Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

122 reviews

chloelmills's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted 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

My god, this book is breathtakingly beautiful, sad, funny, tragic, full of hope, joy, loss and pain, and just when you think you get it, it veers you in another direction, the story never takes you where you think it’s going, sometimes in the best ways and sometimes in the saddest. Such brilliant writing. Plainly put, this book is exceptional. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

winter_b's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

A heartbreaking and unvarnished telling of Demon Copperhead's life story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Violence, Vomit, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

For those who need to know if there is a "happy" ending for Demon:

the story ends with Demon being 3 years sober and things genuinely looking up for him /

twonky's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

perfectcupoftea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted sad slow-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

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Homophobia

madmadmaddymad's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective 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 is one of the best books I’ve ever listened to. Highly, highly recommend the audiobook. I love the narrator, and the style. 

My favorite line is when he was talking about gossiping in the bathroom and the person you’re talking about is in the stall right next to you. “We can hear you.” And how it feels to be living in the mountains in Virginia and the butt of every American joke. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Grief

Minor: Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

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

camillatd's review against another edition

challenging 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

3.5

My reflections on Barbara Kingsolver’s highly acclaimed 2022 novel Demon Copperhead are complicated; they don’t neatly fall into the categories of “this is a good book, you should read it”, or “this is a bad book, you shouldn’t read it.” Much has been said about the novel’s merits, from its clever reimagining of David Copperfield (which, I’ll note, I haven’t read), to its emotional depth, to its direct evisceration of pharmaceutical violence and structural neglect of poor and rural communities. It’s a deeply affecting and—loathe as I am to use the cliche—undoubtedly powerful novel. You can find these reviews in basically every corner of the literary internet, so here are some of my thoughts on the novel’s thorny complexities and pitfalls.

The novel is told entirely in Demon’s voice, which shapes the reader’s perspective of each character and interaction. Demon’s voice is very much that of a teenage boy (which he is for most of the novel), and it shows in the casual and rampant misogyny in his inner monologue and perceptions of the women in his life. Dori is the character who I found the most painful to read through Demon’s eyes: she is introduced as a first and foremost sexual object, then, in time, she becomes a burden to him, a ‘doll baby’ he needs to care for and save. This particular relationship becomes emblematic of Demon’s worldview, particular in the dichotomies of good and bad, savior and saved, worthy and unworthy. 

I talked to @booksarebrainfood a lot about the strange sense of voyeurism we’ve each felt when reading books like this about a particular experience of poverty and suffering, especially when those books become highly lauded by the white, literature-reading, non-rural classes. Some of this is beyond my scope of context: I very much fall into these aforementioned classes.

It makes me wonder: who is this novel for? Is it for Kingsolver, and the community she comes from? Is it for those who might see themselves in Demon’s story (survivors of childhood neglect, the foster care system, or the opioid crisis)? Is it for the “redneck” community about which it is written? Or is it for the very people Demon names as those who look down on his community?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

annakh16's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

A note first: I haven’t read any Dickens, so I‘m unfortunately unable to judge the cross-referencing (much to the dismay of my book club - sorry…). 

This is a dark but important book, written with genuine empathy. Demon as a main character roots the story very well, which to me is largely due to the strong sense of voice the author manages to create effectively. The writing took a bit of getting used to, not because it’s bad though. In fact, I think the (not quite?) stream of consciousness style worked well to bring the message across in a genuine way. I was often pleasantly caught off-guard by how Kingsolver would just hit you with really sharp analysis or profound commentary “out of left field”. This is also how she avoids “poverty porn” or sensationalism, if you ask me - by bringing it back to the systemic. 

I do think that some “episodes” were more interesting or well done than others, but this is a light point of critique. And: the

”my adopted sister may actually be in love with me” ending

was weird. Sorry not sorry. 

Overall, this is a well-executed account and something I “looked forward” to reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Self harm and Abortion

jessbu's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, and Sexual violence

plusverb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism