Scan barcode
annietaber's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Physical abuse, Body horror, Drug use, Excrement, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Animal death, Blood, Death, and Drug abuse
beanwa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Murder, Gore, Homophobia, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Torture, Stalking, Drug abuse, and Adult/minor relationship
katherineflitsch_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It’s been a while since a book has shocked me as much as this one did. It’s been a long while since a book has left me feeling so unsettled. I don’t know what much to say without giving away spoilers. But in the end you feel just as Susan feels holding Bret’s hand in that room. In the end you feel scared and horrified and dizzy with realization, with denial, and nausea. In the end you nearly want to be sick.
(In, like, a totally good way!)
Bret does suspense incredibly well. And he has mastered horror here, too. He blends evil with high school in such a glorious (and glittering) way: a student masks his violent identity just as a student masks his homosexuality in 1981; a teen boy is convinced his friend’s new boyfriend is a serial killer just as as teen boy is convinced his friend’s new boyfriend isn’t good enough for her; a boy grieves heartbreak just as a boy grieves the brutal murder of his first love. These layers pass over one another as delicately and fluidly as curtains sliding over one another moved by wind. In high school, you are terrified of things that you one day grow out of fearing, but in the moment of teenage psyche, the terror and horror of these things is crippling. In THE SHARDS, those teenage terrors are indistinguishable from actual tangible death and mutilation and evil. Bret contorts teenage angst into “legitimate” horror.
I read once somewhere that the difference between fear, terror, and horror is this (and I’m paraphrasing from murky memory): fear is walking in the woods at night and knowing that a wolf is prowling; terror is walking in the woods and seeing the wolf before you; horror is walking in the woods and realizing you have stepped right into the wolf’s trap. Bret Easton Ellis’s THE SHARDS encapsulates all three.
(Warning though: it is quite graphic.)
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Gore, Car accident, Sexual content, and Murder
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Blood
Minor: Alcoholism and Car accident
frekdal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Biphobia, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence
seanamcphie's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Torture, Toxic friendship, Death, Gore, Grief, Violence, Alcohol, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Addiction
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
"The Shards" follows seventeen-year-old Bret, a senior at a prestigious prep school in Los Angeles during the 1980's. When a new boy, Robert Mallory joins Bret's friend group, it feels like everyone but Bret is in love with Mallory, but Bret is convinced Mallory is hiding something. After a series of murders, Bret begins to suspect that Mallory is the serial killer targeting teenagers throughout Los Angeles. Can Bret uncover who is behind these brutal murders, or will he end up the next victim?
This mystery is very dense and takes awhile to get into. I also often felt disconnected from the characters. The story felt like something that I was watching from a distance, not something that I was pulled into, and that factor is something I look for in mystery novels. I want to feel like I am right there with the characters and uncovering clues with them.
Bret was a fun character to read from. Bret is struggling with his own identity and trying to figure out who he is, who he wants to be, and who he wants to surround himself with. He is also incredibly smart and quick-witted. He is definitely flawed and makes poor decisions, but that is why he is so relatable. I also really appreciated that although he is seventeen, his voice does not read like a seventeen-year-old, but he remains believable as a teenager.
This story is very well-written, and clearly, Bret Easton Ellis is an exceptional wordsmith and very talented with his craft. I would be curious to pick up more from him in the future, but for right now I want something a little more fast-paced.
Graphic: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Violence, Homophobia, Bullying, Stalking, Torture, Alcohol, Murder, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Sexual content
sophsreadingbooks's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Gore, Drug use, Violence, Sexual content, Homophobia, Murder, Stalking, Suicide, and Blood
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis
natalia's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Gaslighting, Gore, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Animal death, Death, Blood, Murder, Physical abuse, Stalking, Violence, Biphobia, Drug use, Suicide, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Vomit
lizsurber's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Car accident, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Body horror, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Biphobia, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Dysphoria, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Confinement, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Gore, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship
e11en's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Drug use, Homophobia, and Violence