Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

104 reviews

meurk's review against another edition

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

percivilious'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

3.5

This book can be hysterical at times, for example his entire skincare routine, him flexing at a lady doing his facial and thinking that it looks casual bc his eyes are closed, and every music-themed chapter.
And then it'll hit you with a chapter so violent and misogynistic and violating that you wish you never picked it up re: every single chapter titled 'Girls'.
Thank you to my friend who loaned me this book as it is a banned book where I live and cannot be bought, borrowed from a library, or shipped into the state due to its contents (which... I kinda get now.. but also STOP BANNING BOOKS!), thanks, and I hate it.

But it was also really good ?????

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Antisemitism, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Car accident and Abortion

kingspite618's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

viannabanana's review against another edition

challenging dark funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Gaslighting

lilylockette's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Vomit

arifairy's review against another edition

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Abortion

maybbrenna's review against another edition

dark 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

2.5

fascinating way of writing, really captures the essence of a psychopath, but i have never been so disgusted by a book in my life. i now understand why this book is considered one of the most disturbing. never read something more bleak and hopeless in my life. i would go back to do a “slur/hate crime” count but i would rather shoot myself in the foot than ever read this again. i’d give it two stars, but there were some parts where I was still interested near the end and in the beginning, but over all, jesus fucking Christ. i need to start reading romance or something.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, 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, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

synclaire'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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and Cannibalism

Minor: Excrement, Vomit, and Abortion

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. 

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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

viiolaceus's review against another edition

challenging 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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism