Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

11 reviews

juanat77's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

4.0

This is book is big and messy. About 560 pages. There’s times it’s funny then tense then depressing. Kingsolver writes all those feelings exceptionally well. It reads like a classic. I thought about Holden Caulfield (Catcher in the Rye) at times. I was rooting for the MC despite his poor decisions and at times selfishness—-however that is real life. This story touches on so many serious topics including the opioid crisis, domestic abuse, child labor, poverty and the foster care system. And while there are sad and serious issues; there are also many funny moments. Demon the MC starts as a young child and ends when he is an adult so we get to see how his character develops through the years. It’s said to be a retelling of David Copperfield—never read it but adding it to my TBR!

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

raechrae's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

menahilnauman's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring 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

4.5

so interesting! loved the storytelling, albeit depressing at times

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Trafficking

lernstreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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

It started off really fast moving; I couldn't put it down. Then it got really sad in the middle, and I left it for a while. When I picked it up again, I was back to couldn't put it down. I RARELY reread books, but when I finished this today, I thought, "I think I would read this again."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Rape, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Abortion, and Pregnancy

arood's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.5

Epic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical trauma, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism and Bullying

barbarella85's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Miscarriage

pndafce's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective 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, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

sjanke2's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

This is a challenging book, both in the sense of Demon's stream-of-consciousness voice and the trials he endures. But after 50 pages, one's brain adapts to Kingsolver's writing style. The audiobook narrator helped in developing a stride. Demon goes through so much, and there's a balance of both good and bad influences in the side characters. I also appreciated Kingsolver's strong stance on the war wreaked upon Appalachians by land grabbers, mining companies, and Big Pharma. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Gun violence, Sexual violence, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Abortion, Pregnancy, and War

bail33's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad slow-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

I genuinely won’t stop thinking about this for the rest of my life. An incredible portrait on Appalachia.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, and Violence

karyan1's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Miscarriage, Rape, Vomit, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Pandemic/Epidemic