frekdal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Biphobia, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence
izzold'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
4.25
Graphic: Sexual assault, Alcohol, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood
n1ghthag's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Sexual violence, Body horror, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit
charvermont's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Animal death, Drug use, Mental illness, Vomit, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Car accident, Death, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
seanamcphie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Torture, Toxic friendship, Death, Gore, Grief, Violence, Alcohol, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Addiction
aceofknaves88's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Mental illness, and Sexual content
Moderate: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Forced institutionalization
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
"The Shards" follows seventeen-year-old Bret, a senior at a prestigious prep school in Los Angeles during the 1980's. When a new boy, Robert Mallory joins Bret's friend group, it feels like everyone but Bret is in love with Mallory, but Bret is convinced Mallory is hiding something. After a series of murders, Bret begins to suspect that Mallory is the serial killer targeting teenagers throughout Los Angeles. Can Bret uncover who is behind these brutal murders, or will he end up the next victim?
This mystery is very dense and takes awhile to get into. I also often felt disconnected from the characters. The story felt like something that I was watching from a distance, not something that I was pulled into, and that factor is something I look for in mystery novels. I want to feel like I am right there with the characters and uncovering clues with them.
Bret was a fun character to read from. Bret is struggling with his own identity and trying to figure out who he is, who he wants to be, and who he wants to surround himself with. He is also incredibly smart and quick-witted. He is definitely flawed and makes poor decisions, but that is why he is so relatable. I also really appreciated that although he is seventeen, his voice does not read like a seventeen-year-old, but he remains believable as a teenager.
This story is very well-written, and clearly, Bret Easton Ellis is an exceptional wordsmith and very talented with his craft. I would be curious to pick up more from him in the future, but for right now I want something a little more fast-paced.
Graphic: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Violence, Homophobia, Bullying, Stalking, Torture, Alcohol, Murder, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Sexual content
daredeviling'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
3.25
I had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I loved all the drama and focus on characters, but it was also just...so long? I see what a lot of reviews said about the book needing a lot of cuts. Like there were just scenes where the main character was naming names of streets that he was driving down, and I was like "Well what's the point of this?" I just skipped forward all of those paragraphs and missed nothing. Same with all the sex scenes - I don't mind one or two to establish the character and the place that sex has in this character's life, but I'm not trying to read a whole porno here, y'know? I don't need fifty scenes that sound essentially exactly the same to me.
Although I liked the establishment of these characters as using sex, drugs, and partying to numb themselves, it did get tiring after a while. Most of the characters ended up pretty much having one personality trait like they were filling the roles in a teen high school movie. They were always high and having sex. To the author's credit, I did feel very disconnected as I read, which is what I imagine he wanted to get across that the character's felt, so that translated very well. But the issue with feeling disconnected is that you don't get <i>invested</i>. The only reason I kept reading was because I wanted to know more about the murder stuff - which was ultimately disappointing. I felt like it really sort of withered away after everything and that really did annoy me.
Speaking of annoyances, the main character is SUCH AN ASSHOLE. He thinks that he's just solving this great mystery and he's the smartest, but really, he's an asshole and it's obvious. Ugh I wish <i>he</i> had died at the end of the novel because he 100% deserved it. He can go fuck himself. c:
Basically, this boils down to feeling like the author wanted to write an updated version of <i>The Secret History</i>, but with way less interesting characters, plot, and a meandering storyline that no one wanted to follow all the way through.
Graphic: Mental illness, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Violence, Drug abuse, Murder, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Animal death, and Blood
carnbostrikesagain's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
sophsreadingbooks'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
Graphic: Gore, Drug use, Violence, Sexual content, Homophobia, Murder, Stalking, Suicide, and Blood
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis