Review by vanessaamber53 - Anansi Boys

vanessaamber53 's review for:

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

4.0

funny mysterious 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

The reveal of Neil Gaiman being an awful person last year aside, I was gifted this book for my birthday and so I read it because I read everything people gift me. I’m going to review this book objectively, but would like to clarify that I in no way condone the support—financially or otherwise—of Neil Gaiman directly. He’s not a good person.

I’m giving this book a rating of 4 / 5. The concepts were fascinating, I loved getting a peek into West African folklore and mythology, I liked the characters and their depths, and the plot was fascinating. Reading on as the pieces of the mystery and resolution fall into place in quick succession was very interesting, and I liked the pacing. The story is written with serious overarching plot hidden by humor and audacity. There’s a very light-hearted tone throughout, consistently undercut with disbelief, incredulity, and skepticism. The balancing act was very well done. I also liked the character developments. It’s a classic story of Fat Charlie and his brother becoming more like each other as the story progresses, and at the end it’s very clear to see how one brother has impacted the other fundamentally. There’s consistent themes and symbolism throughout that were also interesting to spot throughout the story—namely the connections between songs, spider webs, and the story itself.

The only reason I’m docking a point off of my rating is because I didn’t feel like there was any real lead in to the folklore itself. While interesting to learn about it alongside the character, the lack of any coherent explanation made some of the scenes confusing to me with seemingly no resolution and only at the end did I have a loose idea about what was happening mythology-wise. Otherwise, the plot was sound, the story well-written, and the characters fleshed out.

Content Warnings