Book Review: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Plain and simple, it's a picture of who Patrick Bateman is and what he looks like. Just by looking at this alone you can see something is wrong with the guy. Is he a coldblooded murderer? Though you can't see much of his attire, from the little you see of his suit you can tell he has money. I think this was a good cover to use for the book because it gives you a face to go with the name as you go along.

Patrick Bateman, the main character, works on Wall Street and has all that a woman could ask for. Looks, money, charm, and intelligence. But there is something with him, a secret that people don't know about, he is a psycho (hence the title of the book). Written in first person, we are taken to his world through his eyes and live each of his days along side of him.

Rated 3 Stars

The books is considered to be a dark comedy. Even I was told by friends to read the book and see the movie because they thought I would like it. I failed to see the humor, even dark humor, in this book. There wasn't one part of the book when I did laugh. The book was too gruesome, even for me and I normally don't have a problem reading gory books. But something with this book did it to me. And the worst part of it all, the killing of dogs. I actually cried reading when he did this. I honestly can't take any book or movie when dogs are killed.

The ending felt unfinished to me. That it could've gone either way; did he commit these murders? Or was it all in his head? I wish there was a little more for us to go on. But then again, the guy is a psycho so I guess again, it could go either way. And even if the murders were all in his mind, then he is just as much a psycho for thinking about them.

Too many details made the book boring. Some chapters spend the first few pages of him describing his clothes or what everyone else was wearing. Sometimes I just skimmed through it because it was so repetitive. And it never ended with him mentioning the Patty Winters show. Alright we get it! He likes to watch the show. It didn't have to be mentioned more than once in every single chapter.

I did like that the story takes place in NYC which is where I live. But I wished I liked this book more than I really did. But I couldn't really get into it as much as I'd hoped.

I recommend this book for anyone who likes gruesome and gory scenes in horror. But if you have a weak stomach, don't read this book.

This cover gives a unrealistic image of Patrick Bateman but at the same time shows more of what a psycho he is. What's with his face in this picture? Is that blood to represent all the people kills? Or is it perhaps the madness in his mind? Here, you do see more of the clothing attire, showing that he is indeed rich.

This cover plain and simply shows you that Patrick Bateman is a murderer. Or is he really? Using Christian Bale from the movie as the cover, you see Bateman is a good looking man which is stated many times in the book. The knife in his hand, you see is about to go on one of his killing sprees. Perhaps his reflection in the knife means the two personalities that he has. The good, handsome, rich man that makes women fall madly in love with him. And the psycho who what it comes down to hates woman and tortures them and kills them. This one in my opinion gives the reader the real Patrick Bateman in the book.

My next book review will be The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman