American Gods, by Neil Gaiman, was not the book I had expected it to be when I first bought it. Winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards, American Gods follows an ex-convict named Shadow, released early from prison in the light of his wife Laura's death. On the way to Laura's funeral, Shadow meets a mysterious man named Mr. Wednesday, who hires Shadow as his personal bodyguard, messenger, and driver. Working for Mr. Wednesday, Shadow comes into contact with people whom he recognizes as different gods from all types of ancient mythologies. As time passes on, Shadow begins to understand what exactly he was hired to do, and how he became intertwined in a conflict incomprehensible to the average human mind.
Filled with mystery and suspense, American Gods is a wonderfully written novel that harnesses gods and mythology, while still making characters relatable and believable to readers. Although confusing at first, the plot and complexities of this story are slowly revealed through Shadow's journey, which kept me sucked into the book and theorizing about what events would occur, and how they would go down. One thing I would say I didn't like about the book, however, was that I felt that the beginning was rather slowly paced. The story didn't really pick up until about 80-100 pages in (depending on what your idea of exciting is). Because of this, I stopped reading the book when I first bought it, and only just recently picked it back up and realized how good it truly was.
In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in mythology and mystery-like themes. After finishing this novel, I can safely say that is is one of my favorite books I've read recently, and I don't doubt that anyone interested in those themes would enjoy this book as well.
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If you would like, you can donate this book to Ethan and Choco's Book Club, which is collecting books for cancer patients in hospitals. The amazon wish list can be found here. I would really appreciate it if you donated. Thanks!
