Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

215 reviews

agalla_'s review against another edition

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

5.0

The goriest book I’ve ever read, hard to put down, the prose is chaotic and deeply unsettling and unexpectedly funny- very very good novel

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

translesbo's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

_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

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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

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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

parkinglotking's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-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

5.0

I went into this novel already loving the movie, so perhaps I am a bit biased. I love a good, meaty character study and the novel absolutely did not disappoint.

I will start by saying this is the most violent book I have ever read and it makes the movie look like a PG film, but I was expecting that. The thing that still has me thinking weeks after finishing it with several other books between then and me writing this is the way that perspective and tense are utilized; I don’t usually like first person or present tense points of view, but they’re used masterfully here- in reinforcing Bateman’s self-centeredness and bringing the reader into his stream of consciousness. 

This is a pretty dense read and I really recommend a palette cleanser book after finishing it (and pacing yourself; the only reason I took over a week reading this is because I had to take a breather after some of the worst scenes in the escalating violence) but it’s incredible if you enjoy a really clever literary character study and can handle a staggering amount of violence.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jacobalenciaga's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, 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, Blood, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Vomit

Minor: Self harm, Abortion, and Pregnancy

csx's review against another edition

dark funny tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

thechocolatefinger's review against another edition

dark funny tense slow-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

5.0

Everyone told me this book made them feel sick and it didn’t at all it was perfectly fine to me!

Honestly the part that scared me the most was when it suddenly

switched to third person for a chapter

lol - genuinely freaked me out I wasn’t expecting it at all.

I recommend you read this book very slowly like one chapter a day, because that way you can appreciate the satire and also understand what it’s talking about. I saw in the afterword that Bret said it’s about his loneliness but I prefer focussing on the satirical side of it. When reading I could really tell what Patrick as a character is making fun of, and it was so funny just how stupid he was the entire time. Like the biggest loser on the planet that was really great to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Abortion

There was also necrophilia. Most of the very violent stuff is told in past tense

once Patrick has woke up and is kind of getting an idea of what happened the night before

. So there is a distance from it which really helps with it not being quite so graphic, as it’s written in a disconnected and like observational way.

bookshelfghost'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? Yes

4.25

Very interesting book, it's easily the most vile I've ever read. Although I by no means enjoyed all the graphic descriptions of the murders, I found the whole throught process interesting. Definitely worth a read if you can power through the long descriptions of designer fashion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Antisemitism

adrx24's review against another edition

dark funny 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? Yes

4.75

“ Is evil something you are? Or is it something you do? ”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis