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4.49 AVERAGE
4.49 AVERAGE
emotional
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
Subheading: the kids are not alright.
Admittedly, I’m not a Barbara Kingsolver fan — but this was, by far, my favorite book of hers. Here are my ratings:
Character development: 4.75. THIS is a character study. Demon has such a unique voice, brought masterfully to life by Charlie Thurston. (The audiobook was incredible.) I loved Demon so fiercely, even when I was screaming at him to “stop, turn around,” as he descended to The Devil’s Bathtub. It felt wondrous to see him explore, struggle, love, discover, play, hurt, surprise and it felt like a gift to get to see so, so many sides of him.
Portrait of addiction at the individual and community level: 5.0. The way Kingsolver showed us Demon’s descent into addiction was so gradual, layered, and visceral. Girlfriend gut-punched us with her descriptiveness, her research, and her thoroughness.
Portrait of addiction at the structural level: 2.5. She tried here but fell woefully short. You could tell that Kingsolver wanted to hammer home the point that addiction is a systemic, structural issue, not an individual shortcoming. She wanted us to feel ALL of the lack that seeds addiction in Appalachia: health care, community resources, employment, economic outlook, formal education, etc. But the moment she tried to tell us via dialogue — when June would hit us with an, “they did this to us!” or Demon would mention Purdue — it did NOT WORK. It sprung up out of nowhere. One moment, June was dating and defending a pill-pushing pharma rep; the next she’s telling us how these pills were deliberately unleashed on Lee County? What happened to get her there? Could we see her (and therefore, Demon) trying to make sense of it, rather than just telling us outright? Kingsolver brings in the structural element with Mr. Armstrong describing the confederacy and structural racism — that was great! Why couldn’t she have also done that with addiction? I think she tried with Demon and Tommy growing an awareness about how Appalachia is perceived, but … having someone tell Demon the forces at play that lead to the plunder of rural communities is NOT the same as Demon developing his own critical consciousness. That’s what I wanted more of.
Conciseness: 2.0. One of my biggest issues with Kingsolver is that she’s gratuitously loquacious. This book is no exception; there were definitely chapters that felt needlessly long. I lose respect for authors who take 700 pages when they could’ve used 500.
The ending: 2.0. Demon gets feelings forAngus — essentially his FOSTER SISTER — out of nowhere??!!!?? I loved that he was en route to the ocean (even though I saw that coming) but the romantic plot line felt CHEAP. Like Kingsolver just wanted him to end on a happy note so she threw him a romantic bone. We saw sibling love between them all throughout the book; where was the romantic love and why didn’t we have even just a LITTLE more of that earlier on?
Sense of place: 5.0. Kingsolver makes you feel like you grew up in Lee County. This is a masterclass in descriptive writing on place. I can’t believe these places are fully real. No notes.
Admittedly, I’m not a Barbara Kingsolver fan — but this was, by far, my favorite book of hers. Here are my ratings:
Character development: 4.75. THIS is a character study. Demon has such a unique voice, brought masterfully to life by Charlie Thurston. (The audiobook was incredible.) I loved Demon so fiercely, even when I was screaming at him to “stop, turn around,” as he descended to The Devil’s Bathtub. It felt wondrous to see him explore, struggle, love, discover, play, hurt, surprise and it felt like a gift to get to see so, so many sides of him.
Portrait of addiction at the individual and community level: 5.0. The way Kingsolver showed us Demon’s descent into addiction was so gradual, layered, and visceral. Girlfriend gut-punched us with her descriptiveness, her research, and her thoroughness.
Portrait of addiction at the structural level: 2.5. She tried here but fell woefully short. You could tell that Kingsolver wanted to hammer home the point that addiction is a systemic, structural issue, not an individual shortcoming. She wanted us to feel ALL of the lack that seeds addiction in Appalachia: health care, community resources, employment, economic outlook, formal education, etc. But the moment she tried to tell us via dialogue — when June would hit us with an, “they did this to us!” or Demon would mention Purdue — it did NOT WORK. It sprung up out of nowhere. One moment, June was dating and defending a pill-pushing pharma rep; the next she’s telling us how these pills were deliberately unleashed on Lee County? What happened to get her there? Could we see her (and therefore, Demon) trying to make sense of it, rather than just telling us outright? Kingsolver brings in the structural element with Mr. Armstrong describing the confederacy and structural racism — that was great! Why couldn’t she have also done that with addiction? I think she tried with Demon and Tommy growing an awareness about how Appalachia is perceived, but … having someone tell Demon the forces at play that lead to the plunder of rural communities is NOT the same as Demon developing his own critical consciousness. That’s what I wanted more of.
Conciseness: 2.0. One of my biggest issues with Kingsolver is that she’s gratuitously loquacious. This book is no exception; there were definitely chapters that felt needlessly long. I lose respect for authors who take 700 pages when they could’ve used 500.
The ending: 2.0. Demon gets feelings for
Sense of place: 5.0. Kingsolver makes you feel like you grew up in Lee County. This is a masterclass in descriptive writing on place. I can’t believe these places are fully real. No notes.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Growing up in rural Appalachia, this book had been recommended to me by numerous people. And Kingsolver delivered. She is an absolutely amazing writer. I was fully drawn in by her prose. It's a slower-paced story that has a certain sad beauty to it that resonated well. I appreciated her commentary on the opioid epidemic in that area and how she made it very personal and humanizing. Overall, I found it a good, thought-provoking read that reminded me of home in the best and worst ways.
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:
Complicated
5 wonderful shining stars. Straight into best books of the year and all time list. Just read it!
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
dark
emotional
informative
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:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
I'm from Appalachia. Specifically from southwest Virginia, just a few hours from Norton where they live in the book. Everything they describe in this book is true, but sometimes I struggled with how it was delivered. I hate Demon's narrative voice, probably because Barbara Kingsolver is a 60-something-year-old woman from New Mexico and stumbles between the folksy sayings and 90s slang.
I also struggle with the ending, which removes agency from Demon's character.The climax is at Devils Bathtub and he just is present. He isn't active in his own ending. The character of Hammer should not have existed and it should have been Demon who stood up to Fast Forward for what he did to Emmy. I feel like Kingsolver just wanted Demon to be her camera, but it made me frustrated that he was so passive and blameless. He doesn't take responsibility for the bad (enabling Dori) or the good (his career). Everything he sort of falls into by chance. Including ending up with Angus? Random...
I liked some things in the book. The Pagget's of course: Emmy, June, and Maggot. The historical background was good but heavy handed. My favorite scene was June telling Demon he has to leave the town, which I find true to life.
I also struggle with the ending, which removes agency from Demon's character.
I liked some things in the book. The Pagget's of course: Emmy, June, and Maggot. The historical background was good but heavy handed. My favorite scene was June telling Demon he has to leave the town, which I find true to life.
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
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:
Yes
like a love letter written in blood, coming from a place of pain and heart and so, so beautiful.