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madoherty93's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, and Pregnancy
marypmcg's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Abandonment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
melissa_b_67's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
caia_in_wonderland's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
It’s a proper dramatic book, that doesn’t shy away from the ugly truths of living in an enforced poverty.
It opened my eyes and taught me much, about rednecks and hillbillies - the prejudice and truth, about old wars, old scars that never heal, and about the Melungeon (who most have even a little of Portuguese blood, go figure).
I knew already about the dope sickness and how it affected especially small towns such as the one Demon lives in, a place of nature, extremes of beauty, and of hardship.
It’s impossible not to feel moved by Demon, his sweet soul, his bright intellect and extreme creativity, but with an unfortunate low low self esteem. A child forced to grow up too soon, a teen that has lives depending on him before he even enters adulthood, a person that loses too much before he is even grown, and whose dreams are always thwarted and the worse seems to always happen. There are reprieves, fortunately, his friendship with the Peggs, finding his father’s family, and moments so happy he fears them, dreads the loss before it happens, thus not letting himself enjoy them, like the time with Angus and the General, the family he has for a little while, and the success in high school.
I can’t put into words all this book did for me and to me, the wonder and sadness, and everything in between, so it’s definitely no surprise the Pulitzer and all the other awards it won.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Racism, Blood, and Pregnancy
Minor: Animal death, Rape, Vomit, and Abortion
deetabz's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Car accident and Pregnancy
hbskeen's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Sexual content, Vomit, and Pregnancy
Minor: Animal death, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Suicide
uhhadrianna's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Animal death, Suicide, Vomit, and Abortion
desana75's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, and Vomit
Moderate: Animal death
astoriareader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
- Damon Fields, aka Demon Copperhead, is born in Southern Virginia in the late 1980s to a teen mom with substance issues. Demon’s mom is in and out of rehab, and he is partly raised by the Peggots.
- Demon’s mom ends up marrying an abusive man.
- Demon is shuffled off to a foster home run by Mr. Creakle & then a few more. He finally ends up with football coach, and the book weaves his story with opiod addiction.
- Prior to reading this one, I saw some articles online about it that said it is a retelling of Dicken’s novel entitled David Copperfield.
- After seeing rave reviews & that the author won the Pulitzer Prize for this book, I waited on library wait list for quite a while. I am in the minority here, but this book & writing style was not for me.
- Although the opiod crisis is a serious topic, I can’t recommend this book. This book DRAGS. It is so unnecessarily slow. It took me 7 days to finish. I typically finish any book, even books I don’t like, in max 4 days. It was getting to feel like homework getting through it. There’s a ton of parts that didn’t need to be included.
- The writing style was nauseating to me. I hated it. It is Demon describing & relaying things, and his voice wasn’t strong enough for that job. It’s like a child relaying things to you for 500+ pages. I also didn’t buy Kingsolver’s ability to write in the shoes of this character. It didn’t sound realistic at all.
- The characters are all flat & many are stereotypical cliches. To name a few, think: single drug addicted mom living in trailer, abusive stepdad, Appalachians are all white people, Appalachians are hillbillies.
- I also found Demon’s trajectory unbelievable in terms of his path to drugs. It doesn’t line up with everything he has witnessed & experienced. The author comes across as an outsider to the subject.
- I did like the Peggots, Aunt June, Mrs. Annie, and Tommy.
- I enjoy complex characters that make sense, but the characters in this book don’t make sense.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Classism
Minor: Homophobia and Vomit
miaaa_lenaaa's review
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism