Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

125 reviews

rinku's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Abortion

jennaviolet's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

staceyinthesticks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug use, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

erinsca's review

dark 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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

lolo_lew's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Incredibly well-written, tackles tough and complex topics in an approachable and meaningful way. Highly recommend but contains content that might be sensitive to some.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Blood, Abortion, and Pregnancy

lizmarasse's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

bronzeageholly's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

Tackling this book felt like an immense task but I'm so so glad I completed it. 

For those who know David Copperfield, it is a close enough interpretation to make you go "oh no! I know where this is going! stop the ride!" at least once a chapter. But, in saying that, it is also a very unique concept, an incredible tale of the care system and opioid crisis in the US.

Each character was so well fleshed out, in particular Demon; his narratorial voice was so strong, moving, and hilarious. His thoughtfulness, his anger, his empathy are heartbreaking. The accounts of each of the characters moved me to tears many times; I wanted desperately to reach into the pages and swoop Demon and the others away to safety. 

I found the pacing quite difficult to get into and had to swap from the physical book to an audiobook around 1/5 of the way in. The lack of abstraction throughout meant that when there were descriptions of intense suffering my reading quickened ("I need to keep going to make sure they're okay"), and then would slow dramatically during the 'bildungsroman' areas. Because of this I had an on-again-off-again relationship with the book, however the audiobook helped immensely and I found myself unable to put it down for the last few hours.

The central themes of addiction, judgement, loss, and love are devastating and important, and I would implore every adult to read it. There are so many lines that I will hold with me forever.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Kidnapping, Stalking, Abortion, Toxic friendship, and Classism

abi_dutton's review

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

dua_liepard's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

mercurysflame's review

dark emotional funny sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

well written but it really had pacing issues after the first third of the book. also, it just felt like tragedy tourism/poverty porn and was meant to shock people into being upset while also entertaining them. also i just do not find it fun to read about people in active addiction but this was a book club book and i couldn’t show up unprepared. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Trafficking