Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Anansi Boys

It was a bit hard for me to get through, i didnt like the writing style much and (this is the nicest way i can say this) its very obviously written by a straight man. This would all be fine but

i have trouble getting over the fact that spider raped rosie and then they live happily wver after

i like the concept and honestly if woman weren't written how they are in the book id probably rate it a star higher. I dont believe the author intended to fall into misogynistic tropes but growing up in a sexist society he probably did it subconsciously. No hate just my opinion

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road24's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious 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

4.0

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tasto777's review

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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

4.0

Great book.
I really enjoyed Anansi Boys. In my opion it is weaker then American Gods mostly because the first half of the book kind of dragged on and i really had to push through. Especially the bit where

Charlies brother takes over his life and even goes out and sleeps with his fiancee Rosie

was hard for me to read. I am usually not that bothered by emotional topics but something about this felt so horrible i had to put the book away for a couple of days before i was able to continue. And there was just not too much going on despite following Charlie around. The second half was much better and you definitly got tge pay off for staying. The characters worked great together and all the bits of the world finally fell into place even before the end. The worldbuilding in the first half while a bit boring fleshed everything out so you could really dive into the book when the story started going faster.

For me thr best parts were the ones with the gods in their dimension in dreams and the stories of Anansi. This is in my opinion the thing Gaiman does incredibly great. Already in american gods you could feel the divine atmosphere in those scenes and this book has it too. It doesn't feel out of place or too much. It is just right.

But compared to american gods it has its strengths too. It is shorter and faster paced (onceyou got past the worldbuilding) and therefore it may be more interesting. It is more based in realism and has less weird or magical things happening and relies not as much on the gods doing god stuff to further the plot. And the development of the protagonist makes more sense and to be honest the protagonist in this book actually has a personality.

Would i recommend this book?
Yeah. Just as much as american gods but to dofferent people. If you enjoy fantasy but not too much, if you like interesting characters, gods, stories withing the story.. then this book is for you.

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