Reviews

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

asetian's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

pendularium's review against another edition

3.25

I don't think I like how Gaiman writes very much. 

multenis's review against another edition

3.0

Gaiman said the book is big because America is big and can hardly be put into a book. I think the similarities do not end there.

For this is a confusing book, scattered and trying to do much with too little, in some ways belittling the old beliefs while giving no criticism to America's favourite deity.

I'm no writer, so I'll explain it simply: this book is your headphones that you've left in your coat pocket, all tangled up and nightmarish; and you determinately unravel the mess just to find out that one of the sides isn't working and you've spent this time and effort just to be disappointed in the end.

Gaiman thinks the question is "how dare you", but I'd rather ask "why", or plainly say "be brave, try harder".

bassouu's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

brandidean's review against another edition

3.0

There was some really good stuff in this ... and there was a lot of stuff that I think just went over my head. It probably deserves more than three stars, but can't quite give it four. Maybe my expectations were too high. I went in really expecting to love it. I think it's probably something I need to reread and maybe look up more of the religions referenced to appreciate. But don't really care enough to do that.

sol_13's review against another edition

4.0

Es el primer libro que leo de Neil Gaiman y puedo decir que seguramente lea alguno más. El escritor tiene un estilo bastante fluido y eso que realmente puede hacerte sentir que no avanzas nada leyendo, ya que el libro es un poco camino a ciegas. No dejan de pasar cosas, pero tampoco te sitúan en ningún momento, te van acumulando una serie de dudas que al final terminan por encajar perfectamente.
El final del libro sorprende, puedes haberte hecho idea, haber construido teorías e incluso acertar en tus sospechas, pero de igual modo impacta.
No es un libro especialmente de fantasía, aunque lo haya metido en esa estantería. Sus palabras irradian una mezcla de misterio, oscuridad y magia muy cargada de dobles sentidos y reflexiones. Esto hace que sea un libro interesante de leer y no sólo por la historia en sí, por estar dentro de ella, es que además la idea en sí, la elección de los personajes y la problemática que se desarrolla es algo que hace pensar cómo pudo llegar a la cabeza del autor. Domina grandes temas con una fluidez y en un contexto peculiar.
Como se ve en el título va sobre dioses americanos, sobre el sentimiento espiritual, pero con un enfoque bastante distinto a cualquiera que se pueda imaginar. De pequeña sentía mucha afición por la mitología y que este libro tenga pinceladas de ella pues me hace más cercana a él.
Es un libro al que hay que darle su tiempo, es de una longitud extensa y no creo que se pueda leer pensando en terminarlo ni de carrerilla, aunque no se haga pesado y no sea difícil de leer.

bunyyprincess's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

maya_moksha's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

0.25

Vile

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

voxdread's review against another edition

4.0

Each page flowed perfectly into the next. There were moments when I knew where it was going, and plenty of moments where I did not.

I thought I was interpreting Shadow As very boring, but after reading for so long, the author made a point to have a companion character call him out for this characteristic. Felt validated.

jerseytodd's review against another edition

5.0

Am I the only one that didn't understand some parts?