A review by laval
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

challenging dark funny tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I found out about this book after watching the movie, so I am just a tad biased because I found the movie hilarious and wanted more. This book is a great commentary about the yuppie culture and an interesting take on how capitalism fuels this toxicity. It is disturbing at times, do not get me wrong. very disturbing. the layers of symbolism and care written into each sentence of this book should not be overlooked, and Patrick is written perfectly. We truly get a glimpse of what is going on inside his head and how disturbing his thought process really is. The author does a wonderful job making sure the audience knows that Patrick is bad, and a loser. He is shown to not be cool, hot yuppie, but instead a massive, mentally deranged loser. Many times are shown where Patrick is just outright making a fool of himself just to fit in.

Take for example the small scene where he is in a hip hop bar with a primarily black crowd and proceeds to try and "act cool" by throwing up peace signs and "talking hip." Or in my personal favourite chapter "A Glimpse into Thursday Afternoon." Patrick is having some sort of mental breakdown and proceeds to shoplift a can of spam. He then takes it to a luxury apartment building where he is only let in for his looks, but then is immediately kicked out when he opens the spam and violently shoves handfuls of it into his mouth

  The author really does make a point to show that Patrick is no better than the people he mocks, he just thinks he is better because he is rich and looks good. I think this has to be a favourite for me personally due to all the care put into it, plus it is all I could ask for really. I picked this book up wanting more funny moments with Patrick and I got so many more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Stalking

This book is a satire and if you think any of Patrick Bateman's actions are justified at all, please see someone. Nothing presented in this book is meant to give the reader that the impression of this is okay. Be weary of one's mental state before reading this as Patrick has many intrusive and negative thoughts. Also be warned of graphic sex and violence. And when I say graphic I put heavy emphasis on that word.