Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

28 reviews

navyredrose's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense 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

The Audiobook narrator for this one was fantastic! Truly brought Demon to life!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Death, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Addiction, Pregnancy, Drug use, and Cursing

Moderate: Gore, Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Classism, and Alcohol

Minor: Incest, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Sexual violence, and Animal death

indiana_sorell's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was well written, and had amazing imagery and storytelling. That being said, this is a very dark book. Be prepared to be bummed out for like 80% of this book. Overall a good read, but I honestly wouldn’t recommend because of how bummed out it made me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Death, Suicide, Addiction, Child death, Death of parent, and Sexual violence

crossinthepnw's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad tense 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

Oh man…where to even start with this one. Demon Copperhead is easily one of my top three reads for 2023, and will always hold a special place in my heart. To be clear - this is my first Kingsolver work I’ve read (and now I will be reading more of her stories!), and I’ve never read David Copperfield by Charles Dickens…but now I am curious to read the source behind the inspiration for her novel.

Demon Copperhead will piss you off. It will make you cry. You will try to remind yourself that this is a work of fiction, but is clearly based in reality, which will in turn make you even more upset that this kind of shit is still happening. If you didn’t hate Big Pharma before (which if you already don’t…come on), you will after reading this novel. It also made me think about the joke of the war on drugs and the opioid crisis. How our foster care system is screwed. How some folks are just fucked before they even get a start in life.

But the novel isn’t all doom and gloom, I promise. There is hope, love, joy, and laughs along the way. It’s also a coming of age story about a boy who many people wouldn’t give a second thought about on account of where he grew up. The first person narrative of Demon took this tale to another level; Kingsolver has a way of transporting you to his world and his life.

 I am so happy that Kingsolver took the time to tell this story, about the “rednecks”, “hillbillies”, or “trailer trash” folks don't seem to give a shit about, and how the opioid epidemic has done so much damage in Appalachia. Please, read this one; I read it in five days because I could not put it down!

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Cancer, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicide

rachelstubbs19's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

 

“Anybody will tell you the born of this world are marked from the get-out, win or lose.” 

If you’re familiar with Dickens, you’ll know that his stories usually emotionally obliterate you, and Demon Copperhead certainly follows this proud tradition.

Demon Copperhead is Barbara Kingsolver’s modern-day interpretation of Dickens’ favourite and highly autobiographical novel, David Copperfield, transposed to the Appalachian region in America during the 1990s and early 2000s. It’s a classic bildungsroman/coming-of-age following the young Damon Fields (known as Demon Copperhead), from his less-than-straightforward birth through to adulthood. If you have read or watched some version of David Copperfield, you may know how the story goes. If you don’t, I won’t spoil it for you. 

In lots of ways, Demon Copperhead feels like it embodies the best of Dickens, from the huge cast of idiosyncratic and lovable characters, to the elements of high (melo)drama, and of course, the social commentary and real desire to change the world for the better:

“..the Charles Dickens one seriously old guy, dead and a foreigner, but Christ Jesus did he get the picture on kids and orphans getting screwed over and no one giving a rat’s ass. You’d think he was from around here.” 

The story, here, is about the opioid crisis in the Appalachians and specifically what happens to the abandoned children and the injustices that suck them into the vicious cycle of poverty. This is where I think Kingsolver’s Dickensian power shines through: she makes you rethink your view of the world, and also of yourself. She exposes the stereotypes of the ‘redneck’ and ‘hillbilly’, and also made me look up the opioid crisis myself, of which I knew very little. 

“One thing I learned from Mr. Armstrong while striving heartily to remain uneducated: a good story doesn’t just copy life, it pushes back on it.” 

It’s a heavy topic, and it’s certainly a book with dark and deeply upsetting moments, so definitely look up the content warnings in this book. However, it’s not all doom and gloom. As a character, Demon’s strength of character and resilience shines through the pages and you can’t help but love him even as you despair over some of his choices. His wry sense of humour (his voice is actually a little more Holden Caulfield than David Copperfield, in my opinion), combined with elements of propulsive action or tension, mean that it’s difficult to stop reading, and I devoured the last 40% of the book in just a day. The lovable characters, particularly the voice of Demon, and the raw emotional depth of the book stop it from being overly didactic or dry. 

Like David Copperfield was to Dickens, Demon Copperhead feels deeply personal to Kingsolver. She may not be telling her own story, per se, but it feels like she is telling the stories of many people that she has known - or could know - and cares deeply about. The intimacy really makes this Kingsolver’s story too, not just Dickens’s. The deep love and appreciation of the natural world that suffuses this novel feels typical of her work and, of course, she is from the Appalachians too. Gorgeous, languid descriptions of the mountain range drape round the novel and  in my opinion veer far from cliched nature descriptions. 

“It was that fall of type of day where the world feels like it’s about to change its mind on everything. Cicadas going why-why-why, the air lying still, all the fight gone out of summer.” 

Kingsolver’s done what I remember and respect Dickens most for: those moments in his stories that you can never forget, even if they do trouble you deeply. I think this is a novel that will stay with many readers for a very long time. 

“Never be mean in anything. Never be false. Never be cruel. I can always be hopeful of you.” 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual violence and Violence

jferguson1138's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

Well that was tragic.

It’s such an intriguing book. It almost feels like Huck Finn, but if he grew up a modern day complete with the abusive drunken step father. But it veers off a simple translation with the specter Friday night lights, drugs, and lives ruined across Appalachia.

It’s Huck Finn crossed with the ruin of Purdue pharma pushed painkillers.

The audiobook was read incredibly well and really added to the rural flavors.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death, Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Trafficking

ems_rxlibrary's review

challenging dark reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, and Cursing

Moderate: Bullying and Sexual violence

Minor: Sexual content

Kingsolver was able to masterfully bring the character of Demon Cooperhead to life in this modern retelling of David Copperfield. We follow Demon as he navigates a broken foster care system, (short lived) athletic success, and drug addiction. I was definitely drawn in by the storytelling, and I will definitely pick up another book by this author. The biggest hang up I had with this book was with the weight of it. It was very well done, but if its 64 chapters I found that only 5ish didn’t leave me with a knot in the pit of my stomach. I also wished that the ending packed a bit more of a punch personally.

mreads03's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

This is an incredibly hard and emotional book but it's worth the read. It addresses personal and social values in a way that is infrequently discussed in our age. It shines a direct and unflinching light on the effects of poverty and the opioid crisis in modern rural America. It's going to be one of those books you walk away from and think about for years to come.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Excrement, Violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Classism, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Abortion, Alcohol, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Sexism

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

superdaintycate's review

challenging dark emotional medium-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? Yes

4.0

This is beautifully written and ultimately a poignant story. That said, it's incredibly painful to read a lot of the naked, laid bare depth of trauma experienced by all of the characters. If you can read with a knot in your gut for pretty much the entire book, definitely do it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Death, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Murder, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Addiction, and Abandonment

gems_gems's review

challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Suicide, Child death, and Death of parent