14.9k reviews for:

American Gods

Neil Gaiman

4.05 AVERAGE


American Gods borders the line between blaspheming and proselytizing. I can't say that I fell in love with any of the characters or was compelled to stay up late at night, turning the pages. But the story is well written, and it seems well researched. I took my time with the book, not because I was bored with it, but because it felt comfortable, and I liked that I was spending just a little time every night in this world. There is just enough fantasy to make you realize that reality isn't all that it seems. Even (maybe especially) towards the end, I wasn't sure which way the story was going to go, but I was optimistic for an interesting ending, and I was not left unimpressed.
adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

The book IS good ...but just watch the show. Save yourself hours of time. 

I liked this. A lot. I think.

Has anyone decided what genre this novel falls in? I understand now why that is a question that floats around.

If you enjoy Gaiman and are in to experience a grittier, explicitly cruder version of his work...this is the one for you! There is plenty of folklore, magic and religion rooted in this story, that a Gaiman reader will appreciate....but there is enough real life (or I guess a pseudo real life?) story layered on top to appeal to a broader audience.

I'm not sure who I would recommend this to; probably not a lot of people...although personally I'm pretty sure I was fully satisfied with it. If you do read it I'm sure you'll know what I mean.

Woops I finished this book awhile ago and forgot to update this.

This book was pretty good! I found the mythology interesting.

Para ser que la fantasía no es mi género preferido, estuvo bien. Por varios motivos, tardé demasiado en terminarlo, y más allá de los personales, uno de ellos fue que el medio de la historia se me hizo cuesta arriba. Al parecer, la versión que leí fue la extendida, me atrevo a decir que los escritores, incluso los consagrados, hacen bien en escuchar a los editores. En este caso, creo que hubiera disfrutado más de la versión original, pero bueno... Algunos autores se ganan el derecho a hacer lo que quieran, y este es el caso de Gaiman. Supongo que los amantes de la fantasía estuvieron encantados con esta versión, lástima que no sea mi caso. De todos modos, bien escrito, con conceptos interesantes y teniendo en cuenta mi no preferencia por el género, se puede decir que es una excelente novela.
adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous emotional funny medium-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
adventurous dark mysterious

Honestly a wasted opportunity of a book. It had all the ingredients, but Gaiman could not commit to saying anything more profound that "people these days worship money, man." It's a book that flinches from actually examining its own subjects and it's a shame, because the concept had legs.

Gaiman has a writer's eye and an immigrant's perspective, when he actually describes the US, he hits the bull's eye every time. But he's also too cowardly or too lazy to go beyond the surface and it just kills the book.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark mysterious slow-paced

Audiobook cast was great!  Just could not get into the story.  I listened to the whole thing!