Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

28 reviews

danimcthomas's review

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

Absolute perfection. I haven’t loved a main character like I loved Damon in years. The audiobook was superbly voice acted, fully capturing the dialect of the region.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Might be triggering for anyone with a history of being in foster care.

drrock's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

5.0

Best book I’ve read in years - nothing more to say!! The great Appalachian Novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

kelsimarirobb's review

dark emotional 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, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

crossinthepnw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad 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

Oh man…where to even start with this one. Demon Copperhead is easily one of my top three reads for 2023, and will always hold a special place in my heart. To be clear - this is my first Kingsolver work I’ve read (and now I will be reading more of her stories!), and I’ve never read David Copperfield by Charles Dickens…but now I am curious to read the source behind the inspiration for her novel.

Demon Copperhead will piss you off. It will make you cry. You will try to remind yourself that this is a work of fiction, but is clearly based in reality, which will in turn make you even more upset that this kind of shit is still happening. If you didn’t hate Big Pharma before (which if you already don’t…come on), you will after reading this novel. It also made me think about the joke of the war on drugs and the opioid crisis. How our foster care system is screwed. How some folks are just fucked before they even get a start in life.

But the novel isn’t all doom and gloom, I promise. There is hope, love, joy, and laughs along the way. It’s also a coming of age story about a boy who many people wouldn’t give a second thought about on account of where he grew up. The first person narrative of Demon took this tale to another level; Kingsolver has a way of transporting you to his world and his life.

 I am so happy that Kingsolver took the time to tell this story, about the “rednecks”, “hillbillies”, or “trailer trash” folks don't seem to give a shit about, and how the opioid epidemic has done so much damage in Appalachia. Please, read this one; I read it in five days because I could not put it down!

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

nialiversuch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad 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: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death

lindseyas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

Such a beautifully written book with a wonderfully meaningful, political undertone. The story of a young boy who overcomes addiction, family death, abuse, mental health struggles, solitude, misunderstanding, classism and so much more. Over its 550 page run, this book is the story of boyhood in the Deep South, where growing up as someone deemed "different" is close enough to a death sentence. Damon, or "Demon's," journey towards self-acceptance and healing is a great, modern epic in its own right — his failures, his triumphs and his in-betweens were real and raw. That's the core of his novel — real life isn't glamorous or magical, but it's full of blood, sweat and tears. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

ceramirezmcfarlin's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Despite the heavy story content, this book is brilliant and beautiful.

britgirlreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment