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A review by cjvphd
Copperhead by Alexi Zentner
3.0
Copperhead has great potential, but misses the mark mostly due to pretty terrible, melodramatic dialogue.
Now, something that really bothered me (and maybe only me and the chosen few who have lived in Ithaca, NY (6 years, for me)) was the CONSTANT references to things in Ithaca/Cornell that that also found their way into "Cortaca." It was bizarre: Route 13, copious waterfalls, renowned Lab of Ornithology, the Creamery, Spring Festival and Apple Fest on the pedestrian mall (Common), State Street Diner, Collegetown, twenty-something mayor who graduated from the University, etc etc etc. Zentner either really wants this story to be specifically about Ithaca/Cornell, or he was just lazy. I found it extremely distracting, and it diminishes the impact of the novel because the story becomes about a very specific place rather than letting the reader imagine it could be any place in America with a socioeconomic and racial divide.
Now, something that really bothered me (and maybe only me and the chosen few who have lived in Ithaca, NY (6 years, for me)) was the CONSTANT references to things in Ithaca/Cornell that that also found their way into "Cortaca." It was bizarre: Route 13, copious waterfalls, renowned Lab of Ornithology, the Creamery, Spring Festival and Apple Fest on the pedestrian mall (Common), State Street Diner, Collegetown, twenty-something mayor who graduated from the University, etc etc etc. Zentner either really wants this story to be specifically about Ithaca/Cornell, or he was just lazy. I found it extremely distracting, and it diminishes the impact of the novel because the story becomes about a very specific place rather than letting the reader imagine it could be any place in America with a socioeconomic and racial divide.