Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

44 reviews

chloelmills's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted 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

My god, this book is breathtakingly beautiful, sad, funny, tragic, full of hope, joy, loss and pain, and just when you think you get it, it veers you in another direction, the story never takes you where you think it’s going, sometimes in the best ways and sometimes in the saddest. Such brilliant writing. Plainly put, this book is exceptional. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

iwish_ihadmoretimetoread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

This book was so incredibly hard for me to read. It’s one of those books that will stay with you for a lifetime. It ripped my heart out in so many ways, I still feel the bleeding wound in my chest. It’s raw, real and gut-wrenchingly beautiful in a very tragic way. One of the best books I’ve read in my almost 29 years on this earth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

hhelena's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ksbrooks98's review against another edition

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

I saw someone else say that this is now the basis for a great book, and I agree. 
We follow Demon for a significant portion of his childhood. As he grows and matures, the tone shifts, the writing changes. We can see his world as clearly as our own. We see the people we are there for him, and we see the people, the systems that fail him. Barbara Kingsolver puts so many failed and abused systems under the microscope all investigated by a boy who, by the end, I felt like I knew personally. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Bullying, Car accident, and Abortion

amellia12's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

theeladyray's review against another edition

challenging sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent and Abandonment

Minor: Cursing and Gaslighting

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.

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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

victoriaaurora's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty and Bullying

aniquegrace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative sad tense fast-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

My best read of 2024, thought I might be let down after all the hype but it was genuinely incredible. Made me nostaglic for my small town and heartbroken for the kids that fall through the cracks, truly a masterpiece

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, and Suicide

juanat77'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

4.0

This is book is big and messy. About 560 pages. There’s times it’s funny then tense then depressing. Kingsolver writes all those feelings exceptionally well. It reads like a classic. I thought about Holden Caulfield (Catcher in the Rye) at times. I was rooting for the MC despite his poor decisions and at times selfishness—-however that is real life. This story touches on so many serious topics including the opioid crisis, domestic abuse, child labor, poverty and the foster care system. And while there are sad and serious issues; there are also many funny moments. Demon the MC starts as a young child and ends when he is an adult so we get to see how his character develops through the years. It’s said to be a retelling of David Copperfield—never read it but adding it to my TBR!

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic