Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

133 reviews

buer's review

I almost stopped reading after we find out that "Maggot"'s name is, in fact, a cute reworking of a slur. It probably would have gotten to me eventually after hearing his name enough times after that revelation.

Lucky for me one of the next scenes was the really horrific, creative assault of his mother.

I'm not saying this kind of stuff doesn't happen and that there isn't value to storytelling like this, but I'm not really looking for fictional trauma porn at this point in my life.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying and Homophobia

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

Minor: Racism

5ambe11's review

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Alternated crying out of sadness and joy the whole time. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Sexual violence

amandak's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Animal death, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

beklovesbooks's review

dark emotional informative sad

4.0

I can see why it won a Pulitzer. Remarkable imagery, authentic voice, themes mostly came around to neat closure. 
Unfortunately, there were excessive graphic descriptions of drug use and sex. Every imaginable locker room crude sexual innuendo. It’s too bad the very good descriptive capabilities of the author was applied to trash you don’t want in your mind as well as nature and life.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abortion

bosco29's review

Very depressing.  To be fair, I had no idea what this book was even about when I started it.  A friend loved it and recommended it so I just started reading without any prior knowledge other than it took place in Appalachia, which i normally like.  This book was just so depressing and I had to do reading it bec use it was not getting any better, it was just depressing things kept happening over and over and over again.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Toxic relationship

sandpiper22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism and Animal death

paytfowers's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring reflective 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual violence

sarahinthecapital'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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Alcohol, and Classism

lisajha's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail