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A review by astoriareader
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
SYNOPSIS:
- Damon Fields, aka Demon Copperhead, is born in Southern Virginia in the late 1980s to a teen mom with substance issues. Demon’s mom is in and out of rehab, and he is partly raised by the Peggots.
- Demon’s mom ends up marrying an abusive man.
- Demon is shuffled off to a foster home run by Mr. Creakle & then a few more. He finally ends up with football coach, and the book weaves his story with opiod addiction.
MY THOUGHTS
- Prior to reading this one, I saw some articles online about it that said it is a retelling of Dicken’s novel entitled David Copperfield.
- After seeing rave reviews & that the author won the Pulitzer Prize for this book, I waited on library wait list for quite a while. I am in the minority here, but this book & writing style was not for me.
- Although the opiod crisis is a serious topic, I can’t recommend this book. This book DRAGS. It is so unnecessarily slow. It took me 7 days to finish. I typically finish any book, even books I don’t like, in max 4 days. It was getting to feel like homework getting through it. There’s a ton of parts that didn’t need to be included.
- The writing style was nauseating to me. I hated it. It is Demon describing & relaying things, and his voice wasn’t strong enough for that job. It’s like a child relaying things to you for 500+ pages. I also didn’t buy Kingsolver’s ability to write in the shoes of this character. It didn’t sound realistic at all.
- The characters are all flat & many are stereotypical cliches. To name a few, think: single drug addicted mom living in trailer, abusive stepdad, Appalachians are all white people, Appalachians are hillbillies.
- I also found Demon’s trajectory unbelievable in terms of his path to drugs. It doesn’t line up with everything he has witnessed & experienced. The author comes across as an outsider to the subject.
- I did like the Peggots, Aunt June, Mrs. Annie, and Tommy.
- I enjoy complex characters that make sense, but the characters in this book don’t make sense.
TL;DR: ⭐️unreal to me that this won a Pulitzer Prize.
Graphic: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Addiction
Moderate: Death, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Classism
Minor: Vomit and Homophobia