American Gods in The Insecure Writer's Support Group Book Club

Mar 25, 2019 Regina Wilson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A re-listen to one of my all time favorite audiobooks, a full cast recording. The story is even better than I remembered. Just fantastic.

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May 23, 2017 L.F. Falconer rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Strange, mesmerizing, and brilliant!

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Feb 07, 2019 Toi Thomas rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal, rated, adult, reviewed, mythology, action-adventure

It took me longer to read this book than expected, but that was actually part of my plan. Once I started reading this, I knew I had to break my usual routine of reading multiple books at once, to really pay attention to what was happening in this story. I'm not giving away any spoilers but will admit that figuring out Shadow's origin wasn't the great mystery it was built up to be. Still, even knowing that, this book was so worth reading.

There were aspects of the story that I felt were a bit cli It took me longer to read this book than expected, but that was actually part of my plan. Once I started reading this, I knew I had to break my usual routine of reading multiple books at once, to really pay attention to what was happening in this story. I'm not giving away any spoilers but will admit that figuring out Shadow's origin wasn't the great mystery it was built up to be. Still, even knowing that, this book was so worth reading.

There were aspects of the story that I felt were a bit cliche, seemingly written for shock value, but in a story where cons happen daily and people do things for shock value as a common strategy, it worked. There were very few likable characters in this story, but Gaiman excelled at presenting the reader with an MC they could like and root for. Shadow isn't always the smartest character on the page, but from the start, I was drawn to him and wanted him to succeed at whatever he did.

Mr. Wednesday, the constant center of attention and the catalyst for the whole story, isn't actually my least favorite character, but I did grow to have a "love to hate" feeling for him by the end. Still, hate is a bit strong; perhaps I was just disappointed in his actions (not the character, the character was awesome in his role).

I think what I enjoyed most about this story was the history and intermingling of different gods and deities from religions around the world. For that reason also, I'd caution certain people from reading this. This is not a great read for people of dogmatic faith who don't like to be questioned in any way. This book was not written for those people. This book seems to have been written for people who question everything or who are simply atheists. I personally lean more towards questioning.

This is an adult read containing lots of mature content, including sex, drugs, violence, and more. Still, these things do not fuel the narrative. This is a well-crafted story that doesn't rely on shock to keep a reader's attention, even if some stuff seems to have been written for shock-value.

Recommended to fans of mythology, supernatural, paranormal, and light horror who have a good sense of humor (this is not a funny story). ...more

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Aug 29, 2012 Fei rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Having never read a book by Neil Gaiman previously this was a perfect introduction to his style of writing. Add to that a novel based on mythical gods of different cultures and a 'war' of old religion vs popular culture which can be related to by any academic with an interest in either/both subjects and it's a unique read anyone should add to their reading list :) ...more

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