American Gods by Neil Gaiman, Book Review

General Information:
Publisher:HarperTorch

Book Summary (Per Goodreads- has a different UK cover)
Days before his release from prison, Shadow's wife, Laura, dies in a mysterious car crash. Numbly, he makes his way back home. On the plane, he encounters the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America.

Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.

Scary, gripping and deeply unsettling, AMERICAN GODS takes a long, hard look into the soul of America. You'll be surprised by what and who it finds there...

My Thoughts
I am conflicted on this story.  The writing, vocabulary, flow of thoughts are superb.  I enjoyed seeing that talent.  However, I had times where I was confused because it was telling the story about Mr. Wednesday and Shadow's activities and then would jump to another time in history, a person's story with gods, etc.  I also did not see how so many things were covered...were they a government agency or not, how was he a father, but said he could not be a father, how were the gods on different continents not one in the same, who were these actual gods,etc.  While I think it was interesting idea and plot I felt lost too many times to actually fully enjoy this read.  I think if you enjoy the stories that jump around, leave some items unaddressed, etc. then this would be a fantastic read.  Regardless of my somewhat ambivalence about this book I would and do plan on reading more of his writing.

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Disclaimer:  I borrowed this book from the library.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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