Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

200 reviews

parkinglotking's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-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

5.0

I went into this novel already loving the movie, so perhaps I am a bit biased. I love a good, meaty character study and the novel absolutely did not disappoint.

I will start by saying this is the most violent book I have ever read and it makes the movie look like a PG film, but I was expecting that. The thing that still has me thinking weeks after finishing it with several other books between then and me writing this is the way that perspective and tense are utilized; I don’t usually like first person or present tense points of view, but they’re used masterfully here- in reinforcing Bateman’s self-centeredness and bringing the reader into his stream of consciousness. 

This is a pretty dense read and I really recommend a palette cleanser book after finishing it (and pacing yourself; the only reason I took over a week reading this is because I had to take a breather after some of the worst scenes in the escalating violence) but it’s incredible if you enjoy a really clever literary character study and can handle a staggering amount of violence.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jacobalenciaga's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Vomit

Minor: Self harm, Abortion, and Pregnancy

csx's review against another edition

dark funny tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

thechocolatefinger's review against another edition

dark funny tense slow-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

5.0

Everyone told me this book made them feel sick and it didn’t at all it was perfectly fine to me!

Honestly the part that scared me the most was when it suddenly

switched to third person for a chapter

lol - genuinely freaked me out I wasn’t expecting it at all.

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.

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Content Warnings

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 tense

once Patrick has woke up and is kind of getting an idea of what happened the night before

. So there is a distance from it which really helps with it not being quite so graphic, as it’s written in a disconnected and like observational way.

bookshelfghost's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.25

Very interesting book, it's easily the most vile I've ever read. Although I by no means enjoyed all the graphic descriptions of the murders, I found the whole throught process interesting. Definitely worth a read if you can power through the long descriptions of designer fashion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Antisemitism

adrx24's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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

4.75

“ Is evil something you are? Or is it something you do? ”

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Content Warnings

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

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

dark tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

charleemcm's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-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: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

merle_ma's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

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