Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - The Godfather

great additional detail/back story of characters the movies didnt go into (i now understand why Luca Brasi was seen in the light he was), along with other characters like johnny fontaine.

it sometimes felt mario got a little too into describing the bad behaviors that were considered the norm (i lost track of the amount of times a partner was smacked around among other things), but it definitely makes it feel on the nose for what most americans envision the mob to be like thanks to this book and its movie adaptation.

Content Warnings

somebodys_fool's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

kellygeiger's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

jennaweston's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I have never seen The Godfather, so when I found out it was book, I was intrigued. I had no idea what to expect, but I ended up liking this book way more than I thought.

What I Liked

Loved the pace of this book. Right as you think we’re getting too comfortable, something crazy happens.
the characters were all really interesting and had faults of their own. Right as you thought someone was good, they turned and did something awful.
- you wanted to root for them but also were disappointed in them
Each character got their moment, their backstory, which made the story much more in-depth and interesting.

What I didn’t like

the women in this book are very sexualized and everything is tied around how the men in the family can satisfy them sexually.
- Johnny was a real piece of shit — getting mad at his wife for the divorce
- Kay is an interesting character
It was an older book, but the racist outlook on people of color isn’t great

Content Warnings

samitdhull's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

soliasz's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Strangely, I found this book slightly dissapointing. While I enjoyed the main plot, I found myself confused at the uneeded sideplots and details. Why include a side-plot centering around the size of a characters genitals? Why detail a surgery about it? Why emphasize it so much?

Sometimes I feel that the author did not bother with the idea of killing your darlings, and chose to include so much unnecessary content that muddied the story.

But, I do admire Puzo's prose, simple, yet descriptive and captivating. I also have to give it another inch because of the fantastic and revered movie that sprang from it. The movie is great, but the book? Slightly underwhelming and dissapointing. I believe this is one of the very few cases that the movie is better then the book. If you're a fan of the series, perhaps you would get something out of it, but otherwise, you'd be better off watching, or rewatching the movie.

Content Warnings

More...