Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

54 reviews

jeggert10's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad fast-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Genocide, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Excrement, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Abortion, Outing, Gaslighting, and War

and_abigail's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

saskiahill's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

booksinherhead's review against another edition

• 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

DEMON COPPERHEAD is the book of my heart. The voice of our protagonist Demon is so strong through this text–even with a meandering plot through Demon's childhood and adolesence his perspective is quite frankly so compelling I found it difficult to put this 500+ page book down. I'll be thinking about the characters Kingslover has constructed for years to come. Be prepared for heartbreak and a story you'll never forget. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Abortion

additional (but non exhaustive) content warnings include: drowning, gun violence, foster care system, adoption, guardianship t

rinku's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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

3.5

I struggle a bit with rating Demon Copperhead, and I settled with a 3.5-star rating for now. The story was generally interesting, just like the characters, but it was a bit too cliché and there was too much misery for my taste. I think the average rating here on Goodreads is way too high though. 

The struggle centres around Demon who’s born in an trailer park in the Appalachians to a drug-addicted single mom. The whole setting is really American which is maybe why I couldn’t relate to much happening as a European. The depiction of the foster system was quite interesting, and I learned a lot from it. It’s so sad how Demon has no place to stay, especially after the really predictable

death of his mother

. Still, these parts of the story were written well, and there are some sections in this novel that really make you think. Socio-political themes are a subject as well but I wished that they would’ve been thematized more. It was just your stereotypical “the city lefts don’t care for the poor people!” which I’m always irritated by since it’s just not true. 

I think my main problem with Demon Copperhead is its length. I honestly think that the book could’ve ended after the half: There’s a lot of misery, and everything goes wrong until there’s finally a glimpse of light, even though you’re wondering how long it’ll last. In my opinion, this was the best part of the book. But then, the really cliché addiction storyline starts with the introduction of one of the flattest characters in the book aka Dori. It annoyed me how much Demon was focussed on her since she was such a bad influence; it was no surprise that

she died as well

. The ending feels bittersweet and melancholic but the fact that Demon’s stepsister

is apparently in love with him

left me with an irritated feeling. 

Besides this, I also feel torn about the writing style. There’s a lot of telling and things that are described are written vulgarly and grotesque. There’s also a lot of ableism, homophobia, and sexism, but this is just the way Demon grew up, I suppose. I also don’t know if it’s just in the German translation but the slurs were a bit too much in my opinion. Furthermore, I struggled with the depiction of abuse. I don’t really know how to say it, but for me it was written too carelessly, if it makes sense. It felt more like shock value to me. 

I don’t really have much to say about the characters as well. There were too many and I couldn’t remember  all the names. Some characters were really great, like Tommy, Angus, or Mr Dick (even though we only see him a few times. Compared to this, Dori was quite the flat character, and Demon behaved so cliché at some points as well, like this cliché “oh, the city is so crowded, me, the countryside child, could never live here!”. 

So, I’m not sure whether I would recommend <Demon Copperhead. It won the Pulitzer Prize, so people who like to read those kind of books will enjoy it. For me, it was too negative and also just too long. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Abortion

katelbr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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

4.75

I need to chew on this a little longer. 

My initial reaction is that this is a masterpiece and it’s not for everyone. The themes were so dark at times. I’m glad I read it because it gave me a lot of reasons to reflect on my own bias of Appalachian culture and the opioid epidemic. The slow pace of the story was annoying at times but completely necessary. This is a book with proper character development. All of the events and story lead to developing and exposing the main character rather than to climax a story. 

There were a few times I was acutely aware that a 60 year old woman was writing a teenage boys thoughts. But that would be my only complaint.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Cursing, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

erinsca's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

kirajohnson6's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I felt uncertain as to how much I “enjoyed” this book as I read it, but now that it is over I keep thinking about it. And I think that is a sign of a well-written book. And it is definitely well-written; Barbara Kingsolver is a remarkably talented writer. This book is H E A V Y and deals with very real issues of foster care, poverty, substance abuse, opioid addictions, and death. It is explicit in language and sexual content. And although it is fictional it tells the story of so many Appalachian Americans. 

What struck me most (what I find myself still thinking about even after finishing) is the question of who created this mess? Is it the people making poor decisions? Or is it the system, offering the vulnerable few choices? Capitalism has some positives, but I think this book clearly shows the very dark negatives. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death of parent

dua_liepard's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

nikshelby's review against another edition

DNF at 9%.

Abuse of children and women. Alcoholism. Drug use (and overdose). Poverty and despair. 

I should’ve realized when it won the Pulitzer that it would be rife with a bleak outlook, despondent characters, and heartbreaking situations. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Abandonment