Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

60 reviews

sagesagesage's review against another edition

dark sad 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

0.5

i wish i could unread this book

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

waltjessexo's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

the point is that it's disturbing and on-the-nose, but it being "the point" doesn't mean you have to call it a good book. it accomplishes making you feel horrified and is necessary art but it's normal to not enjoy it anyway.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Outing, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Cannibalism, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

this guy doesn't see minorities as human nor does anyone in the main cast.

mollandra's review against another edition

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

3.5

literally the most gruesome book i’ve ever read. i was peeking through my hands to read some of it. the critique is good and it’s always fun to read source material (movie and stage musical both take a lot of verbatim passages) and find notable exclusions. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

do not read this book

modernprometheus's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

One of the most uncomfortable books I ever read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Abortion

atomicbritt'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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Abortion

hjb_128's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Abortion

wishlissa's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.0

I don’t know whether to rate this a 5 or a 1. I really enjoyed the writing, particularly toward the beginning and very end of the book. Ellis does a great job of slowly introducing Pat’s descent into madness and stepping up the stakes chapter by chapter. However… I will also never read this again. Nor will I ever recommend it to someone else. 

The satire is SEARING. It is so good, a disturbing point being made with terrifying clarity. However I still found it difficult to stomach the increasingly atrocious violence. And at a certain point - even the recognizing a point being drawn about it being senseless, repetitive, overwhelming — it just became too gratuitous. I had to skim large sections of it.

I knew going in that I was signing up for body horror but i didn’t expect it to be so… creative..

I’m going to go pick up a comfort read now.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Capitalism, consumerism, 1980s culture, satire

_readerfromtheblacklagoon_'s review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

blueghost's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

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

---

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