Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

2 reviews

percys_panda_pillow_pet's review against another edition

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."

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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

thebabybookworm's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective 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

I loved this book but sometimes it dragged on. The writing was top notch. I would recommend this book to anyone. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Trafficking, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Rape