Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'

American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis

4 reviews

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

cxmeron's review

challenging dark funny reflective 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

Some people find the 5 page, 10 page even, rants Patrick goes on to be a downfall of this book or makes it boring and tedious. However, as a neurodivergent person, the way he forms his thoughts and the correlation between each topic (not to mention his hyperfixation of expensive clothing brands) I find very similar to how I also form thoughts which personally made it very easy to read though. Not to mention how funny some of these part of the book are. 

If you want a book that is the definition of having an unreliable narrator, this is the book - I'm pretty sure even Patrick doesn't know what's happening most of the time. Although this may come across confusing and messy, Ellis writes in such a way that this mess and inconsistencies draw you in. All the characters are flawed and basically no growth happen to them because they are just pawns to Bateman, nothing more than insects, which comes across perfectly. To the point where when supporting characters do get growth it paints the illusion that Patrick is changing, growing, but there truely is no hope for this man. 

Finally, as a person who reads a lot of gore-filled and violent books, the violent scenes are truely some of the most disturbing I've ever read. Bateman's intense descriptions of these acts have the same attention to detail as if he was talking about his designer brands which makes apparent how much joy he takes in these tendencies. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Animal cruelty, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Torture

kkmk's review

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Classism, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Addiction, Alcoholism, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/injury detail, Racial slurs, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Animal death, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

litltlehistorian's review

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