Rudi reviewed American Gods + Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
Review of 'American Gods + Anansi Boys' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
This book combines a great premise and a great setting. It's filled with characters that all have interesting quirks (mostly due to many of them being gods), and there's lots of really fun episodes in the book. There's a twist, there's a climax, there's a love story and there's a journey. There's lots of things to like, and I really understand those who love this book.
So I feel like I have to defend not loving this book, as it does so many things right. It's a fine book, and I liked reading it. But maybe it just doesn't resonate as much with me as with others? I'm sure Shadow's (lack of) personality was intentional, but it doesn't make for an interesting journey to follow. The people he meet are all intersting, but they seldom evolve beyond the side characters that they are. The grand scheme turns out to not …
This book combines a great premise and a great setting. It's filled with characters that all have interesting quirks (mostly due to many of them being gods), and there's lots of really fun episodes in the book. There's a twist, there's a climax, there's a love story and there's a journey. There's lots of things to like, and I really understand those who love this book.
So I feel like I have to defend not loving this book, as it does so many things right. It's a fine book, and I liked reading it. But maybe it just doesn't resonate as much with me as with others? I'm sure Shadow's (lack of) personality was intentional, but it doesn't make for an interesting journey to follow. The people he meet are all intersting, but they seldom evolve beyond the side characters that they are. The grand scheme turns out to not be that interesting, and as it's revealed, everything kind of just blows over, and that's that. I liked that the book was slow, and focused more on the little things than the big picture. I loved how it used myths, and the universe that's created. It all made for a nice read - but not much more (to me). I might be a bit harsh, but this is a big book with quite a reputation, so I expected more from it than what it delivered. I did like it though, and I do reccomend reading it for anyone who is on the fence.