Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

62 reviews

aniquegrace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative sad tense fast-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

My best read of 2024, thought I might be let down after all the hype but it was genuinely incredible. Made me nostaglic for my small town and heartbroken for the kids that fall through the cracks, truly a masterpiece

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, and Suicide

ash_bees's review

dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

Trigger warnings: all of them.

Well written.  Reminded me a lot of a modern Huckleberry Finn, but with the rough times didn't end when Huck's father dies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

infinitezest's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

This is a really heartbreaking and evocative coming-of-age story that sets the reader squarely in the center of the opioid epidemic, rural poverty, and a broken child welfare system. I felt a LOT of emotions following along with Damon's story. I would rate the first half or so of the book 5 million stars, but the second half was so depressing and I felt it difficult, emotionally, to keep going at times. The ending felt like too quick of a wrap-up, like it was trying to meet a deadline for the book and spent too much time on the early years. I would still recommend it but with all the trigger warnings, and it's NOT a vacation book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

br3nda's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This is a 3.5 star read for me. I was disappointed that I did not fall under the "best read of the year" or "a 5 star read". I honestly don't get what all the hype is about.

*****SPOILERS at this point


This book is way longer than it needs to be. So much of Damon's story could have been condensed. It felt like we were reading (I listened to) every day of every week for the few years of his life. It was like reading his daily diary.
I was happy that Damon found a way through all that he was living but there was nothing happy in this story. I understand that life was no picnic for the rural areas of mining country but surely there was something to be happy about? Additionally, this story made every character sound ignorant of any the perils of opioids. 

The story is very predictable... of course a small-town boy that is in the crappy foster system finally finds a good place to stay and then a sport he is suddenly good at and becomes a temporary star because he blows out his knee and gets addicted to drugs and goes downhill from there, but in the end he magically is reformed and finally gets to see the only thing on his bucket list... the ocean (eye roll).

This is my first book from this author but I don't think there will be others. It just was not there for me.

I can definitely give 4 stars to the narrator Charlie Thurston. Excellent job at telling this story. Only thing is you need to practice on the female voices. (shrug)

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

angorarabbit's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

Context: I have tried but never finished Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield. I have no intention in trying again. I did have to skim two chapters of Demon Copperhead (the one with the truck stop and one with U-Haul). 

 

TLDR: The fact that I could read this is a testament to the writing skill of Ms Kingsolver, I am in awe. 

 

I want to spend a little time on the foster care system as described in the novel. DSS is in about half of Demon’s life officially and spreads into the rest of his life. All of it is true to reality. Older children (especially boys) do have a harder time finding placement in foster homes. According to the Children’s Bureau at the Administration for Children and Families (a division of the USDHHS), there were 407,000 children in foster care in the US in 2020. By the age of 17 over 50% of those children will have encounters with law enforcement. The foster care to juevie pipeline is a real phenomenon. The novel also delves into the emotional toll the death of parents and foster care takes on a child through out their lives in the narrative of the main character that I relate to. 

 

That said, Demon was incredibly lucky. He actually has better foster homes than many kids in his first two foster homes and his third is hitting the jackpot. He also is told he gets his survivor benefits  when he turns 18. My experience is that any SS money goes to the agency handling the foster care which uses it to pay the foster parents and administrative costs. The child times out with a few clothes and perhaps a half-way house to move into an adult life they are usually ill prepared for. 

 

I also vibed with how much the characters loved their home. Not the house but everything, the creek, the mountains, the wildlife, the friends, the family. And how hard it is to leave that behind to find work or escape addictions. Hiraeth is not just for Wales. 

 

My only criticism; lack of depth in the slime ball characters U-Haul, Fast Forward, Stoner and truck stop woman. In particular U-Haul is given no backstory even though he is a major plot point in the second half. Why does he stay as the coach’s lackey hauling his kids around? I get that he has the hots for Angus but he waits almost 20 years to act. He’s just slimy because some one has to be Uriah Heep I guess. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Car accident

child neglect, child labor, the foster care system, snakes, sex work, rats, unsanitary conditions

scottsmom's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

stellahadz's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

The Pulitzer prize for this book was well-deserved. The writing is immersive and descriptive, plunging the reader into a world that may not be familiar to them (it certainly wasn't for me). I loved the descriptions of family life and Demon's desire to have somewhere to fit in. I was captivated by his journey and constantly rooting for him to find his home. The other characters were great, too - my personal favorite was Mr. Armstrong. The story is equal parts funny and heartbreaking, and it's definitely long, but absolutely worth it. The scene where

Demon drives away from Lee County and hikes into the mountains

made me tear up. It's the kind of book that I feel almost sad to have finished.

Spoilers ahead:

I know some people aren't fans of the "everything gets tied up neatly" type of ending, but I personally love it, and if anyone deserves it, it's Demon. Also, if I HAD to choose a complaint about this book, it would be that he may or may not end up dating his foster sister...

but the rest of the book is so incredible that I stand by the 5-star rating. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Confinement, Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, Medical content, and Abortion

putzkid's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

omged. the writting style was beautiful. the story was so goddamn depressing but so important, informative and entrapping. im both relieved it ended where it did and wanting more. but this was an amazing book. i love how she writes, very witty and odd and random and disturbing and messy and unstable but absolutely perfect for the plot. 
take away .25ths cause it was really upsetting and disturbing, but that still matters, just not my favourite thing, personally. 
please check all trigger/content warnings to be prepared :):). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism

and_abigail's review

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

saskiahill's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism