Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

10 reviews

caterpillar's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Body horror, Abortion, Violence, Alcohol, Drug use, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Rape, Racism, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

darwynne's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Disturbing, but necessary. Makes you reflect on real life examples of Patrick Bateman and where they could be (closer than you may think), giving you a very introspective insight into the mind of a psycho in power, made all the more disturbing by others’ lack of care towards the visible red flags throughout the novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Medical content, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Alcohol, Animal death, Antisemitism, Classism, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Xenophobia, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Stalking, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Racism, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Body shaming, Body horror, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Lesbophobia, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Torture, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment

hydecircus's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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

3.5

I mean obviously it's hard to rate a book like this without either sounding completely insane or completely ignoring its cultural impact and message. Trying to rate it on a technical level, it's a genuinely great read, but a very difficult one. One of the only books I've ever read to leave me genuinely sick to my stomach in some scenes. A lot of reading it is just going "oh I understand why that wasn't in the film", either because its so graphic it would just be completely impossible film/get approved for film, or because its just so downright boring. You don't go into this book expecting just how many clothing and product and music descriptions there are going to be. And the weird part is -- it really does work! Get through the endless brand names and pages of graphically described rape and you come to an ending that punches you directly in the gut, somehow everything that came before leading up to it perfectly. I don't mean the actual, last scene (which in the flim serves as one of the first scenes), I mean around page 349 (in my copy), when

Spoiler

the tense changes from first person to third. You've known Patrick was an unreliable narrator basically all along, but nothing cements it quite like him completely dissociatibg from himself, in the worst moment of his life, becoming another character rather than the protagonist, and then, when he recovers, shifting seamlessly back into first person.

It's not a book I'd recommend without reading the content warnings, and even then I might suggest watching the film first considering just how much nastier the book is. Even so, I'm glad I read it and I think if you can handle the subject matter you should give it a go, especially if you enjoy unreliable narrators.
EDIT: ok honestly after reflecting a bit i think its just one scene that is like. really bad and i probably just shouldve have read it while eating and you guys would probably be fine 👍 i think its better than the film but maybe the film makes the message more accessible also. still rotating this book around in my head maybe ill change my mind on this later

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug use, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Excrement, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Animal death, Cannibalism, Classism, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, and Sexual violence

Minor: Abortion and Suicidal thoughts

sierrabedwell'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

2.5

This book was disgusting and filled with gore. I honestly was not prepared for the amount of gore that was given. I was disappointed at the plot. It was not interesting at all, and was just a horrible person murdering people. Why would I want to read that? Toward the end, the author was alluding to the fact that the main character may have been hallucinating the entire time and never actually murdered anyone? And also switched from 1st to 3rd person point of view during an episode. That could have been a metaphor for his dissociation. Overall, I do not recommend, and it was a waste of my time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Racism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Classism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual content, Child death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Blood, Physical abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Vomit, Miscarriage, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Abortion

moths_and_mushrooms's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.0

I hate him.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Torture, and Violence

prockmatt's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

2.0

This book is vile and hard to read but there’s definitely something in it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Violence, Xenophobia, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Alcohol, Death, Animal cruelty, Child death, Classism, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Drug use, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

litltlehistorian's review against another edition

It took me two goes to try and get through this. I just couldn't get into it. Some of the descriptions made me gag and feel physically ill. If you aren't aware (or even if you are) that this is satire it can be a confronting and cruel read. On the other hand it can also be a witty and interesting gaze at 80s Wall Street Guppies. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Violence

nofunerals's review against another edition

dark funny 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

2.75

it was quite funny, more ridiculous, really, but the lack of plot was evident; though concealed by pages upon pages of music reviews, description of clothing and skin care routine.
overall, there was nothing going on, and while i think that was the point, it doesn‘t make it good.
it wasn‘t so much disgusting as it was a joke.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child death, Child abuse, Vomit, Violence, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Torture, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Homophobia, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Fatphobia, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, and Cursing

Minor: Miscarriage

laval's review against another edition

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

4.5

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.

Spoiler

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

Spoiler

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

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

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.

lmorphis's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Mental illness, Gore, Rape, Racial slurs, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Drug abuse, Drug use, Torture, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Racism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Homophobia, Hate crime, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Dementia, Death, Cursing, Cannibalism, Body shaming, Body horror, Blood, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Alcoholism, and Addiction

Minor: Abortion