Reviews tagging Emotional abuse

American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis

58 reviews

mirandawood's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

I don’t WANT to rate this 5 stars because I hated it, but giving it any less would just be unfair. THIS is horror. That queasy unsettling feeling that keeps you up at night, that’s what this book gave me. I had a hard time sleeping because of the graphic scenes in this. I’ve dipped my toes into “extreme horror” and was still able to sleep like a baby. But this book? No no no no no. This book is just terrible, but in the best way. This was actually scary. I could never imagine anything like this. 

It’s completely disgusting and it’s haunting that on the outside, Bateman is just an average businessman. He’s educated, great at his job, very fit body, and oh so rich. But when you look closer there’s just something off. Something you can’t quite put your finger on, but you know it’s there. Is it the obsession with working out and having his body in the best possible shape at all times? The obsession designer clothes and how to properly put together an outfit? Or how about the constant looking down on others less fortunate, or of different races, or animals. Because you can do whatever you want as long as your Patrick Bateman. 

Never again will I pick this up, but it will always have a place on my shelf. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Injury/injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Sexual assault, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Car accident, Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Torture, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual violence, Gun violence, and Murder

readyourbookshelf's review

dark reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Cannibalism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Violence, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Abortion and Domestic abuse

trentl14's review

challenging dark tense fast-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

Serious trigger warnings for just about everything. Sexual assault, murder, violence, gore, mental manipulation. This is not a book for the feint of heart

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Drug use, Cannibalism, Child death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/injury detail, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual violence, and Violence

jakeaboi's review

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

3.75

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

Moderate: Abortion and Car accident

Minor: Incest

loggskywalker's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

Totally gruesome & disgusting at times. He liked rambled a lot which is annoying at times. I had to radact a few times because i didnt want to read those parts. But overall good 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Animal death, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Injury/injury detail, Misogyny, Rape, Racism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Torture

cocowangling's review

dark mysterious 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

4.0

The fastest i’ve read any book, so disturbing I couldn’t wait for it to be over. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Gore, Violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/injury detail, Misogyny, Mental illness, Classism, Death, Kidnapping, Addiction, Murder, Abortion, Child death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, and Domestic abuse

seanamcphie's review

challenging dark funny 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Gun violence, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Cannibalism, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Classism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Abortion, Ableism, and Eating disorder

marjati_reads's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child death, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

weirdodari's review

dark mysterious sad 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

4.5

I think the very first line of this novel “Abandon all hope ye who enter here” perfectly describes what you’re about to experience in this story. It truly feels like every page is one step deeper into hell. But it’s absolutely brilliant. A twisted, dark, hellish story that I think will reward anyone brave enough to read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Classism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/injury detail, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Murder, Sexual violence, Ableism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Vomit, Drug use, Racism, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence

s1515's review

challenging 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: Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Violence