Reviews with content warning for Racism - American Psycho

My first buddy read! And uh... what a place to start.

To be really honest, I still don't know what to make of this book.

It was so incredibly clever - and so incredibly, unbelieveably grim. It's been interesting to see how much of a 'big deal' it is within mainstream culture, yet how much of that is probably largely attributable to just the movie. Part of me wants to say that the violence, horror and general atrocity is gratuitous, and goes beyond the level 'required' to make the points that BEE was making. But then I wonder whether to say that is to dismiss some of the point? Similarly, it's easy to go for the whole 'okay but clearly none of this could possibly have happened' stance - but that, too, feels like a kind of betrayal of the actual book, a way of making it more palatable.

The racism, misogyny and homophobia present within this book are really unparalleled to any other book within mainstream culture. I think that raises questions though, particularly regarding separating the author from the work, and whether a work that portrays x view necessarily promotes that same view.

Mostly, I just have a lot of questions. I felt quite relieved once I finished reading it, and I've felt a bit nervous about writing this review. I want to sit with my thoughts and feelings on it for a lot longer, to try and figure out a bit more about what it is I want to say!

Content Warnings

chickenstripped's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny reflective tense 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

3.75

Content Warnings

lizzardbreath's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

2.5

I understand that this book is satire; however, the content of the book was extremely upsetting and disturbing that I would not recommend anyone to take it upon themselves to read it. This is one of the first books I have ever read where I had to take active breaks away from it for the sake of my mental health. A short video essay explaining the satire was much better than actually putting yourself through the torture of reading this novel. Nonetheless, Ellis portrayed great horror on the white American man, so if you can stomach the gory details, I won’t stop you.

Content Warnings

swaggle's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

lexisbookishburrow's review against another edition

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I get the author is trying to show how boring Patrick Bateman is but he’s doing an even better job boring me to death. I tried to stick it out but the over descriptions and misogyny was too much for me. My boyfriend convinced me to stop since even he could tell I wasn't enjoying it. Not my kind of book and I’m honestly not sure how other people finished it.

I enjoyed the movie and though I might like this too. I was wrong.

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