Reviews tagging 'Gore'

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

54 reviews

sreddous's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This is a tricky one. I actually remember saying out loud to friends as I was reading this, “I don’t think there’s a whole ton of description, and usually I get annoyed if books expect me to ‘do too much of the work’ – yet I can totally imagine everything that’s happening here.” Neil Gaiman’s writing and dialogue are so good that even though this book is LONG and the pacing is often slow and hard to follow, it was so easy to “see the crazy stuff that was happening through Shadow’s eyes” that I felt totally immersed pretty much the whole time. 

I think it’s a unique balance – Shadow doesn’t have a “super strong personality” as a POV character, which could be annoying...but, no, instead, the way I interpreted it, it just made it easy to see him as someone who’s, like, “yup, the gods sure are up to some wacky things, aren’t they?” and… yeah, I’m along for the ride too, what will these wacky gods cook up next??

So that’s why I call this book a five-star experience for me. It felt…strangely realistic and calming!

I think if there are any things I wished could have more space instead of maybe some of the slower plot points, it’s that I wish we had more locations visited in the USA – we spend a whole lot of time in the Midwest, and that’s fine, but it’s such a big country with different pockets of immigrants bringing different gods to different areas, it would have been fun to discover tiny little towns in other places too.

I also found myself asking questions like, “well, the USA isn’t the only capitalist/hyper-modern/greedy country with a large immigrant population – did Greek immigrants bring versions of their gods to Australia, so there are Greek gods in Greece, the USA, and Australia?” And we get a glimpse of that formula being possible when Shadow is in Iceland, so I’m glad to have that touched on, even though the book does indeed focus on, well, the American Gods and how they behave in the USA specifically. So it’s fine.

This is a tricky, complicated topic with tricky, complicated metaphors. But, it sure did leave me thinking and re-imagining scenes.

Content warnings: graphic descriptions of animal abuse and death, sex-related violence, gore

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Gore, and Animal death

greenglass67's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

This is one of my all-time favorite books. It’s a combination of a detective mystery, a thriller, a romance, and more. The mythology behind this story is so detailed. Little hints and clues are laced throughout the whole book. It’s got a very American feel, as the title implies. It’s a fascinating commentary on belief, culture, faith, and worship. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, War, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Infidelity

Moderate: Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Blood, Alcohol, Colonisation, Murder, and Police brutality

Minor: Terminal illness, Gore, Cursing, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

cstein's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

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

4.5

A couple too many driving scenes and stays in decrepit hotels/houses bogged down the narrative in the middle. However, overall I found it to be a provocative and authentic-feeling exploration of American culture, rounded out by a slow burn small-town mystery and anchored by a fantastical romance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Grief, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Confinement, and Death of parent

Moderate: Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Infidelity, Mental illness, Slavery, Torture, Racism, Racial slurs, and Colonisation

Minor: Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, and Incest

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

szote's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, War, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Alcoholism, Body horror, Animal death, Addiction, Death, Genocide, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Vomit, Racism, Gore, Infidelity, Suicide, Torture, Car accident, Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

kaabtik's review against another edition

dark funny tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

The first half of the book was really slow moving and picked up around the 60% mark imo. I did enjoy how Shaow unraveled the identities of the gods — albeit a bit slow, there is that feeling of uncertainty esp since Shadow can be unreliable at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Sexual content

leapyear_reader's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-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

3.75

It feels as if i have taken an extraordinary roadtrip through Gaiman’s inner woorkings of his imagination and source of creativity. A book filled with complex, layered characters, each compelling enough to be a protogonist, yet Gaiman slices through tales and trips like butter on pancakes served in a motel diner.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, War, Murder, Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Slavery, and Animal death

Moderate: Gore, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Grief, Genocide, and Vomit

Minor: Car accident and Miscarriage

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

eni_iilorak's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, War, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Torture, and Car accident

Moderate: Slavery, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Racism

usually_sleep_deprived's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Gaslighting, Gore, Alcohol, Car accident, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Suicide, and Torture