Reviews - American Psycho | The StoryGraph

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7.48k reviews for:

American Psycho

Bret Easton Ellis

3.59 AVERAGE

kysftbs's review against another edition

2.0

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

This book started a month long reading slump as I was trying to get through it. I had such high hopes but I was continuously bored. The chapter on Whitney Houston was a highlight but not enough for me to rate it any higher than I have.

chloepearl487's review against another edition

2.0

DNF

peachtreegothic's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark funny tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Unfortunately, a very funny book. Unpleasant to read, but the characters are written with such thinly-veiled contempt it becomes a car crash you can’t look away from. A truly anti-social book from beginning to end.

Captures the consumerism-induced psychosis of the 80s very well. Also an interesting pseudo-study of cultural/design trends, especially when compared to the very different brand of consumerism-induced psychosis of the current day.

Content Warnings

petatron's review against another edition

4.0

This novel was bizarre but fascinating. I enjoyed it and couldn't stop reading but at times it had me completely baffled. I'm not sure what to think of it, but whenever I wasn't reading I was thinking about Patrick. I kept thinking he was going to accidently return one of his tapes when he was returning videos that he had rented.

The last 50 pages or so it almost felt like Patrick would be redeemed in some way, but I knew this wasn't the case. He's insane, everyone around him is insane in a way. They're all obsessed with clothes and money and being cool. They don't even notice each other.

There was no real ending, but there was no real way to end it either. I know I'll need to read this again, but not for a long time.

regine_reads's review against another edition

Too graphic, no overarching storyline to latch onto; it physically hurt to pick this up and read it, and it has almost every -ism in the book. I just read about him killing and brutalizing this poor woman and I realized...maybe I don't have to finish this book.

koyanqi's review against another edition

yap.
tengo pena porque hueveé caleta pa comprar este libro; tenía muchísimas ganas de leerlo.
pero estoy pegada en la página 40 y de verdad siento que este libro es un muro impenetrable, o que al menos requiere mucho esfuerzo pasarlo, y no estoy de ánimo para eso.
de verdad que si vuelvo a leer el nombre de otra marca de ropa cara que no conozco me voy a deshacer en hastío.
espero poder retomar esta lectura algún día u-u.

cowboysadbop's review against another edition

5.0

A grotesque, unnerving, hilarious, and powerful satire that, if you have the stomach for it, is worth the plunge. Bateman's entirely unreliable narrative had me enthralled, laughing, sympathetic, then horrified in such a brief span, truly never knowing what he was going to 'recount' next. This was self-aware and sharp, with messaging capable of resonating even decades later.