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adriano64's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship
astoriareader's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
- 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.
- 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.
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
hannahcstocks's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Cancer, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Ableism, Abortion, Blood, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Medical content, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Excrement, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma
Minor: Suicide and War
yuna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abandonment, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Trafficking