Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

49 reviews

chronicacademia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Genocide, Infidelity, Grief, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Gun violence, Sexism, Abandonment, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Colonisation, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Cultural appropriation, Pregnancy, Suicide, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Violence, Racism, and War

ourlittlelibaryt's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Es war ein unglaublich schwer zu lesendes Buch. Obwohl mich die Geschichte interesiert hat musste ich mich häufig durch die Seiten zwingen. Die Themen und Story sind sehr interessant können es aber nicht alleine aufrecht halten. Am besten fand ich die Kurzgeschichten von Wututu und Agasu, Essie und Salim und des Dschinn.  Noch anzumerken ist das viele gerede über Titten, Klöten und stahlharte Erektionen. Aight I guess

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Colonisation, Slavery, and Death

Moderate: War, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Sexual content, Child death, and Cursing

Minor: Alcohol, Torture, Body horror, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

rotkehlchen's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery and Racism

Minor: Rape

gemstonejasper's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.75

I finally got around to reading this after it was recommended to me by my older sister. It was good. I enjoyed it. It's a big book, so I used it to try and work through my big book fear. I enjoyed the variety of gods that the book showed. I didn't always know which god it was talking about, but that's more so due to my lack of knowledge about these things. But there were a lot of interesting gods that I now want to learn more about. The audiobook was good. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to people who are into this kind of thing. But it's pretty slow at times, so it's not for everyone.

For me, this book seemed almost like a love letter to the US. The main character travels around (even coming to my city at one point and mentioning a tiny town just minutes from where I grew up). It showed the absolute majesty and beauty of America. But it still acknowledges the horrors, both past and present that America has done. The themes that this book explores are interesting. Neil Gaiman is a master in storytelling.

I wouldn't really call the ending "satisfying," but I don't think that was kind of the point, so I'm not going to hold it against the book.

Content warning that doesn't necessarily fit into any of the listed categories:

The main character, at one point, does have sex with a cat god, which some people may find strange. That scene made me a little uncomfortable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, War, Death, Child death, Blood, Car accident, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

dramagnu's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, War, Blood, Gore, Child death, Child abuse, Genocide, Murder, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Violence

multigrainhoops146's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Body horror, Sexual content, Gore, and Colonisation

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Car accident, Rape, and Child death

anj144's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny slow-paced

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

5.0

This book, while incredibly slow paced, is one of those books you read that just stays with you forever. The writing just blows me away. I’m a big Neil Gaiman fan but this one has to be my favorite read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Violence

Minor: Toxic relationship and Sexual violence

shoshin's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.25

I enjoy Gaiman's stories most of the time, but misogyny slips out here and there when he's trying to be gritty. Ruins my enjoyment. I catch myself wishing a woman had written them instead.

I also find the "troubles" bit in the middle difficult to understand--doesn't seem to further Odin's/Loki's purposes that are central to the story. No real reason to kill some of the gods who were killed. If there had been some established enmity between them and Odin or Loki, sure, but I didn't see anything. 

Encapsulating both these complaints: Balquis' character seems to exist completely for proposes that don't further the narrative: adding a sex(ist) scene and dying during the "troubles" part. I could be convinced there's narrative value there, but I'm not seeing it at the moment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Murder, Death of parent, Slavery, Infidelity, Blood, Death, Alcohol, Body horror, Child death, Grief, Sexual content, Sexism, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Cancer, Abandonment, War, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Addiction, Drug use, Vomit, Car accident, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Rape

maybephasing's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Child death

Minor: Death of parent, Rape, and Slavery

soph22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Sexual content, Slavery, Body horror, Child abuse, Infidelity, Violence, Colonisation, Cursing, Kidnapping, Medical content, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Gore, Grief, Racism, Murder, and Blood