Reviews tagging 'Torture'

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

26 reviews

jessthanthree's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Death, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Torture, Animal death, War, Slavery, Medical content, Mental illness, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexism, Alcohol, Body horror, and Gun violence

Minor: Excrement, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Colonisation, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Death of parent, Infertility, and Confinement

justmys's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Blood, Sexual content, Body horror, Vomit, Gore, Excrement, and Child death

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Confinement, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Cancer, Grief, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

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

greenglass67's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

This is one of my all-time favorite books. It’s a combination of a detective mystery, a thriller, a romance, and more. The mythology behind this story is so detailed. Little hints and clues are laced throughout the whole book. It’s got a very American feel, as the title implies. It’s a fascinating commentary on belief, culture, faith, and worship. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, War, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Infidelity

Moderate: Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Blood, Alcohol, Colonisation, Murder, and Police brutality

Minor: Terminal illness, Gore, Cursing, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

cstein's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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? No

4.5

A couple too many driving scenes and stays in decrepit hotels/houses bogged down the narrative in the middle. However, overall I found it to be a provocative and authentic-feeling exploration of American culture, rounded out by a slow burn small-town mystery and anchored by a fantastical romance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Grief, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Confinement, and Death of parent

Moderate: Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Infidelity, Mental illness, Slavery, Torture, Racism, Racial slurs, and Colonisation

Minor: Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, and Incest

zumakroom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Drug use, Cursing, Animal death, Drug abuse, Torture, Violence, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

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

fayeferre's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Torture, Body horror, Death, and Murder

56bumblebees's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

thestorydoer's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.25

American Gods is a book whose meticulously crafted through unique world building and vivid imagery, it's also enjoyable to read the many monotonous moments of the book. 
It begins very strongly with a lot of mystery and excitement, and ends even stronger, raising the whole book up another level, but the middle feels quite tedious at times. It favours the inclusion of its world of ancient gods in modern times over traditional forms of drama. This makes the read an incredibly slow one. And at 800 pages, it's definitely not for people who struggle to read slowly paced books. 
But the world is so incredibly well thought out, it almost doesn't matter as it doubles down on its worldbuilding storytelling, the author trusting his ability to create a world so good, it surpassed regular dramatic tension. Not to say there aren't tense moments, because there are, just very far and few between pages. Again, this makes the story a pleasurable but monotonous read.

Although, what is it with good authors and uncomfortable sexual references? This book often has mentions of rape and pedophelia in multiple moments. Some work in its context, others feel needlessly included. The book also has a fixation on sex, which is fair? But I was personally not a fan of just how fixated it was. It never goes into explicit detail but it is implied multiple times throughout the book. 

Overall, it was worth the read because of its world and it's faults can be very easily overlooked.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Pedophilia, Rape, Slavery, and Sexism