Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

28 reviews

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

gabi_bocardi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

Damon is just like any one, any human, but he got the worst of the world, but he still kept going even though just shit was given to him. I don’t know how giving up on people or himself was never the first thing that came to his mind, or how he wasn’t so angry all time, because I was all of that from the first page of the book to the last. The characters of this book are all to real, you love and hate some, you feel ashamed and sorry for others, and inspired by some others. They are too real, you understand them, because they could be your your mom and dad, that annoying aunt, the cousin you are like siblings with, the friends that you’ve grown up with but now just hear gossips about. It’s so real that it’s hardly fictional. And that’s one of this writers superpower, telling this story as if you were so close to them you can feel what they feel, go through it all as if you’re them. She’s an amazing writer, the pace of the book was perfect, the mix of characters, from loving to hateful ones is a masterpiece, and I also loved how she made history be so essential to the story that I’d be looking forward to read those parts. In my opinion, this book should have trigger warnings because it’s that type of story, but at the same time, everyone should read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Racism, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

loopy_charge's review

challenging dark sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

bwilliams24's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Abortion, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

bets_knots'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

sarabarbry's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

annabunce's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Such a great read, but so so sad. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

caitlin_davis22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt

bananastasia's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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

4.25

The first half of this book was my favorite. I was very hopeful for Demon throughout until a certain point where he did not seem to want to help himself.

The whole point of this is obviously breaking this cycle of abuse that takes a firm grasp on people who are impoverished and these people are taken advantage of to an insane degree.

I wanted things to move a bit quicker as Demon got older and I think this would have had a greater impact if it did move faster. I also find issue with typing up all of the loose ends in a nice neat little bow. Sometimes part of moving on from your past involves leaving it behind completely, and I don’t think every single of the many characters had to be addressed at the end of this novel. All of this in mind, I have found myself recommending this book to a lot of friends so I must like it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Gore, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

a_library_lion's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual content, Grief, and Suicide attempt