Reviews with content warning for Car accident - Demon Copperhead

I was born and raised in West Virginia. Judging by the way it's written, Demon is only a few years older than me. You can tell Kingsolver is Appalachian herself because this is a haunting account of poverty in this area. The depiction of the prevalence of substances and the ease to get it in the early 00s is so vividly real I wonder if the author had family fall victim to it like mine did. My grandmother was one of the first victims of opioid abuse and it distorted the way my childhood should have been.

This is not a book for the faint heart. I had to stop several times as passages brought my own traumas back up. But this is a masterwork in not only literature but life in some of the poorest parts of the United States.

Oh and she name dropped Purdue. That gets an extra star alone.

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angorarabbit's review

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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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carrigoitia's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny 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

5.0

Truly one of the most incredible books I’ve ever read.

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paintedgiraffe's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative 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

4.75

So I went into this assuming – purely from the title – that it was a YA paranormal retelling of David Copperfield. Haha, I have never been more wrong. No, it's an R-rated sh*tfest in the recent past, with nary a smidgen of fantasy or magic.

BUT! Once I got over the jarringly depressing tone, I enjoyed the ride. It wasn't always grimdark. There were hope spots along the way, increasing towards the end.

I myself was born in 1990 (2-3 years younger than the protagonist), so every reference to what was going on culturally really rang with me. (Furbies, Britney Spears, 9/11 followed by the extreme patriotism)

Other reviewers feel the plot was way too much about drugs and being addicted, but like...that was/is people's day-to-day. I learned a lot about the sick systemic-ness of it all.

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putzkid's review against another edition

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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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