Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

82 reviews

blankcrayon's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The narrator felt wholly authentic. From beginning to end, I was immersed in the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Rape, and War

spitewankreads's review

dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

incredible first read of the year. really setting the bar high

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Gun violence, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Sexism, Abortion, and Pregnancy

an incredible book but not one for the faint of heart regarding drug use/abuse, and the american fostercare system

lindsayy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

sarabarbry's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

anotherheather's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

lizzzadeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

So hard to read at times but worth enduring. Very compassionate and revealing story about the opioid crisis as well as an overlooked poor, rural area in America. Some very unique, strong characters. I feel like I understand addiction in a deeper way after this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

siobhankennedy's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

theothertexan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

This book is in my Top 10. A great American book. If you loved Catcher in the Rye, you will love this book, based loosely on David Copperfield. But it's dark. It upsets people. Its indestructible hero, though, left me feeling hopeful. So glad my book group recommended it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

kierstratton's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring 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

4.0

I'm still thinking about this book days later... It took me a while to get through - by no means is it an easy read for multiple reasons. The subject matter is tough, with hard hitting and emotional topics/themes. (Read: a lot of content/trigger warnings here.) The writing is genuine, taking on a dialect/accent of the MC and supporting characters. The book is dense. It covers a long period of time and a lot of ground (literally and figuratively). It tells of loss but also inspiration, some found family, and actually resolves itself at the end. Demon Copperhead ties itself up nicely, but boy is it an emotional roller coaster to get there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Miscarriage, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

helenaramsay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Initially this book was a struggle, it is very dark and quite depressing mostly because of its faithfulness to real life, and you have to be in a good place to read it and feel okay afterwards. I binged half in a day, put it down, and couldn't pick it up again for 6 months. Then, it was phenomenal. Still dark, but Demon is such a forgiving and honest perspective throughout that you keep reading just to see if he can be okay. The writing is fantastic and I appreciate that through everything horrible, you have characters that remain kind and caring and make you feel some of the love that Demon is searching for and it keeps you going. I would recommend but only if you're in a good place and feel like you have capacity to consume what feels like all the world's trauma at once. Beautiful writing, deeply insightful story, complex characters, and no small amount of hope and joy to make it worthwhile. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Racism