Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

17 reviews

ynaiita_5896's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

🚍 Damon 'Demon Copperhead' was born to a teenaged single mother in a trailer park in Lee County, Virginia. He tells his life story from birth to adulthood, depicting how the odds were always stacked against him in a story of loss, love and survival.

🚍 Battling loneliness, poverty, substance abuse and a broken home, Demon's story never pauses for relief. Kingsolver is a genius and beautifully writes Demon's heartbreaking and hopeful story while still injecting moments of humour and warmth.

🚍 Adding her own twist to Charles Dickens' classic David Copperfield, the author shines the spotlight on the broken boys whom society have given up on because they are born into a cruel world, the one they've only ever truly known. Applause must also be given to the colourful, tragic, lovable characters in Demon's life that I rooted for.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Grief, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Murder, Death, Death of parent, and Mental illness

dua_liepard's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-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: Cursing, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Addiction, Bullying, Classism, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Physical abuse, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Minor: Cancer, Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, Car accident, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child death, Gore, Racism, Pregnancy, Medical content, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

this was a very very character heavy book (not in amount but in development and exploration), so definitely keep that in mind when deciding to read this. while i think it should’ve been cut down a bit, all of the pages allowed us to fully understand and watch not only the main character, but all the characters. this was definitely a good read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Classism, Child death, Death of parent, Racism, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Violence, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Suicide, Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Drug abuse

jbry44's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

hsieh's review against another edition

adventurous 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

Kingsolver writes a masterpiece here, a pointed critique of how capitalism fails America and its poorest, through the lens of the struggles of its foster children, the opioid crisis, and how so many people stereotype the rural people of America's forgotten heartland. But Kingsolver is never piteous, never condescending: her characters seek only to be met face to face, understood as full people.

Speaking of, Kingsolver writes characters that could jump off the pages. I cherish, hate and mourn for them like they're my own friends. They're so real I had to double check this wasn't an autobiography. I feel empty now without them.

One of the things I appreciate most about this book, however, is that it never feels like tragedy porn -- a trap I felt books like "A Little Life" sometimes fell into. Each tragedy is crushing, but not without hope; there's always characters on the margins rooting for the protagonist, and his community, to succeed. I only wish their analogues in real life could find the same support.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Racism, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Addiction, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Child death, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Hate crime, Abortion, Homophobia, Murder, Ableism, and Gun violence

bookworm356's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Sexual content, Violence, Alcoholism, Grief, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Self harm, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcohol, Rape, Abortion, Death of parent, Abandonment, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Drug use, Pregnancy, and Emotional abuse

oliviawhitton's review against another edition

challenging emotional slow-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Death, Gun violence, Drug use, Suicide, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Addiction, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Racism, and Emotional abuse

theimposter's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Alcohol, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Addiction, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, and Dysphoria

zosiablue'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

"It’s hard to explain how you can miss a place and want it with all your heart, and be utterly sure it will obliterate you the instant you touch down." (RIP Marvel Bar)

This is a tremendous book that hit too close to home for me, which meant I was on edge and half sick the whole time I was reading it. I mean, that means it's a fucking effective book but I think it's more suited for someone not so close to the issue (the issue being opioids and Virginia poverty and growing up around addicts). Every character was diamond clear cut and it was a capital b Book, a total epic. Well done, but I will never read it again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Classism, Addiction, and Child abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Rape, Death, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Medical content

Minor: Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Abortion, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, and Homophobia

danimcthomas's review against another edition

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

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

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