Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

85 reviews

megs_readstoomuch's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Drug abuse

Moderate: Gaslighting, Racism, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Violence, Grief, Racial slurs, Child abuse, and Vomit

amyford's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Classism, Gore, Medical content, Miscarriage, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship

alisonvh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is my favorite book by Barbara Kingsolver I’ve read so far. Not sure if it’s the book or the fact that I listened to this one rather than reading it, but either way I loved every minute.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Physical abuse, Self harm, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Suicide, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Violence, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Racism

mkcate's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Drug abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault and Toxic relationship

Minor: Racism, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Homophobia, Trafficking, and Suicide

gloriazthompson's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I can see what all the hype is about. Kingsolver is an incredible writer. Demon was a character to root for despite all the tragic circumstances of his life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Sexual content, Drug use, Death, and Cursing

Moderate: Medical trauma

Minor: Miscarriage, Abortion, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Racism

crossinthepnw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Oh man…where to even start with this one. Demon Copperhead is easily one of my top three reads for 2023, and will always hold a special place in my heart. To be clear - this is my first Kingsolver work I’ve read (and now I will be reading more of her stories!), and I’ve never read David Copperfield by Charles Dickens…but now I am curious to read the source behind the inspiration for her novel.

Demon Copperhead will piss you off. It will make you cry. You will try to remind yourself that this is a work of fiction, but is clearly based in reality, which will in turn make you even more upset that this kind of shit is still happening. If you didn’t hate Big Pharma before (which if you already don’t…come on), you will after reading this novel. It also made me think about the joke of the war on drugs and the opioid crisis. How our foster care system is screwed. How some folks are just fucked before they even get a start in life.

But the novel isn’t all doom and gloom, I promise. There is hope, love, joy, and laughs along the way. It’s also a coming of age story about a boy who many people wouldn’t give a second thought about on account of where he grew up. The first person narrative of Demon took this tale to another level; Kingsolver has a way of transporting you to his world and his life.

 I am so happy that Kingsolver took the time to tell this story, about the “rednecks”, “hillbillies”, or “trailer trash” folks don't seem to give a shit about, and how the opioid epidemic has done so much damage in Appalachia. Please, read this one; I read it in five days because I could not put it down!

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Cancer, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicide

yourssincerelyemma's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Drug abuse

Moderate: Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Rape, Abandonment, Medical content, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Racism, Homophobia, Abortion, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

alfait's review against another edition

challenging hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

mreads03's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is an incredibly hard and emotional book but it's worth the read. It addresses personal and social values in a way that is infrequently discussed in our age. It shines a direct and unflinching light on the effects of poverty and the opioid crisis in modern rural America. It's going to be one of those books you walk away from and think about for years to come.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Excrement, Violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Classism, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Abortion, Alcohol, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Sexism

grboph's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was a really amazing book. It was such a compelling story that touches on so many important issues that affect the world today, and kind of made me want to read the original David Copperfield!! Kingsolver is such an excellent writer and I would recommend this book to literally anyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, Blood, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Outing, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness

Minor: Abortion and Dementia