Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

16 reviews

the_reading_wren's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative fast-paced

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

3.75

I haven’t read the book so can’t say how accurate the radio show is as an adaptation, but it is really well produced. I didn’t know much about Norse mythology before and this gave a great overview. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

nicholasbobbitt1997's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

Fantastic rendering of the Norse myths. Eminently readable, broke me out of a months-long reading slump. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Excrement

riverofhorton's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

I went into this book with the assumption that it is at least somewhat accurate to the myths, and while there are elements that are, this is very much a Christianised Loki-Bad-Odin-Good portrayal of those myths.

Taken in isolation, it is as well written and mildly comical as Gaiman's other works, but within the context of it being a retelling of the Norse myths, it just missed the mark on so many points for me.

As example:

the legions of Hel are described as being "the evil dead", which to my knowledge is not only a Christian concept, but also unjust. Those dead are simply people that didn't die in battle, so while there will be "evil" among them, they're not intrinsically so. Such phrasing also implies that Odin's warriors are equivalent to the angels of Christianity, something made ironic when you realise it's possible for "evil" people to die in battle.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

nightmaresandfairytales's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

I bought this book because it was recommended somewhere as a good introduction if you want to learn more about Norse mythology because it is simpler to read than an actual Edda. In my own point of view, I would not recommend it to anyone not having a clue about Norse mythology though. I was familiar with the topic and quickly found my way into the stories about the gods, giants and others. Some basic knowledge is definitely helpful to know what is happening, who is involved and where it is happening.

But if you bring a solid base, this book is great entertainment. Gaiman managed to break down the stories about the Norse gods into simple, short tales that are entertaining and even make a round story. The characteristics of the gods and other creatures come out very well and I often had a good laugh. Gaiman's book stresses why Thor in particular is such a well-liked figure in Norse mythology.

I can't judge if the stories are adequate - I've never read the originals. But some of the tales sounded familiar, although I didn't know many details. I really enjoyed this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Grief and Murder

peachmoni's review

informative medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Torture, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Bullying, Genocide, Suicide, and War

kaaaaaaaa's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Infidelity, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Excrement, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

valpuri's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, and Pregnancy

redheadorganist's review against another edition

adventurous informative fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War

mooshake's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative fast-paced

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

4.25

me and the boys trigger the end of the world 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Misogyny

ravensandlace's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

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

4.0

Title: Norse Mythology

Author: Neil Gaiman

Genre: Historical Fiction Fantasy

Format: paperback book from the library

Star Rating: 4 stars

tw: death, murder, bodily harm, suicide, bestiality, violence, drowning, torture

One of my goals in life is to learn more about different mythologies, besides all the basic ones. I’ve been interested in Norse mythology since I watched Apsolov: End of Gods and Unforgiving: A Northern Hymn. Both are very cool horror games relating to Norse mythology and I suggest checking out John Wolfe’s playthrough of them both. 

Anyway. What an exciting book! The Norse gods are pretty interesting, including Loki. He’s one of my favorite gods. Even though this book was pretty short, I felt like all the gods were pretty fleshed out. They got almost equal amounts of page time. I just learned so much. I could tell a lot of research went into this book. It felt like I was reading the bible but better. I am not sorry for that comment at all. 

I wish Marvel had followed this book and actual Norse mythology. The movies would have been way better, in my opinion. Plus they would have gotten their information right especially with Loki and Hel (another one of my favorite gods). Plus, I think that this is way more interesting than what they did. Sure, I liked the Thor movies but I felt like they could have been way better.

Overall, the buzz about this book and this author were spot on. I’ve heard the author is just a sweetheart online and is so nice to fans. I had such a blast reading this book. I will be sure to check out more of Neil Gaiman’s work since this one was such a hit for me. As for my recommendations, I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about Norse mythology. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail