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_readerfromtheblacklagoon_'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
3.25
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
molly_au's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Antisemitism, and Alcohol
michaelion's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
A book is bad when I have to question what purpose it served humanity. I am a person who fundamentally believes that all art can be made with no reason or goal in mind; art for art's sake; art because the person who made it felt something, felt they had to get it out, felt they had something to share with the world. I read this book because I wanted to watch the movie, yes I'm that kind of person, and I wish I could unread it. What purpose did this book serve to the greater good of humanity? Fuck the greater good, what contribution to humanity does this book give? It has no analysis, no deeper introspection into the era, the mindset of the people. There's no meat on the bone that is this book.
It has its moments and its beauty, for sure. I love the stream of consciousness and unreliable narration, I love the speaking to the audience, the break rom reality and seeing things in the perspective of a movie, sure. Those elements are great. But as a whole? I never question why art is made. There's art I like and art I don't like. It's easy for me to spot art I like, It's easy for me to spot art I don't like, and there are definitely things that lie in a middle grey area, but for all three of those things I almost never question why it was made. It's an inherently fascist idea to say art should have a purpose else it is a waste of time or attention but this is one of the few exceptions I've encountered. The movie better be good after the shit I just read.
And to be clear, I'm not just mad at the content of the book. It was very upsetting sure, but
I tried to find it in my heart to give it a higher rating, I really did, but I can't lie to my future self who will reread this review and go "damn, the book was that bad?" Hi, future self. To answer your question: No. The book was much worse.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Vomit, Antisemitism, Stalking, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Abortion
jayvdw's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
First off, the book is very slow, especially in the beginning. It fits the theme and sets the book's tone, but it doesn't read nicely. The book has some big themes and criticisms about 1980s America, which is very interesting and insightful. Patricks focus on clothing, brand, music and materialism really sets a mood whilst reading and depth to the characters. BUT IT'S FUCKING BORING. Personally, I skipped most of these, the long lists, I understand why they are there and that Bret intentionally puts them in the book to be boring and bore the reader.
The book is super super gross and not at all for the faint of heart. The book goes into detail about the murders and sex. It is very unsettling and I sometimes strayed away from reading for a few hours after certain chapters.
My favorite part of the book is clearly a few chapters near the end.
Overall, I think this book is very interesting and learnful. Even in the modern day a lot of the themes are still present or even worse. The book is however a very boring read or very gross most of the time, due to this I gave it a low rating, simply because I did not enjoy reading it for most of the book, I also feel like the book could have been half the size. The ending was a let down in my opinion and a bit too vague. It would have been better if the ending focussed more on the trustworthiness of Patrick.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, 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 content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
This book is gross and very very explicit with sex, murder, rape and torture. Not only to men and women, but also animals and children.suchsweetsorrow89'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
3.0
though i understand that ellis deliberately makes it so that this book is satirically exaggerated to emphasize bateman's character (as a reflection of our own), the oversaturation of these moments (which he constantly relies on throughout the text, even at moments when it is not needed) come across as if a 12-year-old is telling the same joke over and over again until it just becomes the same. mindless. punchline. on top of that, the overuse of slurs when ellis actually didn't need to use them at all comes across as lazy character-building (and this is only emphasized by his explicit statement that he doesn't care if he's "canceled" for using the slurs when interviewers brought it up). you can always show a bad character is a bad person without depicting him beating up the homeless over and over, using slurs when not needed, and adding in filler scenes of overt antisemitism that could have been easily erased and made the same points (and made the book more powerful, in my opinion).
though the gore seemed to draw on society's fascination with gore and all things horror (as well as sex), 400 pages of this very particular fascination in the kind of "rinse and repeat" style results in something that loses its significance, dulling and eating in on itself as it goes on.
frankly, i do not know whether i recommend this book. though the ending was actually quite good (and guess what? it did it WITHOUT 4 paragraphs of intense misogyny and hate crimes every five pages! wow- shocker) the oversaturation with which ellis relies on obscures the meaning entirely, almost watering the point down in places where it could have been a memorable text. however, if you want to read it, please take the trigger warnings seriously— and i suggest an audiobook as an aid from pages 60-360, since the middle really isn't worth your time or really worth any meaningful pen-to-page analytical thoughts.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicide, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Genocide, Dementia, and Death of parent
darwynne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
annilikesbooks's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Cannibalism, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
trentl14's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
teleportsbehindyou's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail