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A review by silvvanaaa
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
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
4.25
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.