Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

77 reviews

annabunce's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

Such a great read, but so so sad. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

asha_m's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

helenaramsay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Initially this book was a struggle, it is very dark and quite depressing mostly because of its faithfulness to real life, and you have to be in a good place to read it and feel okay afterwards. I binged half in a day, put it down, and couldn't pick it up again for 6 months. Then, it was phenomenal. Still dark, but Demon is such a forgiving and honest perspective throughout that you keep reading just to see if he can be okay. The writing is fantastic and I appreciate that through everything horrible, you have characters that remain kind and caring and make you feel some of the love that Demon is searching for and it keeps you going. I would recommend but only if you're in a good place and feel like you have capacity to consume what feels like all the world's trauma at once. Beautiful writing, deeply insightful story, complex characters, and no small amount of hope and joy to make it worthwhile. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Racism

edendecker's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

smsegal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Child abuse, Vomit, and Death of parent

victoriaaurora's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty and Bullying

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

ash_bees's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

Trigger warnings: all of them.

Well written.  Reminded me a lot of a modern Huckleberry Finn, but with the rough times didn't end when Huck's father dies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

readasaurus_rex's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

rainbopagn's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Car accident and Abortion