Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

99 reviews

t_draney's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Abandonment, and Drug abuse

dev921's review

dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Vomit, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Child death, Classism, Death, and Transphobia

amylou78's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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? No

5.0

A Pulitzer Prize-winning novel doesn't need more praise heaped on from some rando, but I feel like I have to share how much this novel moved me. The strongest sense of place I’ve read in a long time. I’ve never been to Appalachia, but now I feel like I have. The real Appalachia, the poverty alongside the beauty, deep struggles alongside a rich tradition. I never read David Copperfield, so I don’t know how this compares, but I do know that it dealt with the institutionalized poverty of Victorian England, and how it affected the kids. Same story, different era. Our world, right now. Resource exploitation, worker exploitation, the hamstrung ineptitude of underfunded public services and then, of course, the unbreakable spirit one individual. First time I had read Barbara Kingsolver. I’ll have to go back now and read some more.  Seriously good stuff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Drug use, and Addiction

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Abortion, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship

megs_readstoomuch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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: Addiction and Drug abuse

Moderate: Gaslighting, Racism, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Violence, Grief, Racial slurs, Child abuse, and Vomit

graciepie's review

slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Sexual content

rflavin's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Abandonment, Abortion, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Alcohol

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

atamano's review

dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Vomit, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Gun violence, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Classism, and Gore

Minor: Sexual content, Suicide, and Pregnancy

yourssincerelyemma's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Drug abuse

Moderate: Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Rape, Abandonment, Medical content, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Racism, Homophobia, Abortion, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

agnesg's review

challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Abandonment, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Death, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Animal death, Grief, Drug use, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Car accident, Trafficking, Vomit, and Toxic relationship