American Gods - Reivew

American Gods - Neil Gaiman 

3.5/5 Stars 

My thoughts are all over the place with this book... So I'll separate this review into pros and cons to try and avoid rambling! 

Pros

I absolutely loved the overall concept of this book and found it highly inventive and imaginative. The first 200 pages or so were amazing, as I loved the slow burned discovery of the plot and what was happening in this world. 

I quite liked Shadow, as a main protagonist, as it was refreshing to see a more laid-back main character, instead of someone who's always whining or fuelled with determination etc

There were a lot of ideas in this book discussed and while I didn't fully understand them all, the ones that I did understand, were thought provoking and interesting to read about. 

I also appreciated the structure of the Novel and how it weaved short stories into the narrative and to begin with these were my favourite parts of the book, as they always gave vivid, memorable and sometimes bizarre imagery.

Cons

I thought for a while about why I wasn't enjoying this book quite as much as the novel progressed and I think it's due to the lack of commitment. Neil Gaiman includes loads of unique ideas, but without committing to any particular aspect. While I like Shadow as a character, I feel like there isn't much character development for him or anyone else. There also wasn't much focus on the general plot surrounding the war between Gods either. Also i felt a strong disconnect from the actual world, despite admiration how imaginative it is. So I liked each aspect, but nothing was fleshed out enough for me to be fully engaged in the story.

While I loved the earlier scenes with the Gods, I felt like they were completely characterised by their abilities and lacked any personality traits. Maybe that's the whole point? I don't really know, but this is just a personal pet peeve I have and why I also don't like most superhero films. I feel like these Gods could have been even more intriguing, if a few of them were explored in more depth and made into their own fleshed out characters. 

After the halfway point, I found myself getting distracted a lot and I think that's down to the fact that I just wasn't immersed in the world or story. However, I do think this is a problem I have with Urban Fantasy in general and not necessarily this particular book, but it is something that affected my overall enjoyment. 

Therefore by the end of the novel, with all of these factors combined, I had lost track of different characters (as they were only briefly mentioned previously and just felt empty) and I also lost track of the actual plot as I feel like there wasn't much of a focus leading up to the main events. But with all this in mind, I still sort of enjoyed reading it, as confused as i was....Which is why this book is so hard for me to review... and why I've probably contradicted my self a lot!

Overall

With a re-read of this book in a couple of years, this definitely has the potential to be a 5* read for me, as I did really enjoy the themes and ideas, but for now i just don't know how to feel about it. I am looking forward to watching the TV adaptation though, to see if any of my issues are addressed.

My Goodreads Review