A review by fayetree
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.75

this is the first books i’ve ever read that features a character growing up in Appalachia, where so much of the story revolves around that. and as someone who has family in west virginia and has spent a large chunk of my life there, it’s so nice to see it portrayed in such a kind light. yes, this is a book where horrible things happen again and again, but through it all Demon continues to love his hometown. As June said, there was never anything wrong with him or Lee County.

I’ve always felt so deeply connected to the country, longing to trade the city scrapers of my childhood for the forest behind my grandpas house. I only ever saw beauty, it never occurred to me that not everyone else agreed.

So, unlike some others who may read this, none of the topics discussed in this book were new to me. It was so very disheartening to read about Demons experience in foster care, and his struggle with addiction, and to know that these weren’t just fictional things. They happened—they are happening.

Demon is such a realistic character, with such a clear voice that you can’t help but root for him. I felt my heart break for him so many times, but even outside of Demon, there are so many amazing characters within this story. Kingsolver does such an amazing job of humanizing the characters, of giving clear reasons as to why they are who they are, why they do what they do, even when it’s not an excuse. i think it’s so important to understand a persons motives, people are so complex and this book really reflects that.

I love the aspect of the book, one of the overarching themes, of people in the south being forgotten. Or if not forgotten, then instead looked down on. It never fails to anger me, how people don’t even attempt to understand people living in the south. The struggles they face, not only because the system is against them, but because city people have abandoned them, believing everyone who lives in a red state is a bigot, or stupid, that they put themselves in their situation and can very well leave if it isn’t working. 

I also really loved how addiction & addicts were portrayed in this. I’ve never personally dealt with anything like what goes on in this book, but i love how all the characters are given grace. people often look at addicts as being selfish, not knowing or even caring to understand how the person got there. but it is never so simple as you want to believe, people are complicated. there are often so many factors working against them that you can’t see, but all that matters to anyone is where they ended up, not how or why they got there. or who’s fault it really was— not theirs, but the system that set them up to fail since the moment they were born. like i know West Virginia, my most beloved place on earth, has the highest percentage of opioid overdose related deaths. the mall of my childhood has had a poster up to bring awareness for so long that the words have nearly faded. and i’ve overheard so many negative things about WV, things pertaining to their employment rates, obesity, everyone living there being bigoted or stupid, etc. but they never think about how the education systems in those places are shit, they make fun Southern people for being stupid, but it never crosses their mind think of why that is, why they’re ranked lower on education. it doesn’t occur to them that food dessert exist, that for some people their closest access to food is a fast food restaurant or a gas station. and it always made me sad, because if you could only see how much beauty lives in those mountains, how kind the people are. 

“This is what I would say if I could, to all smart people of the world with their dumb hillbilly jokes: We are right here in the stall. We can actually hear you.” 

I can understand and even agree that this book was maybe a bit too long and the ending felt abrupt, but overall I think this is very good book to read if you’re not from Appalachia, or even if you are. The experiences and characters in this book are so very realistic in a way that breaks my heart. There is so much beauty to be found in Appalachia, so much community and love among the people, but all that is ever said about them is negative. Even leftist, who claim to be fighting for equality, fall into the trap of looking down on and berating ‘hillbillies’ and ‘rednecks’. not to mention the fact that there are queer people there and POC and by assuming that everyone who lives there is ‘backward’ (whatever the hell you mean by that) you are turning your back on your community and letting them down, just like the people you claim to hate.