Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

312 reviews

acorn33's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

This is in my Top 5 favorites of all time, sitting with The Help, Night, Cerulean Sea, and The Eyes and the Impossible. 

Demon’s story was enthralling from the first page to the last. It was heartbreaking and hopeful and frustrating and enlightening. I would love to see the world read this book and walk away with any number of the new perspectives Barbara Kingsolver shines a light on. This book and Demon’s demons will stay with me for a lifetime. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Grief, and Medical trauma

loslibrosdesami's review

challenging dark emotional informative 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Classism

iwish_ihadmoretimetoread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

This book was so incredibly hard for me to read. It’s one of those books that will stay with you for a lifetime. It ripped my heart out in so many ways, I still feel the bleeding wound in my chest. It’s raw, real and gut-wrenchingly beautiful in a very tragic way. One of the best books I’ve read in my almost 29 years on this earth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

svmc's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

bloomsey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative 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

I loved reading this book and now that it’s over I can’t stop thinking about it. I’ll be recommending to everyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

gracemcbee's review against another edition

challenging 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

3.0

Check trigger warnings. I thought the first half was more lighthearted, but towards the end it got super dark and by then I was already halfway done and wanted to finish it. Some parts were super uncomfortable to read and felt kinda creepy - like the Linda phone calls. Lowered from 4 to 3 stars because of who he ended up with at the end.

Am I the only one that thought it was uncomfortable he ended up with someone he considered his sister for very formative years of his life???

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Incest

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