Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

7 reviews

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Classism, Murder, Racism, Sexual violence, Addiction, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Xenophobia, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicide, Vomit, and War

Minor: Dementia, Genocide, and Death of parent

belladonnashrike's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

well that's the MOST disturbing book i've ever read! and probably will ever read!

content warning for literally everything but also for excessive mentions of donald trump

ramble incoming:

something that started to bug me about 3/4 of the way through was how gratuitous the murders of women were...i don't typically read anything that depicts such brutal treatment of women but i read this because i love the film and because i know that at its core, this is a satire, so i ignored my discomfort for most of the book. bateman doesn't necessarily target women and i would say that to generalize his killing patterns, he's mostly opportunistic. he kills easy targets - the unhoused, sex workers, random women he meets at bars, random kids and animals who aren't with a guardian/owner, etc. occasionally he does kill someone he knows personally (such as his ex from college and paul owen), but i wouldn't say he just operates on misogyny. but the only murders that are memorable are those of women. this surprised me because i didn't feel this way when watching the movie and i would say that it's mostly because of the treatment of paul owen/allen: in the film, his death is a spectacle. it's such an iconic scene and is just as over-the-top and lengthy as the rest of bateman's murders. in the book, it's over and done with within a page or two and isn't as memorable as what he did to, say, christie. the only murders (and by association, rapes) that are lengthy and disgustingly descriptive are of women. at first this didn't feel like any bias on the author's part but the more i read the more uncomfortable i became because it just feels like the author was sort of playing out fantasies with some of those heinous acts. maybe it's just because i am automatically suspicious of any man who writes about gender violence in general, but it just felt so off to me at that 3/4 point. in the film, we see him kill men and it doesn't seem like he simply enjoys killing women - the messaging there is that he enjoys murdering people in general. if paul's book death was as gory and over-the-top (and just, so fucking disgusting) like his female victims, i wouldn't think this. if the deaths of other men, such as the homeless man with the dog, were just as descriptive, again, i wouldn't think this. but when the only murders that are written in such a way are that of women victims... it makes one think. the fact that i can't really tell if this is commentary on misogyny or not troubles me.

i think that the book depicts bateman's descent into madness, along with his excessive drug usage (which certainly contributes to his hallucinations and skewed view of reality), much better than the film does. it is also obvious from the first twenty or so pages that these men are constantly being mistaken for someone else, when in the film it's not really blatant until the end scene where bateman is confessing face-to-face with his lawyer discussing paul. i do enjoy the added humor in the film, which i will mostly attribute to christian bale -- he was perfect for this role. so perfect that i did read the book in his voice. 

also, i've heard that people think this book is really boring and complain about it but i think it's obvious that that's the point. bateman and his colleagues live an incredibly boring life, so boring that the specifics of his work are never mentioned. everything is superficial. it's the same reason why everyone is described based on what they're wearing. even when describing attractive women, the most bateman says is "nice tits" and "blonde." everything is pointless! everything is meaningless! the critique that is given on businessmen in the 80s, as well as american consumerism, is perfect. just absolutely on the nose. it's supposed to be a little boring!

i did like this and i am glad i read the source material for the film. i need to think about it some more. but i am uncomfortable with the treatment of women because i just can't decipher the tone there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Gore, Vomit, Cannibalism, Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Murder, Gun violence, and Racism

Moderate: Drug use, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Addiction, and Alcohol

Minor: Abortion

lish_e'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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Homophobia, Vomit, Alcoholism, Sexism, Cannibalism, Addiction, Racism, Sexual violence, Rape, Toxic relationship, Murder, Drug abuse, Gore, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal death, Pedophilia, Classism, Infidelity, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Abortion

jakeaboi's review against another edition

challenging dark funny 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

3.0

This book was painful to read, for both good and bad, both intentional and unintentional. The book's depictions of murder are extremely graphic and horrifically realistic. This level of detail is great to represent Bateman's violent outbursts. However, this same level of detail can also get pretty annoying when it comes to descriptions of clothing and music. Bateman's ramblings about these things are supposed to show his comedic, intense obsessions, and to juxtapose these against the graphic killings. But, they end up getting stale and rather annoying to read as the book goes on. For the most part, the book was an entertaining, gruesome, and fascinating look into the mind of a serial killer. But, don't expect the book to cut out the unnecessary, minute details about Patrick's life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Ableism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Drug use, Excrement, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual content, Body horror, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Animal death, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and Child abuse

Moderate: Abortion and Car accident

Minor: Incest

chassidysteve's review against another edition

challenging dark funny 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

4.25

An interesting take and perspective from the dark mind of a white, upper-class, privileged male in the big apple. Disgustingly gory, hilariously out of touch at times, but also really slow and at other times, just boring. If you do not want to be deeply disturbed, I would not recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death, Excrement, Violence, Abortion, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Cursing, and Sexual violence

afroheaux's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

4.0

This book is an extremely interesting character study, but not for the faint of heart. I kept thinking to myself, “Why did he include this in such detail?” But I think that’s the point. This is how someone with Patrick’s sick and twisted mind actually acts.
The book is self aware in the way that it’s trying to show you that evil is often found in the places where we’ve been told it doesn’t: behind perfectly trimmed haircuts, handsome smiles, and wealthy apartments. We’ve deconstructed this idea a bit more since the time of this book’s publishing due to shows like SVU and Criminal Minds yet these ideas still linger in the places of power where they matter. 
This book illustrates why so many of the rich and powerful are so indifferent to human suffering. Their lives are vapid and empty, exchanges and people are interchangeable, and everything is a show. Nothing matters.
I believe Patrick is as prolific as he claims to be. The only reason why he hasn’t gotten caught is because his life is an alibi. Most of his victims are homeless or working class people that he has no connection to. Even his world, his victims are forgotten because none of them truly care about each other. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child death, Gore, Hate crime, Murder, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Classism, Death, Dysphoria, and Drug use

alejandrasuarez98's review against another edition

dark 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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Excrement, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Vomit