this book because I wanted to watch the movie, yes I'm that kind of person, and I wish I could unread it. What purpose did this book serve to the greater good of humanity? Fuck the greater good, what contribution to humanity does this book give? It has no analysis, no deeper introspection into the era, the mindset of the people. There's no meat on the bone that is this book.

It has its moments and its beauty, for sure. I love the stream of consciousness and unreliable narration, I love the speaking to the audience, the break rom reality and seeing things in the perspective of a movie, sure. Those elements are great. But as a whole? I never question why art is made. There's art I like and art I don't like. It's easy for me to spot art I like, It's easy for me to spot art I don't like, and there are definitely things that lie in a middle grey area, but for all three of those things I almost never question why it was made. It's an inherently fascist idea to say art should have a purpose else it is a waste of time or attention but this is one of the few exceptions I've encountered. The movie better be good after the shit I just read.

And to be clear, I'm not just mad at the content of the book. It was very upsetting sure, but

about a quarter in is when you get to the first kill and it's mentioned nonchalant. So you read almost 100 pages and finally get to the part you came for.

Most of this book is a whole lot of nothing. It works, only because that's the style of this particular type of writing, but once the kills start to ramp up it's like Oh, you wasted my time, and now this is TOO intense. And I'm sure the whiplash was also purposeful, and I'm starting to get a little too nitpicky, but there are things that are more important / could have been more central to the plot that were not given any spotlight.

I tried to find it in my heart to give it a higher rating, I really did, but I can't lie to my future self who will reread this review and go "damn, the book was that bad?" Hi, future self. To answer your question: No. The book was much worse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Grief, Homophobia, Torture, Misogyny, Sexism, Body horror, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Animal death, Addiction, Child death, Hate crime, Racism, Animal cruelty, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Ableism, Death, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Drug use, Blood, Classism, Gore, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Vomit, Antisemitism, Bullying, Confinement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Drug abuse, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Child abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Abortion

zoehakim's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

what?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Drug abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Antisemitism, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Rape, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Sexism, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Dementia, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Body shaming, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Xenophobia, Fatphobia, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Eating disorder

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

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

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

sierrabowers'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

2.5

This book was disgusting and filled with gore. I honestly was not prepared for the amount of gore that was given. I was disappointed at the plot. It was not interesting at all, and was just a horrible person murdering people. Why would I want to read that? Toward the end, the author was alluding to the fact that the main character may have been hallucinating the entire time and never actually murdered anyone? And also switched from 1st to 3rd person point of view during an episode. That could have been a metaphor for his dissociation. Overall, I do not recommend, and it was a waste of my time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Racism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Classism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual content, Child death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Blood, Physical abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Vomit, Miscarriage, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Abortion

moths_and_mushrooms's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.0

I hate him.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Torture, and Violence

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

litltlehistorian's review against another edition

It took me two goes to try and get through this. I just couldn't get into it. Some of the descriptions made me gag and feel physically ill. If you aren't aware (or even if you are) that this is satire it can be a confronting and cruel read. On the other hand it can also be a witty and interesting gaze at 80s Wall Street Guppies. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Violence