Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

15 reviews

peggy_racham's review against another edition

3.25

Perhaps I wasn't the right audiance for this book. Its was strange and strangely slow at times

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Sexual violence, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Alcohol, Car accident, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Murder, War, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Infidelity, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicide attempt, and Violence

sumia's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Alcoholism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

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

ajdenson'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

2.5

2nd time I read this book. I enjoyed it much more at age 18. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War and Child death

Minor: Alcoholism and Suicidal thoughts

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

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

Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, and Alcoholism

Minor: Suicide

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

ocean's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Child death, Stalking, Sexual content, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Dementia, Death of parent, Cursing, Alcohol, Colonisation, Cannibalism, Blood, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, and Confinement

sofipitch's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

I REALLY loved this. I've read 3 other books by Gaiman and never really got why he was so popular, I thought they were good but not great. But to me this was great. It felt like reading an adult Percy Jackson (just no greek/roman pantheon which I admire) and Gaiman captures America better than any other book or movie or anything. If anyone wants to know what America is like, I'd hand them this. The plot is so expertly crafted and I have to give a BIG shout out to the way Gaiman wrote Laura. The summary mentions she dies early on and I kind of assumed that the fridged wife would be Shadow's "tragic man pain story" but Laura is so much more important and relevant to the plot and conplicated than a martyred wife. This book really defied a lot of my expectations of what it would be like and it was excellent

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism

chillreads2's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Murder, Slavery, and Violence

Minor: Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, War, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, and Miscarriage