Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

378 reviews

jenniferaglayte's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is amazing, but I had to take breaks. It’s a pretty rough story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

maidenarya's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

kdmirich's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Grief

Minor: Abortion

Beautiful and heartbreaking all at once.

iordanmoore's review

dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

I loved the narrator’s voice! A retelling of David Copperfield but through the modern lens of being in Appalachia and also dealing with the opioid crisis. Despite all of the troubles life deals Demon, he’s a main character you can’t help but root for and I loved his relationship with Angus.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal death, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit

mmp1002's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

sha's review

emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

Demon Copperhead is a fully realised character study that immerses the reader in the life of its narrator, a boy growing up in rural Appalachia. As a modern retelling of David Copperfield, the novel explores themes of poverty, resilience, and systemic injustice, all while maintaining a deeply personal and emotionally engaging perspective.

Much like Shuggie Bain, Demon Copperhead sensitively portrays a young boy’s struggle to survive in a world that seems determined to break him. Kingsolver doesn’t shy away from the horrors of addiction, neglect, and exploitation—particularly in her searing depiction of the opioid crisis—but she does so with compassion, never reducing her characters to mere symbols of suffering. Instead, she gives them depth, agency, and moments of unexpected grace.

The novel’s immersive prose brings Demon’s voice to life with humor, grit, and unflinching honesty. Kingsolver captures both the harsh realities and the small joys of his world, making his journey all the more compelling. The result is a story that is both devastating and hopeful, a testament to the enduring power of storytelling and survival.

This is a type of story I don’t normally enjoy, but surprisingly it kept my attention in the form of an audiobook! Although, some parts in the middle dragged on, and became repetitive.

Torn between 3.5-4/5 ⭐️

Just as an aside - I greatly enjoyed the detailed writing on farming in Demon’s first temporary foster placement.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

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

jensenwolf's review against another edition

The conditions the main character faced broke my heart

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Violence

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