Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis

23 reviews

excalibolg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

Reading this as my second BEE novel after American Psycho, the 30 year gap in writing says nothing about a deprecation in sophistication. Only compared to American Psycho's superhuman pace, from the outset of The Shards I felt like I was being lured. The choice of Ellis as his own protagonist in ebbing adolescence was one that threw me off balance but as I embraced the meta-fiction along with it came a sense of dread.

I found myself infatuated with Bret’s obsession, and at the same time felt compelled to question him. Ellis opens with admissions that it's taken decades to write about these particular events. The residual trauma threatens to unravel him entirely; by this point in his life it has uprooted him, at some points. You feel ingratiated, he hopes, that hes dug up this morsel- for us- and freed himself of being the only one who knows, truly knows what transpired. What results is a viscid 600 page recollection, with Ellis saying was aided by journals from the time that included even what songs were playing as he drove some place. Reading with the proper playlist does complement the experience. 80's LA as a historical setting was also like a character. A keeper for the inhabitants of the story, that holds and feeds their desires, fattening them like pigs that are quickly added to the trough after being vanquished. Ellis crafts the era with a firsthand experience that also sounds like a bronzed version of a teenage fantasy. The waxing about numbness as it's own emotion, the imprecise yet confident analysis of everyone around him, reminded me of a common teenage headspace: heedless yet stricken with confusion with how the world worked. 

Since I got this book through Libby I tried to finish this before it got held again. I dedicated hours daily to it for a few weeks. One thing Ellis accomplishes with this novel is crafting a semester that feels like a lifetime. A portrait of obsession so detailed that once you acquaint yourself with it won't leave you alone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Torture, and Murder

Minor: Rape

serafinamariac's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

levtitticus's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Cursing, Homophobia, Vomit, Medical content, and Car accident

selah228's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Stalking, and Abandonment

not_to_day's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Homophobia

Minor: Addiction

nomonbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

This was well written, I just didn't like it. I didn't enjoy the gore and the tone or the people. I wanted to keep reading and that's pretty significant given what I didn't enjoy but also I'm so so glad I finally finished it. People who like thrillers may like this.

Also in regards to what happened (spoilers for ending)

I am like 100% sure in my mind at least that the trawler were the adult cult members and this was a story about a bunch of messed up kids left to their own devices too much, not cared for and adultified resulting in horrible conclusions. Everyone (of the children) was a victim here. The violent crime we see on page committed by a child is Brett murdering Robert. And that was a huge failure of every adult involved that let it get to that point. (And I know he's old enough to take responsibility for that somewhat but as with any crime in the real world committed by a 16 year old thecl context is so so important - and I know Robert has been accused of sexual abuse and I'm not absolving him from that responsibility but acknowledging that he was a victim here too from his father, and from the cult).

I don't think Brett attacked Susan and Thom, as it seems a bit random and out of character for him and it's more a further example of how things can are and will spiral in absence of I don't know, adult responsibility and supervision and putting it all on kids. The paranoia that seeped into their relationships and lack of trust for eachother and I think in the world generally to look after them.

They consistently had absent parents, drug addict parents, parents who are perpetrators of sexual abuse, alcoholic parents. The level of neglect is overwhelming, the absence of modeling of healthy interactions and relationships. The total lack of guidance from any adult in my opinion is what got them to where they ended up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

ashlyntalksbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

perpetualpity's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Drug use, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, and Outing

emiliaborsikova's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

2.5

Almost a dnf. The first half of this book is pretty much just buildup and an insight into the lives of the characters. Anything of specific significance happens in the last 70 pages. Which is terrible considering this book is 600 pages. Ultimately nothing happens except a bunch of privileged teenagers doing drugs, drinking and being rich. Except one day Bret, the narrator, randomly decides he thinks the new kid at school is a deranged psychopath murderer with very limited evidence (evidence being basically just delusion). For some reason Bret doesn’t actually believe his friendships are real and usually prefers to spend his time alone high on drugs. Half the book is basically him complaining about his supposedly perfect girlfriend who actually loves him but he’s gay and he is just using her, him doing drugs and drinking (everyone is so high all the time they apparently don’t care about girls being kidnapped and then them and animals/pets being  brutally mutilated), graphic gay content, tireless music references and Susan being called numb every 3 lines. Not to mention that the dialogue is bland and vague. The Trawler is randomly introduced and a bunch of information is dumped on you before it’s back to random scenes of the characters. The Trawler and the home attacks and the cult didn’t have a clear connection and the narrative felt blocky. Most of the time the plot of Robert and The Trawler seemed like a side plot. It’s about 80% filler and buildup (towards pretty much nothing actually) and 20% shocking graphic descriptions of gore (of both humans and animals). This book could have been 200 pages shorter and as my first Bret Easton Ellis book i’m a bit disappointed. Spoiler- Not to mention that there’s some vague reference that Bret, the narrator, may actually be the psychopath here (the arm bite mark scene) which had no effect other than to confuse me- The end tries to explain everything at once and I just think that the plot had so much potential but it was executed very badly - overwritten and vain. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Rape, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

disguisedposer's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail