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mrs_a_is_a_book_nerd's Reviews (456)
SO informative and I was super impressed at what a level-headed, fair-minded, and balanced approach Treuer had--even with topics one may expect were VERY delicate or difficult.
2.5 maybe... I tried to remember it was written for a younger audience, but even so, my hopes for this novel were not met. I had hoped that Strasser would shed more light on the complexities of poverty and homelessness, but he only made it part way, and managed to create not only a convoluted scenario, but also a character in the father who reinforced stereotypes, in my opinion. Disappointed.
I'm a newer fan of TJ Klune's work-- I was unsure as I began reading _House on the Cerulean Sea_; it was quite a bit more fantastical of a story than I typically read, but I hung with it, and ended up liking it a LOT, especially as it wound to a close. This spurred me to pick up _Under the Whispering Door_, which WRECKED me... such a BEAUTIFUL story of what happens to us after death. From there, I eagerly added several other Klune books to my TBR stack, including _Puppets_. But it just didin't do it for me... I read other reviews that said to hang with it, and I tried, but when my time limit was up on my audiobook loan, I was ready to give it back. I'm sure I would have found some beautiful philosophical jewel in its latter pages, had I been able to hang in, but the modern fantasy version of Pinnochio with robots was just a bit too far for me.
Audiobook. Don't walk: RUN to read this book. Probably the best book I've read in 2023, and maybe even longer than that!
Damon Copperhead--early in life given the name Demon by less than well-meaning folk, and Copperhead for his red hair and the reputation of his deceased father's snake-handling legacy--is modern America's Huck Finn or Oliver Twist. But in this story, HE is the slave: to a rural Appalachia that its compatriots have kicked and scorned, to poverty, to circumstances that befall a child trying to parent his young mom who is in and out of rehab-- in and out of relationships with less-than-well-meaning men, to the oxymoronic child protective services, and finally to the epidemic that swept across the country at the hands of well-dressed pharmaceutical snake oil salesmen. And Demon also knows better than to ask for "more," seeing he learned early that the danger is not in being told "no", but in WHAT you may get more of.
His one and only treasure is his artistic talent--the superhero drawings that rescue him from reality and give him some small sense that good could possibly prevail over evil.
Even when it seems the worst is behind him, he finds out that getting what you've wanted can hurt just as much as wanting it, because now you have more to lose.
Kingsolver created an unforgettable novel peopled with unforgettable characters that walk off the page and will live on in my thoughts, making it impossible for me to ever look at Appalachia the same way again.
Told in a narrative voice that is authentically human--at once bitingly humorous, painfully honest, and tragically sensitive--Demon is the voice of rural America's Lost Boys, and his story brought me to my knees, then made me soar.
Damon Copperhead--early in life given the name Demon by less than well-meaning folk, and Copperhead for his red hair and the reputation of his deceased father's snake-handling legacy--is modern America's Huck Finn or Oliver Twist. But in this story, HE is the slave: to a rural Appalachia that its compatriots have kicked and scorned, to poverty, to circumstances that befall a child trying to parent his young mom who is in and out of rehab-- in and out of relationships with less-than-well-meaning men, to the oxymoronic child protective services, and finally to the epidemic that swept across the country at the hands of well-dressed pharmaceutical snake oil salesmen. And Demon also knows better than to ask for "more," seeing he learned early that the danger is not in being told "no", but in WHAT you may get more of.
His one and only treasure is his artistic talent--the superhero drawings that rescue him from reality and give him some small sense that good could possibly prevail over evil.
Even when it seems the worst is behind him, he finds out that getting what you've wanted can hurt just as much as wanting it, because now you have more to lose.
Kingsolver created an unforgettable novel peopled with unforgettable characters that walk off the page and will live on in my thoughts, making it impossible for me to ever look at Appalachia the same way again.
Told in a narrative voice that is authentically human--at once bitingly humorous, painfully honest, and tragically sensitive--Demon is the voice of rural America's Lost Boys, and his story brought me to my knees, then made me soar.
FUN!
A bit (surprisingly) spicy near the end after limited steam throughout, but the overall concept and the male characters are just too fun.
A bit (surprisingly) spicy near the end after limited steam throughout, but the overall concept and the male characters are just too fun.
Another corny, fun bromance! I do not "do" romance, typically, but the bromance series are just fun and clever enough that I can "tolerate" the steamy parts. LOL. ;)