Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

American Gods: Author's Perferred Text by Neil Gaiman

5 reviews

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

shoshin's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

I enjoy Gaiman's stories most of the time, but misogyny slips out here and there when he's trying to be gritty. Ruins my enjoyment. I catch myself wishing a woman had written them instead.

I also find the "troubles" bit in the middle difficult to understand--doesn't seem to further Odin's/Loki's purposes that are central to the story. No real reason to kill some of the gods who were killed. If there had been some established enmity between them and Odin or Loki, sure, but I didn't see anything. 

Encapsulating both these complaints: Balquis' character seems to exist completely for proposes that don't further the narrative: adding a sex(ist) scene and dying during the "troubles" part. I could be convinced there's narrative value there, but I'm not seeing it at the moment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Car accident, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Rape and Fire/Fire injury

zumakroom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol

corriejn's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

4.5

I thought most of this book was great, but certain sections (no spoilers) dragged out far too long. I did listen to the ~12k words longer, original author's cut edition, so maybe those were some of the sections that were cut down a good bit for the original publishing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Excrement, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

aecorsilva's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

This book is an amazing encapsulation of Americana and the complex themes around it. Though it was very, very slow at first, I found  myself being enthralled in the last third, with all of the strings shown in the novel fitting together perfectly. If you like themes of Americana and religion, you should absolutely read this book!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Murder