Reviews

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

kiwi_of_serenity's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious reflective tense 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

5.0

Myths are fun because they are both familiar and unexpected. Even a myth you have heard before is both of these things, if it is told well. This book has that same quality. The plot careens and kept me guessing, but there was a familiar shape to it. I was introduced to so many strange gods, but they all  had something reassuringly familiar about them. And, most importantly, this book confronted me with new visions of American beliefs and culture, but also outlined the shapes of things I am already very familiar with. Gaiman says in the foreword that this book was written to help him make sense of America, and I can so clearly see that as I read it. It helps me make sense of America, too, even though I've barely left this country in my life. It uncovers some beautiful things about this country that I had forgotten about. I love the portrait this book paints of American devotion and worship being split among so many deliverers, providences, and bogeymen. I love the idea that this is a tough land for gods. I'm going to think about these things, and all the rest of the book, very often.
Also, one of my favorite moments while reading this book was looking up the motel in the middle of America and discovering that it is a real place and that the story Gaiman tells about its history is 100% true. It is such an American thing to find the actual center of our country and decide to just make it a monumental place, then discover it's on private property, and the owner doesn't want a monument in his field, so we have to make a pretend center of the U.S. elsewhere.... and turns out, not many people visit anyway. 

tildy08's review against another edition

4.0

It was a great way to learn more about mythology. A tad long for my liking but I liked it nonetheless.

nekotin's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

4.0

ches's review against another edition

2.0

What I learnt from reading this book:

1) I need to admit that I just don’t like magical realism as a genre

2) I need to learn how to DNF books I’m not enjoying

_stephanie_98's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-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? Yes

3.75

amguerreiro's review against another edition

slow-paced

4.0

benjamin_roelfs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.5

ramonacecillia's review against another edition

5.0

if you didn't enjoy this literary masterpiece, i suggest you simply grow up.

ethias's review against another edition

1.0

I have very mixed feelings about this book. It’s very well written and well performed (I listened to the audiobook in the end), but it simply is not my type of book. It’s taken me years to get through it, starting and stopping constantly. I think it just wasn’t really written for me. It felt like a terribly long rambling about preparing for a big event just for it to kind of culminate in nothing really.

unread's review against another edition

adventurous funny

3.75

there's a lot going on in the ending