Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

555 reviews

mkwoods's review

challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It’s as amazing as they say if you stick with it.

I loved the narrator’s voice, how well Kingsolver captured young boy. I saw traces of my brothers in it, and even in the darkest moments Demon made me laugh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Death and Toxic relationship

Minor: Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Alcoholism

kb_wight's review

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a difficult book to read due to the material. I think it would be safe to say that most people have seen the negative effects of the opioid crisis, but seeing it through the eyes of someone who lives in an area that has not been given the adequate resources to deal with those negative effects is uncomfortable and eye opening. 

Overall, this was a good book. It is well written and Kingsolver does a great job of giving enough detail to the characters and scenery that give the reader a vivid picture of what is going on. The reason for 3.5 stars instead of higher is solely due to the pacing of the book. For me, I flew through the first third and the last fifty or so pages - in between the first third and last fifty pages was several hundred pages that took me days to get through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Abandonment, Grief, and Domestic abuse

aliterarygoodtime's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Addiction, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Grief, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

joensign's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Classism, Death, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Miscarriage and Injury/Injury detail

tctimlin's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

On a scale of 1-5 this was a 6 for me.  Kingsolver is an incredible writer and she got the voice of our narrator perfectly.   She also gets the beauty and the ugliness of Appalachia perfectly (I have spent a fair amount of time working in that part of the world).  I loved the way she paralleled Dickens’ “David Copperfield” and uses it to write about contemporary issues like the opioid crisis in 21st century America.  Next time I read it (for there will definitely be a next time), I’d like to parallel read it with David Copperfield because in my memory, it lines up almost perfectly in character and plot.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, Death, Miscarriage, Drug use, Trafficking, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Medical trauma

evaorbit's review

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I am in love with this book. In the last 200 pages I didn’t want to put it down at all. I’ve never experienced addiction, so I can’t say if it was an accurate depiction, but it seemed heavily researched and deeply empathetic. The powers that be have wrecked lives, families, communities. On purpose, as the book mentions. You can’t not fall in love with Demon through all his ups and downs. I sobbed my way through the last 50 pages. I recommend this book to everyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Death

kadew's review

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Drug use, Child abuse, and Drug abuse

acorny's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Such incredibly written characters, they felt so real. I loved Demon as a protagonist- my heart broke over again for him. Really all the characters will stick with me for a long time. I feel like it was a really humanity-driven and empathetic glimpse into the history and politics of Appalachia and what life may be like/had been like.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Addiction

Moderate: Trafficking

Minor: Miscarriage

slow_slow's review

challenging inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

I grew up reading Christy, and I feel like this is a much less romanticized view of this portion of Appalachia. Extremely well written, it leaves the reader satisfied and wanting more at the same time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Violence, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Suicide

princessxnicole's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, Addiction, Grief, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse