Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

540 reviews

sarasreading's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

Rating this book is hard. There were parts that were an absolute 5 stars for me, and there were times I was struggling to keep going with it because it was almost too depressing, and kept dragging on. I started losing my investment in the story because it was becoming pretty hopeless for a while, and I thought the rest of the book would continue on that way. Thankfully I became invested again and it ended up being a very good read. I've never read David Copperfield, but this book does make me want to pick it up and compare.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Death

Moderate: Sexual harassment and Racism

veeples's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism

sardiman_rose's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

It’s amazing how a story written in the 1850’s could still have relevancy when adapted for our current times. Barbara Kingsolver does an amazing job of placing you into the life of Demon Copperhead. Throughout the whole novel I found myself rooting for him, celebrating with him, and wanting to strangle him. She brought the story to life in a way that was harrowing and powerful. Her writing was impeccable, with the language Demon used throughout the book changing with his age. She creates a commentary of modern day issues, some not always with a happy ending, but part of our lives nonetheless. I highly recommend this book, it’s a wonderful read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Addiction, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

blindedbynature's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, and Medical content

marypaz13's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Finally finished it!!

I can see why this one the Pulitzer.
Book about addiction. A book about losing hope but at the same time not being able to give up.

Demon is such a lovable character, flaws and all. That poor kid. I didn't necessarily hate the other characters, they were just there. I liked June, definitely eldest sister vibes, the one that grew up to fast. Agnes was that one in a million, the one that was able to make it out. And we all have that Maggot in our lives, the one that's always too childish no matter how old.

When I started this book, I had the misconception that it took place in the the 50's/60's, but once it mentioned some pop culture things, I realized it was definitely 70's to the present (at least the early 2000's) -- I don't remember the book actually mentioning the year.

Love that art is the outlet that was used.

This book served as a history rabbit hole for me. Had no idea about the oxidation clinics, had to google it. Crazy shiitake!! Like, the idea was inconceivable until I read about it. No wonder the whole "war on drugs" was such a big deal.

And the whole hillbilly/redneck thing. The idea that the term alone is derogatory yet people don't realize that it is.

Such a great read. I did a hybrid read; started with the book ended up with the audio. Which I did like the narrator, I felt he encompassed Demon's character to a T.

P.S. I may add more to this review, maybe, idk.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Drug use, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Abandonment, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, and Classism

Minor: Sexual harassment, Vomit, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

themrsegars's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Drug use, and Death of parent

ncghammo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Child abuse, Suicide, and Drug use

mattheww1915's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, and Addiction

mkwoods's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective 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

It’s as amazing as they say if you stick with it.

I loved the narrator’s voice, how well Kingsolver captured young boy. I saw traces of my brothers in it, and even in the darkest moments Demon made me laugh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Death and Toxic relationship

Minor: Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Alcoholism

kb_wight's review against another edition

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

3.5

This was a difficult book to read due to the material. I think it would be safe to say that most people have seen the negative effects of the opioid crisis, but seeing it through the eyes of someone who lives in an area that has not been given the adequate resources to deal with those negative effects is uncomfortable and eye opening. 

Overall, this was a good book. It is well written and Kingsolver does a great job of giving enough detail to the characters and scenery that give the reader a vivid picture of what is going on. The reason for 3.5 stars instead of higher is solely due to the pacing of the book. For me, I flew through the first third and the last fifty or so pages - in between the first third and last fifty pages was several hundred pages that took me days to get through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Abandonment, Grief, and Domestic abuse