Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

American Gods: Author's Perferred Text by Neil Gaiman

10 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

jessthanthree's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Infertility, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

justmys's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Excrement, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

redheadorganist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content and Suicidal thoughts

jenny_d's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Excrement, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

bebidocrimes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

I can't believe a British man captured the charm of the US so well. Holy places being roadside attractions and small towns was such a good decision, and I love that Gaiman makes sure his characters are fed and you know it. Makes me hungry. I can definitely feel where his voice shows up in Good Omens now. I can also see where this book inspired other creators I follow (Erin Morgenstern, Alex Hirsch maybe). Took a minute to care about Shadow, but he really is such a sweetie and it shows in the littlest ways like caring for Bast before he really decided he believed in gods and cheating a coin toss to lose so he would have to pay for Sam's meal. I can tell it's been too long since I've been in a literature class because the foreshadowing drove right past me, even when it was literally in all caps and bolded, smh. Kinda surprised at how easy the resolution seemed, but overall it concluded very well. Loved it so much, I bought Neverwhere before I was halfway through this one.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

ocean's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

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

madradstarchild's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Violence, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Cancer, Confinement, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

bluejayreads's review against another edition

adventurous tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

The story is a solid adventure through magic and a bunch of different mythologies, with Shadow following Mr. Wednesday through a lot of crazy stuff and meeting a host of interesting people. Then at the end it hits you with a bunch of twists one after the other and bumps a very good book up to a fantastic one. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Shadow is not, in a sense, a character. He's there, sure, and he says things and does things, but he doesn't feel like a fully realized person and I don't think he's supposed to. He has a lot going on all of the sudden that he doesn't really know how to deal with, and even another character points out that he doesn't seem very alive. That's a part of his character's journey, but he also functions as his namesake - a few stereotypes stacked together into the shape of a likeable but not remarkable shadow we the reader can follow to experience this world and these events. 

And said world and events are worth experiencing. The gods came with immigrants from the Old World, but America has forgotten the old gods and worship the new ones of technology and innovation that they create. There is a storm coming. Gods live among humans and survive on the worship and sacrifice they are given, and as you might imagine, the "new gods" of TV and phones and the internet are getting a bit more worship from Americans than Odin and Anansi and Ishtar. Mr. Wednesday wants to do something about that. 

His full plan isn't clear until the end of the book. But in the meantime, Mr. Wednesday takes Shadow all across America and to places beyond reality, meeting old gods and new ones and legends and monsters. Shadow rides a carousel into Odin's hall, plays checkers with the Slavic god of bad fortune in a dusty Chicago apartment, sporadically lives an ordinary life in a small town under an assumed name, and journeys to the halls of the dead. He meets a host of fascinating characters, some human but many not so much, and it's great to just follow him around and experience all the wonder and magic under the skin of the world we're familiar with. 

And then the book comes up on the end and hits you with several twists, one after the other, but it doesn't feel startling as much as the puzzle pieces finally fall into place all at once and the picture revealed is shockingly different from what you thought it would be. (To be fair, I probably would have called one of the twists early on if I'd been reading it instead of listening to an audiobook, but the other ones I don't think I would have seen coming either way.) Up to this point the book was absolutely good, but those twists bumped the needle of my opinion from "solidly good, I recommend it" to "stunning and magnificient." Whatever your opinion of the idea or the storyline or the characters, this book is worth studying just for technique, because this is how you write a twist ending. The whole story is great, but with the ending, it's a masterpiece. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Blood, and Medical content

Moderate: Animal death, Kidnapping, and Cannibalism

Minor: Racial slurs, Suicide, Transphobia, Excrement, Vomit, and Car accident

Death of spouse, autopsy procedures, prison, drowning