Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

54 reviews

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad tense 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

This may be the best book I've ever read and the writer is incredible. This story is everything and so real.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

 eBook + Audio
Fiction / Literary Fiction / Coming Of Age / Audiobook / Appalachia / Dark
⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5   🎧🎧🎧🎧/5

Using for Prompts
The 52 Book Club’s 2025 Challenge Prompt # 22)  Found family trope (It would work for 2, 22, 26, 33, 39, or 41)
Storygraph Road Trip! Read around the USA: Lee County, Virginia
Storygraph Rainbow Reads 2025: Copper


CW: Research what you are about to read, there is some heavy stuff here. Much revolving around the opioid crisis.

Demon Copperhead is a reimagining of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.

I loved this, until the end! It was so close to becoming my first 5 star read of the year. Why? The ending just fed into Redneck stereotypes for NO REASON in such an ick way too. 

Anyway...

"People love to believe in danger, as long as it’s you in harm’s way, and them saying bless your heart."

I thought the storytelling was wonderful. This book will be forever in the back of my mind, or one that I will always think of when I am faced with the ugliness of the world around me. 

"It hit me pretty hard, how there’s no kind of sad in this world that will stop it turning."

While the story was heartbreaking, and emotional, the author told it in a way that kept me intrigued and invested beyond waiting for the next shoe to drop. 

"One look at her and I was gone. This is the truth, it was first sight. I fell down a well into some shiny dream, and if somebody had thrown me a rope, which some few eventually did, you couldn’t have paid me to climb it. Some call that addiction. Some say love. Fine line."

I have never had an addiction myself (other than to nicotine and I quit smoking in 2012) but I've seen what it can do to people I care about greatly. I saw doctors throw pills at the problem instead of ever really looking for a cause. I have a friend who is/was (not my call to make) an addict and it didn't happen on the streets, it happened in doctors' offices. They needed surgery and instead got a script. The thing was once they got them hooked, the problem that caused everything to begin with was still there, but then they were deemed "drug seeking".  They got the NEEDED  surgery months later, but the new problem created took years to "fix".

I have never annotated a book so much. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted sad 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: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings