Review of American Gods

Title: American Gods

Author: Neil Gaiman

Type of book: Paperback, with the tv cover

Note: THIS EDITION IS AN EXPANDED EDITION FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2005. THE TV COVER EDITION PUBLISHED IN 2017

This book grabbed me and drew me in instantly. 

When I read the first chapter of this book I couldn't stop reading, I hadn't meant to read the chapter only the first page to see what it was like. I had to buy it and finish it despite all the books on my TBR.

It was the little shocking scenes at the start that grabbed my attention. And the mystery of it all: the fact that you never really know what's going on, made me want to continue reading to figure out what it was all about.  

It starts with Shadow leaving prison and then meeting a strange person called Wednesday, it's the start of a journey where you wonder what's going on and what's going to happen. 
The things that are happening in this novel are not of our mundane world and I loved that, Shadow meets various gods/characters who each stand out. 

The writing is both to the point and atmospheric and exquisite. I love Neil Gaiman's writing style, it's very hard to explain how good a writer's style is unless you've read the book yourself. Also everyone is different and each has a different preference, some prefer fast paced action books. I prefer books like this where the words are as poignant as an intoxicating perfume and the narrative just draws you onward.

It's not often you read a book and stop for a moment to appreciate the information on the page. There are many good quotes in this novel (quotes here) and interesting facts that may or may not be true:

"5,000 years ago the lobes of the brain fused and before that people thought when the right lobe of the brain said anything it was the voice of some god telling them what to do. It's just brains."


American Gods is a unique, original, not possible to be replicated book. Neil Gaiman is one of those genius writers who you cannot emulate and who has a wonderful world view or imagination, a world you are drawn into.

It's is one of those books that I want to reread just to understand the layers, the themes and the foreshadowing. I am going to reread it one day.