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martin27's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
At times the book felt like it dragged on. I think part of it might just be that I usually read books with shorter chapters while this book had fairly long chapters. It’s a really hard story to describe, but it has a long of really interesting moments.
Graphic: War, Infidelity, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Gun violence, Gore, and Animal death
Moderate: Car accident and Alcohol
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
bel017's review against another edition
Graphic: Death and Child death
Moderate: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Grief, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Blood, War, and Adult/minor relationship
justmys's review against another edition
- 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
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
raelinton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Violence, Body horror, Slavery, Racism, Gore, Blood, Sexual content, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, War, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Murder, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Child abuse, Child death, Car accident, Confinement, Cursing, and Violence
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape
eddiesourboy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Sexual content, Child death, Gore, Violence, War, Animal death, Car accident, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Pedophilia and Cancer
sreddous's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I think it’s a unique balance – Shadow doesn’t have a “super strong personality” as a POV character, which could be annoying...but, no, instead, the way I interpreted it, it just made it easy to see him as someone who’s, like, “yup, the gods sure are up to some wacky things, aren’t they?” and… yeah, I’m along for the ride too, what will these wacky gods cook up next??
So that’s why I call this book a five-star experience for me. It felt…strangely realistic and calming!
I think if there are any things I wished could have more space instead of maybe some of the slower plot points, it’s that I wish we had more locations visited in the USA – we spend a whole lot of time in the Midwest, and that’s fine, but it’s such a big country with different pockets of immigrants bringing different gods to different areas, it would have been fun to discover tiny little towns in other places too.
I also found myself asking questions like, “well, the USA isn’t the only capitalist/hyper-modern/greedy country with a large immigrant population – did Greek immigrants bring versions of their gods to Australia, so there are Greek gods in Greece, the USA, and Australia?” And we get a glimpse of that formula being possible when Shadow is in Iceland, so I’m glad to have that touched on, even though the book does indeed focus on, well, the American Gods and how they behave in the USA specifically. So it’s fine.
This is a tricky, complicated topic with tricky, complicated metaphors. But, it sure did leave me thinking and re-imagining scenes.
Content warnings: graphic descriptions of animal abuse and death, sex-related violence, gore
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Gore, and Animal death
scytheria's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Animal death, Murder, and Child death
zumakroom's review against another edition
- 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
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
gracklewarp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Colonisation, Drug use, Animal death, Classism, Murder, Alcohol, Child death, Racial slurs, Slavery, and Genocide
szote's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
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