Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

57 reviews

jessiepicard's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Classism

sqidthneed's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Classism

kiwichill's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

katy_bee's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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: Complicated

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I'd heard recommendations of this before reading it, and loved Animal Dreams by kingsolver when I read it earlier in the year. 

This just blew me away. Incredibly sad and beautifully written. Perhaps it feels like a pretentious thing to say but it also felt really important- placing that Dickensian morality tale of how systems prevent people in poverty from escaping its cycle into a modern context where it fits so well. I had to stop reading for a couple of days in the middle because it is very dark but I loved it overall

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide

mimi_lore's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Gore, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting

caitieannb's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark 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

---

Demon Copperhead is one of the best books I have read this year. It was incredibly heartbreaking, beautifully written, intense, traumatic, and will stay with you longer after the last page. It took me a while to get through the book, due to the intensity of some content, but when I did pick it up I couldn’t put it down. It has deeply touched my heart, and when I realized I had read the final sentence, my eyes welled with tears. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent

Minor: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail

emrys_prince's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional funny inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Gun violence, Infidelity, Racism, Self harm, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cancer, Miscarriage

excitedheart's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

---

Grim but beautiful. The story really highlights the systems and pathways that fail people despite their best intentions. So many adults fail this child over and over and over, but so many others do the right thing, and there are plenty that touch both ends of the spectrum. The characters are so complicated and alive... it is hard to take in due to how sad it is but worth the challenge.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Trafficking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Excrement, Abortion, War

kdz08's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Wow! One of the best books I've read. Heartbreaking and so real, but brilliantly written and engaging. A really realistic look at Appalachia life and the opioid crisis, which has changed my perspective of the people in those situations. Throughout the book, I just wanted to give the main character a hug over and over again for all the stuff he had to deal with. He kept pushing through, though, and that's a great message to take from this. I really hope this becomes a movie someday. Definitely a book that everyone should read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment

Minor: Miscarriage, Rape, Suicide, Blood

kimberlina82's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism