Reviews with content warning for Violence - Anansi Boys: A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Anansi Boys: A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation by Neil Gaiman

14 reviews

andyjadestar's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

vanessaamber53's review against another edition

4.0

funny 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: Yes

The reveal of Neil Gaiman being an awful person last year aside, I was gifted this book for my birthday and so I read it because I read everything people gift me. I’m going to review this book objectively, but would like to clarify that I in no way condone the support—financially or otherwise—of Neil Gaiman directly. He’s not a good person.

I’m giving this book a rating of 4 / 5. The concepts were fascinating, I loved getting a peek into West African folklore and mythology, I liked the characters and their depths, and the plot was fascinating. Reading on as the pieces of the mystery and resolution fall into place in quick succession was very interesting, and I liked the pacing. The story is written with serious overarching plot hidden by humor and audacity. There’s a very light-hearted tone throughout, consistently undercut with disbelief, incredulity, and skepticism. The balancing act was very well done. I also liked the character developments. It’s a classic story of Fat Charlie and his brother becoming more like each other as the story progresses, and at the end it’s very clear to see how one brother has impacted the other fundamentally. There’s consistent themes and symbolism throughout that were also interesting to spot throughout the story—namely the connections between songs, spider webs, and the story itself.

The only reason I’m docking a point off of my rating is because I didn’t feel like there was any real lead in to the folklore itself. While interesting to learn about it alongside the character, the lack of any coherent explanation made some of the scenes confusing to me with seemingly no resolution and only at the end did I have a loose idea about what was happening mythology-wise. Otherwise, the plot was sound, the story well-written, and the characters fleshed out.

Content Warnings

sreddous's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-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

This is a heck of a complex story. Neil Gaiman does an astonishing job paying attention to detail and making every tiny little character arc/motivation/mistake/etc. pay off in the end.

I normally get annoyed both if a writer spoon-feeds too many details to me but also if a writer doesn't give enough details and "expects me to do too much of the work". Neil Gaiman has this perfect balance of beautiful writing with just enough details that an extremely-interesting "movie" plays in my head while I read. I don't know how he does it.

This book is funny, challenging, uncomfortable, in all the ways I wanted it to be. I felt so frustrated so often but in a way that made me deeply invested in what Fat Charlie was trying to smooth out. I was cheering for him and groaning from his mistakes, but that's just how immersive this all is. Natural dialogue, understandable motivations.

Good stuff!

Content Warnings

zsabella's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious 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

neil makes some obviously discworldian moves in this and I ate it up. it’s wickedly fun and laugh-out-loud funny. I rarely reread books, but this was so enjoyable that I could see myself coming back to this at least one or two times more. patiently waiting for the live action miniseries to announce a release date sometime soon!

Content Warnings

tjwolf's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

franklola's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

risaleel's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark funny 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

Content Warnings

niccolowilliam's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It was a bit hard for me to get through, i didnt like the writing style much and (this is the nicest way i can say this) its very obviously written by a straight man. This would all be fine but

i have trouble getting over the fact that spider raped rosie and then they live happily wver after

i like the concept and honestly if woman weren't written how they are in the book id probably rate it a star higher. I dont believe the author intended to fall into misogynistic tropes but growing up in a sexist society he probably did it subconsciously. No hate just my opinion

Content Warnings