A review by balthazarlawson
The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis

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

1.0

This is a fictionalised autobiography, with the author being the main character. It could just as easily be called an alternate history novel.

Either way, I found it slow, dull and extremely repetitive. It's a long read but it didn't really need to be, it's just the author's style. It was mildly entertaining for the first 30% then I just lost interest in these characters and couldn't care less about them and what horrible things they inflicted upon themselves. All it does is highlight the downside to taking too many drugs to just get through the day.

If not for a power outage today, where I had nothing else I could do, I would still be reading this for another week.

I'm left wondering what the point is to this type of novel. Disappointed.