Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

12 reviews

shelfofunread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Classism, Violence, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Self harm, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Death of parent, and Alcohol

alisonvh's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-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

5.0

This is my favorite book by Barbara Kingsolver I’ve read so far. Not sure if it’s the book or the fact that I listened to this one rather than reading it, but either way I loved every minute.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Physical abuse, Self harm, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Suicide, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Violence, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Racism

poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.5

It's pretty much what you would expect for a Appalachian version of David Copperfield.  The characters were big and believable. I'm not a fan of coming of age stories.  I especially find it difficult to watch characters make bad decisions.  There was too much of the darkness in the real world in this novel and I found it difficult to stay in it.  Everything in me told me to abandon this book. I did not.  It's well written and a story that should be told.  It's just not my thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit

grboph's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

This was a really amazing book. It was such a compelling story that touches on so many important issues that affect the world today, and kind of made me want to read the original David Copperfield!! Kingsolver is such an excellent writer and I would recommend this book to literally anyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, Blood, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Outing, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness

Minor: Abortion and Dementia

franklola's review

adventurous dark funny inspiring reflective sad slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Gun violence, Misogyny, Medical content, Vomit, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, and Trafficking

Minor: Abortion, Animal death, and Bullying

kyrstin_p1989's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

5.0

The type of soul-aching sad that prohibits you from even crying, this novel pushes the boundaries of what we know and understand about the ravages that drugs, particularly opiates, have doled out to the people of Appalachia. Even though you can see the cycle happening before it ever does, you can’t help but love and root for Demon as an unlikely hero. The characters are beautifully and painstakingly crafted to reflect the complexities found in mountain folks. For some reason, it took me a long time to finish the book — but I’m so glad I did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Alcohol, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Child death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Classism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Vomit, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, and Violence

bethbarron's review

5.0

This is brilliant and BLEAK and true and awful. Kingsolver did such a wonderful job. Well deserving of her pulitzer.

It took me probably a month to read this - it is brutally dark and full of trauma. Do not read this expecting happiness at all. But, damn, a story that needed to be told (do we have another novel this compelling about the opioid crisis?), and what a way to do it with a retelling of David Copperfield.

I haven't read Dickens since high school and I'm sure having some distance from Copperfield helped this feel original for me. I had my doubts about a retelling, but I think Kingsolver created a masterpiece and (further) cemented herself as a great Southern author. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Abortion and Rape

spectra37's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Cursing, Car accident, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

kdwhite's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse

Moderate: Trafficking

Minor: Suicide and Self harm

qqjj's review

challenging dark funny tense fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Drug abuse, Trafficking, Vomit, Self harm, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, Death, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Drug use, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent