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csx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
pendularium's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
It makes sense within the context of who Patrick is, but it truly doesn't feel like any point is being made(1); the violence against women is immensely gratuitous, especially compared to the few few times that any men are murdered; the actual meat of the satire in this book comes from the parts that people seem to deride as being dull; his obsession with designer clothes, fancy restaurants, gatherings with his 'friends', and the way that his violent acts contrast with that is, yes, a key part of the satire, but it's really hard not to notice how much more detail and emphasis Bret Easton Ellis puts on what Patrick does to the women.
Ellis' prose carries the book along well, and the satire and emotion at the core of the story is genuinely good, but despite his claim that "it [the book] wasn't four hundred pages of torture and mutilation and advocating the death of women. It's just some boring novel." American Psycho kinda is a whole lot of torture and mutilation and advocating the death of women, and for all that the rest of it is genuinely good, I can't really get past that and give it the rating I think the rest of the book deserves.
(1) yes, yes, its about how women, as an 'inferior' social group can be targeted in this way; Patrick murders and otherwise abuses a whole series of people who he deems lesser than him on the basis of race, religion, sexuality - it is only Paul Owens' murder that results in a detective being sent out - the book was conveying this fine and effectively in the earlier chapters where there was considerably less incredible violence specifically against women going on.
If anyone who is thinking about reading the book is reading this review, trust me it is almost certainly significantly more graphic than you are thinking - the film is incredibly sanitised in this area.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
thechocolatefinger's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Honestly the part that scared me the most was when it suddenly
I recommend you read this book very slowly like one chapter a day, because that way you can appreciate the satire and also understand what it’s talking about. I saw in the afterword that Bret said it’s about his loneliness but I prefer focussing on the satirical side of it. When reading I could really tell what Patrick as a character is making fun of, and it was so funny just how stupid he was the entire time. Like the biggest loser on the planet that was really great to me.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Abortion
There was also necrophilia. Most of the very violent stuff is told in past tenseadrx24's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
emjo1211's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
perth_is's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
ellabellii's review against another edition
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Classism
merle_ma's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
n3verm0r3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Self harm and Cannibalism
spaghetti_noodle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
At first, I found myself confused and bored by Bateman's mind, then I hated it and wanted to get this over with, and then I found it amusing, especially after realizing how pathetic Bateman is. He is obsessed with himself and sees others as inferior, but his need to be better than everyone else reveals a deep insecurity.
There's a lot that can be taken away from this book: performance of upper-class white masculinity, privilege and power, misogyny and other forms of bigotry, superficiality and consumerism and identity creation... lol I saw a Tumblr post comparing the morning routines of white women doing the "That Girl" trend to Patrick Bateman's morning routine. This is one of those stories that a lot of people take what they want from it. Maybe when I feel like being a smarter person, I'll reread and dissect this book further.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail