Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

3 reviews

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

miayukino's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

Helped me get over some big book fear. I love Shadow so much, which is saying something because I never tend to feel so strongly about protagonists. This book comforted me as I chugged through it, slowly, probably over a year. But it was worth it, and l imagine I’ll be reading it again when the time is right. It was wonderful to finish this book in time for spring. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Car accident, Child death, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Vomit, Colonisation, Death of parent, Death, Gore, Murder, Sexual content, Body horror, Torture, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Cursing

Minor: Fatphobia, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and War

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

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

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