Reviews tagging 'Racism'

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

33 reviews

mxbluet18's review against another edition

adventurous funny inspiring mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

Trigger warnings for American Gods include: racism, sex work; cheating (infidelity); suicidal ideation; murder and imprisonment.
☆
☆
Days before his release from prison, Shadow’s wife, Laura, dies in a mysterious car crash. Numbly, he makes his way back home. On the plane, he encounters the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.
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This book took me the best part of just over a week to read. But sometimes the length of a book is actually a good thing, it ensures that the reader actually understand what they're reading and gets all the necessary background for the relevant characters.
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That being said, I'm not totally sure I followed the exact intricacies of this one. This isn't the first Neil Gaiman book I've read, and it's not the first to confuse me either. But that's kinda the style of his work from what I understand. While I'm not sure I followed it entirely, I did really enjoy it. The chatactets were really well presented and seemed like genuine people, which is what you want from a book, especially one as long as this one.
~
It was kinda fun to read, especially when it's bringing in the Old Gods, and talking about Norse mythology, but then also Egyptian, Slavic and Arabic. Some of the gods and goddesses I recognised from other versions in other mythology, like the Slavic Zorya sisters who have different variations in Greek mythology. Ultimately, something I really liked was the fact I caught onto one characters godly identity faster than Shadow did. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

navayiota's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This book.. wow. When I started it, I didn't expect to fall in love with it as much as I did. This story is definitely going to stick around in my mind for a while, especially the next few days, since I can't stop thinking about it or bring myself to start another book. Maybe Norse Mythology. Wednesday was one of the best parts of the book, and I know it's what he's most interested and knowledgeable in. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide

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

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

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

giannacolo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Infidelity, Racism, Slavery, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

purlhaggard's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Cultural appropriation

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

marthadude's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, Slavery, and Colonisation

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Pedophilia

444christina's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, and Colonisation

veganecurrywurst's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I did enjoy this book. It had so many interesting concepts and I learned something. However I think that this book could be shorter some parts of the story just seemed dragged out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Police brutality, and Car accident