Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

64 reviews

abscott's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism and Abandonment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Chronic illness, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Excrement, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

macykey's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This book was excellent. The writing was gorgeous, the story was engrossing. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but the writing style seemed to change as Demon got older. It made me think the writing was reflecting his aging, which I thought was smart. There were a couple things that didn’t sit right with me or rubbed me the wrong way. I felt the ending was wrapped up too quickly. I saw the interpersonal development coming, but I wish it’d been done sooner. I also felt that some of the traumatic things that happened to Demon were a little more detailed than necessary. And I get people having nicknames, but sometimes they all just got lost in the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Miscarriage, Suicide, Car accident, and Abortion

shelfofunread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

alisonvh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

This is my favorite book by Barbara Kingsolver I’ve read so far. Not sure if it’s the book or the fact that I listened to this one rather than reading it, but either way I loved every minute.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

michelethestick's review

dark emotional 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

3.5

It's pretty much what you would expect for a Appalachian version of David Copperfield.  The characters were big and believable. I'm not a fan of coming of age stories.  I especially find it difficult to watch characters make bad decisions.  There was too much of the darkness in the real world in this novel and I found it difficult to stay in it.  Everything in me told me to abandon this book. I did not.  It's well written and a story that should be told.  It's just not my thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

grboph's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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 was a really amazing book. It was such a compelling story that touches on so many important issues that affect the world today, and kind of made me want to read the original David Copperfield!! Kingsolver is such an excellent writer and I would recommend this book to literally anyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Outing

Minor: Dementia and Abortion

franklola's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny inspiring 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, and Abortion

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

The type of soul-aching sad that prohibits you from even crying, this novel pushes the boundaries of what we know and understand about the ravages that drugs, particularly opiates, have doled out to the people of Appalachia. Even though you can see the cycle happening before it ever does, you can’t help but love and root for Demon as an unlikely hero. The characters are beautifully and painstakingly crafted to reflect the complexities found in mountain folks. For some reason, it took me a long time to finish the book — but I’m so glad I did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bethbarron's review against another edition

5.0

This is brilliant and BLEAK and true and awful. Kingsolver did such a wonderful job. Well deserving of her pulitzer.

It took me probably a month to read this - it is brutally dark and full of trauma. Do not read this expecting happiness at all. But, damn, a story that needed to be told (do we have another novel this compelling about the opioid crisis?), and what a way to do it with a retelling of David Copperfield.

I haven't read Dickens since high school and I'm sure having some distance from Copperfield helped this feel original for me. I had my doubts about a retelling, but I think Kingsolver created a masterpiece and (further) cemented herself as a great Southern author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Rape and Abortion

spectra37's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail