★★★★☆ (4/5)

Sean mentions his brother Patrick (the American Psycho ) in passing, but the connection deepens Ellis’s universe. Where Patrick is a hyper-violent, repressed Wall Street broker, Sean is a lazy, emotionally stupid college kid. Together, they represent two poles of 1980s masculine failure.

The story is built around a complex, often contradictory love triangle involving three main characters:

: You can find the novel at retailers like Target (approx. $13.38) or Penguin Random House (approx. $18).

💡 Whether you are reading it for a class or for pleasure, Ellis’s prose serves as a time capsule of a specific era, reminding us that the search for connection is often messy, confusing, and heartbreakingly human.