Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

18 reviews

mreads03's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

This is an incredibly hard and emotional book but it's worth the read. It addresses personal and social values in a way that is infrequently discussed in our age. It shines a direct and unflinching light on the effects of poverty and the opioid crisis in modern rural America. It's going to be one of those books you walk away from and think about for years to come.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Excrement, Violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Classism, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Abortion, Alcohol, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Sexism

jessfelici's review

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-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

This book speaks to a deep truth of the rootedness of hearts and hopes in Appalachia and her tryst with the opioid crisis. Prepare to fall madly for a scrappy kid as he claws his ways through a society who disregards his worth. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Death

nialiversuch's review

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

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death

lauraportalupi's review

challenging dark emotional informative 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

4.75

Took me about 100 pages to adjust to the voice. This is a difficult book to read: you’ll be immersed in loss, injustice, and systemic oppression. Though there is humor throughout the book, too. And Kingsolver does a great job of helping readers understand the severity of the opioid crisis. Read with caution, especially if you are sensitive to child abuse, being orphaned as a child, and drug addiction. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Classism, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Excrement, Medical content, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Grief, Sexism, and Vomit

tigerkind's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

A really tough read but worth it. Sucks you right in, punches you in the gut and throws you out on the other side with a whole new set of emotions. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Grief, Murder, Mental illness, Classism, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Gore, Addiction, Terminal illness, Gun violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent

Moderate: Xenophobia, Sexism, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Dementia

Minor: Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Pedophilia, War, and Outing

percys_panda_pillow_pet's review

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This book was a bit hard to get through, not just because of the page amount. Demon Copperhead follows the life of Damon Fields, aka Demon, from his birth all the way up until close to 18 years of age.  It does not follow a typical story structure, as it is more showing the ups and downs of Demon's, of which there are a lot of "downs".

The only other book I have read by Barbara Kingsolver was The Poisonwood Bible a couple of years ago, so I will make some comparisons based on that. Truly, the two books aren't that similar. Demon Copperhead is a reimagining of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, just set in the modern day with a look at poverty and issues of our times, versus Dickens's own commentary of his time period. However, The Poisonwood Bible also touches on issues that persist today, just those that pertain to the colonization of the African continent, in particular, the colonization of what used to be known as the Congo. Kingsolver is a genius when it comes to showing you a world outside of your own, whether that is an African community or the Appalachian country folk. Her prose is also still something to be lauded, as she really transformed language to make that which occurred in Demon's life sometimes more tragic, and sometimes straight up hilarious in the face of tragedy.

I am comfortable recommending this book, though I am not sure how much those who have not read Kingsolver before will enjoy it. It can get quite depressing at times, and I highly recommend checking out content warnings for those who could be triggered by the heavy themes within the book. This is not a book for some light reading.

Still, I hope others check it out as I loved the look into Appalachian culture as someone who lives in Virginia, though Northern, and is aware of the rural parts of our state but never quite visited long enough to learn more than what was taught in school. And, as Kingsolver says in her acknowledgments, "For the kids who wake up hungry in those dark places every day, who've lost their families to poverty and pain pills, whose caseworkers keep losing their files, who feel invisible, or wish they were: this book is for you."

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Drug use, Grief, Sexual content, Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Death

Moderate: Chronic illness, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexism, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Torture, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Eating disorder, Racism, and Physical abuse

ceramirezmcfarlin's review

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

---

Content Warnings

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

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

heartofluv's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

4.25

This was a beautifully written book that dealt with many tough issues….Racism, foster system, child labor, drug abuse, poverty, alcoholism to name a few. Phew! She packed a lot into this chunk of a book. I left this book loving  Demon and wanting him to find peace and happiness. Glad I dove into this one. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Physical abuse

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Mental illness, Abortion, Sexism, and Homophobia