Reviews with content warning for Stalking - American Psycho

The best book I have ever read. I can say this with confidence. I could go on for hours about this book. The best i can describe it is: A brilliant, enigmatic satire of 80s yuppie culture, filled to the brim with horrific displays of violence and grotesqueness. (while deeply disturbing, absolutely necessary to the book’s theme of stretching the limits of societal boundaries, and seeing just how much money and status can get you out of.) Before reading this book of course I had seen the movie, and I had heard that the book was extremely graphic. I didn’t grasp just how graphic it truly was. The book had me in full fledged tears at multiple parts. I had to set it down for hours and take breaks. Don’t let this dismay you because the book is nothing short of a masterpiece. It’s fairly fast paced, but unlike the movie, Paul Owen’s (Paul Allen in the movie) murder is not necessarily the main plot or the reason Bateman really spirals into insanity. In fact, Owen’s death scene is only 3 or so paragraphs long, and is not discussed very many times (However it is one of the only murders he is suspected or even asked about). If you enjoyed the movie, the book will turn your world upside down. I highly highly recommend this book to anyone who loves the movie as much as I do. While the movie is great, it just doesn’t do the book justice. There’s only so much you can fit into a 2 hour movie, especially without confusing the audience too much. I’d say only about 45% of whats in the book made it into the movie. And trust me, if you liked Patrick Bateman’s character, or even related to him in the movie, you will not be able to defend this man once you read the book. I believe Christian Bale’s portrayal of Patrick Bateman was made humorous and much more charismatic in order to connect to the audience. I don’t think as many people would be making “sigma” edits of him if they knew the Patrick Bateman Bret Easton Ellis wrote. Don’t get me wrong, Bale’s performance as Bateman was outstanding, but it definitely humanizes him more, and I think that was done on purpose. A fair warning though, if you have a weak stomach or cannot handle extreme, again, EXTREME over the top gore and violence, definitely don’t read the book. I can handle seeing gore on TV, but for some reason, the way Bateman describes it, and seeing it through his eyes, had some effects on me. I had a visceral reaction to this book every 20 pages. However, if you’ve been a fan of the movie for years, and you just want to know more and feel like you didn’t get the full story (you didn’t), read the book! A solid 11/10 for me *personally*. Bateman is even pretty funny at times for casually dropping the most insane information mid sentence. Anyways, if you’re concerned, i’ll add warnings for things that you might not wanna read about:
Many scenes of racism and homophobia, racist and homophobic slurs often used, extremely detailed depictions of death and murder, cannibalism, animal torture, drug use, a LOT of verbal violence, descriptions and mentions of R*pe, extremely disturbing (lets just say “creative”) deaths and torture. I cannot emphasize this enough, but the murder scenes of women just get more and more intense as the book goes on. Im sure i can say more, but that is my basic review of American Psycho. 10/10, ruined my life and desensitized me forever! <3

Content Warnings

livvywivvy's review

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

casparquarius's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad 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

4.5

Content Warnings

biobeetle's review against another edition

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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

4.0

Content Warnings

translesbo's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Well. I finished American Psycho. It became more and more horrifying as I read on. Specifically somewhere around 280 pages in, it seemed something broke in Bateman. He's a fascinating character and the book...has a lot to say about many things. Violence, neoliberalism, capitalism...just like Bateman, I was in a daze as I read through that last 100 pages, knowing I was almost to the end, but not really sure of what I was expecting to find there.

I think im satisfied with what the ending implied, though, at least for Bateman. He is still free, that isn't a spoiler as its mentioned on the back of the book, but he's so transformed and unhappy, deluded and alienated from his own life that its fair to expect that he'll self destruct- probably sooner rather than later.

And of course, you don't even really know if most of what happened in the book even was real. He did certainly kill a lot of people, but...it's like when it comes to his immediate circumstances, he's trapped. No one sees him, nothing he does happens, and the ending comes back around to the beginning like a snake eating its own tail. Surely time has progressed but the only effect it has on his world is the further deterioration of his mind.

I think also, another thing this book had to say is just how despised the upper and middle classes of america really are. Everyone he or one of his colleagues has any connection to, does not see them as human beings, and this is their own faults. They're like real demons come from hell to play in the faces of humanity- but we must interact with and make deals with them to survive, even if these interactions carry with them a significant risk of death and devastation.

Truly, Bateman and his kind are the worst of us.

Content Warnings