A review by baguettekelly
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

challenging dark reflective

4.75

This was a book club assignment a bit outside my normal taste and I was sure it’d be a slog, but wow Ms. Kingsolver has written a masterpiece of a story.  Demon’s voice is authentic and familiar, and the way the book speaks about the characters of his world makes them feel like your community, too.  The depiction of the opioid epidemic here is sensitive while remaining true to life.  This book is an excellent read for anyone trying to understand the human side of the cycle of addiction in which so many Americans find themselves trapped, and will deeply resonate with readers who have watched it happen in their hometowns.

I was disappointed with the very end of the story.  Demon and Angus’s platonic love was one of my favorite relationships in the book (and I loved Angus’s badass gender nonconformity and disinterest in teen romance), so I was bummed to see that flip out of nowhere.  It reads like a rom com trope plopped into an otherwise very dark novel.  I know this was a David Copperfield homage, but I struggle to see how this was a necessary one given all of the other liberties taken with Agnes/Angus.
 
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