Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

327 reviews

abbeyrode's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Death of parent

araecreative's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was hard to read and painful from the perspective of someone who spent teen years in dark, addiction-driven, poor, abusive spaces. It was relentless in its pain and offers very little in the way of joy, and that to me does not equal an amazing book. There were bits that were poignant, but amidst a shroud of crudely overwritten idioms they sort of beat you over the head. This sits in the category of poverty p*rn for me, the kind that wins big awards because literary circles like to feel like they’ve witnessed suffering in a way they’ve never seen before. That said, the re-imagining of David Copperfield was executed masterfully and bridged a gap between two worlds that is impactful and well-crafted. As an achievement in appreciation of a classic milestone in literature, it is well-executed. Standing on its own it was not enjoyable to experience and I felt it stank of self-importance as a piece centered on the devastation of the opioid crisis. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Trafficking, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

intravenous drug use

heroin use

extreme poverty

children in danger

fentanyl use

lizwaller's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Classism

gabi_bocardi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

Damon is just like any one, any human, but he got the worst of the world, but he still kept going even though just shit was given to him. I don’t know how giving up on people or himself was never the first thing that came to his mind, or how he wasn’t so angry all time, because I was all of that from the first page of the book to the last. The characters of this book are all to real, you love and hate some, you feel ashamed and sorry for others, and inspired by some others. They are too real, you understand them, because they could be your your mom and dad, that annoying aunt, the cousin you are like siblings with, the friends that you’ve grown up with but now just hear gossips about. It’s so real that it’s hardly fictional. And that’s one of this writers superpower, telling this story as if you were so close to them you can feel what they feel, go through it all as if you’re them. She’s an amazing writer, the pace of the book was perfect, the mix of characters, from loving to hateful ones is a masterpiece, and I also loved how she made history be so essential to the story that I’d be looking forward to read those parts. In my opinion, this book should have trigger warnings because it’s that type of story, but at the same time, everyone should read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Racism, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

daisydasselle's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Abandonment

kendralyris's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

Beautiful and sad. It was at times a difficult and emocional read, but beautifully written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Classism

bluejeepbaby's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Alcohol

delcomrkhjenreads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

(Check your triggers)This was a 4 star: powerful and reflective portrayal of the tough lives in Appalachian poverty, addiction, and foster care.

Compelling story of the main character struggles. 

Cons: feels overly heavy-handed - sometimes at the expense of character development and plot; I wanted more from the characters' struggles, and that the Dickens-inspired plot structure doesn't fully translate to the modern setting, leaving some plot points feeling forced. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

loopy_charge's review

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

mac23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I have a lot of questions, as a critical thinker. I thought it was a good novel, but I found myself consistently asking the same questions of the author…”how would you know?” It’s written by a straight white older woman from the perspective of a heterosexual male person of color, who goes through some seriously traumatic experiences, and written from their first person point of view. Admittedly, the light research that I’ve done on the author does not show that she has been in any of these experiences first hand, especially addiction. If you haven’t experienced that directly, I don’t feel that it is appropriate or accurate to write about that experience as though you have, first hand. There is a level of nuance there that is seriously missing, IMO. It read to me as obtuse. For the prizes this book won, I’m surprised, but also not surprised, that it got this much attention for as problematic as it was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism