Name: Demon Copperhead
Rating: 4.485964912280702 (171 reviews)
ISBN: 9780571376490

Barbara Kingsolver

Demon's story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking 'like a little blue prizefighter.' For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise. In the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, poverty isn't an idea, it's as natural as the grass grows. For a generation growing up in this world, at the heart of the modern opioid crisis, addiction isn't an abstraction, it's neighbours, parents, and friends. 'Family' could mean love, or reluctant foster care. For Demon, born on the wrong side of luck, the affection and safety he craves is as remote as the ocean he dreams of seeing one day. The wonder is in how far he's willing to travel to try and get there. Suffused with truth, anger and compassion, Demon Copperhead is an epic tale of love, loss and everything in between.

Demon Copperhead

Luke Harrison

Everything I could possibly say all points to one single truth: this book is important.

It's beautifully written, even though it isn't written beautifully. It's gritty and real, and it tackles issues that are still devastatingly relevant. It humanizes a region of the country that is often disparaged and disregarded, and the people within it who are struggling under systemic failures.

Ashley Denktas

I enjoyed this book way more that I thought I would. From the first line, I knew I would find this to be a modern literary classic. It's depictions of addiction are extremely accurate. I believe Kingsolver is extremely clever in the way that she showcases Demon's life and how the system fails him over and over again. Child services seems to work for a bit, but then his case worker "angel" Mrs. Barks goes away to get a better job. Personally, this is better for her, but it then leaves Demon with no one who cares and advocates for him. His new case worker takes weeks to get back to him and doesn't stand up for him when he's mistreated. She tells him he must do a better job standing up for himself when his foster parents don't give him what he needs- but how is a child to do that when his family refuses to give him food as he's hitting a growth spurt and forces him to get a job to live under the roof he's supposed to be entitled to? Throughout the book Demon remarks also that people like to make up narratives about the why he and others in his community are in the position they are in. Early on he remarks that he has never seen a poisonous copperhead around, but everyone swears that they're in the woods. People see folks and their "bad choices", like his mother's "bad choices" and blame it on the individuals themselves without reflecting on the many decisions and systems that put them in their position in the first place. Its easier to judge when you don't stop to analyze and contextualize that these are people and these are the lives - and no one choice got them there and they're trying to make the best of it. "A 10 year old getting high - foolish children. This is what we're meant to say. Look at their choices, leading to a life of ruin. But lives are being lived right now this hour. Down between the dirty cracks of the tooth-brushed nighty-nights and the full grocery carts, where those words don’t pertain. Children, choices. Ruin, that was the labor and materials we were given to work with. An older boy that never knew safety himself, trying to make us feel safe. We had the moon in the window to smile on us for a minute and tell us the world was ours. Because all the adults had gone off somewhere and left everything in our hands." It's easier to call a child a Demon and look at him at face value in distain for the lot he got in life than to place the blame on the society who fails to care if people have access to the pursuit of happiness. The first half of the book gripped me because of Demon's relationship with his mom and it being eerily familiar. It was heart wrenching to see this family's narrative play out. A teen mother desperate for friends and to fend off loneliness (and disregarding her son's well being as well as her own), and a son stepping in and taking the role of adult. "When your parent clocks out before you clock in- you can spend way too much of your life staring into that black hole," and Demon does having to navigate how to find shelter and find food when his mom ODs and he has no reliable care. She needs support too but never gets it and turns to a controlling man in an attempt to have a partner and a friend. The scene in the diner when he talked to his mom and how she was optimistic about the future stuck a chord in me. He says his mom says he'll be the reason she sobers up, but he believes it will just start the same cycle again in a month. His internal monologue also questions why he is being given yet another responsibility by someone who should be taking care of him. If it doesn't work out does that mean "[he] wasn't a strong enough reason," to stay in this world or keep his family in tact? His mom is giving him "the superpower of getting and making her clean," when she should be taking responsibility and when Demon himself should be able to watch superheroes and see one that he loves take care of him. The theme of superheroes comes up a lot since they seem to be remarkedly absent in Appalachia, and Demon remarks this himself. And as if trying to cement this further, Demon's mother dies after leaving rehab due to another OD on oxy. At the funeral Demon wrestles with his mom's death. Though as a more mature narrator he has processed this, in the moment he wrestles with the thought that he wasn't a good enough reason for his mother to stick around. That depiction and monologue were moving and real. Demon remarks something that I felt I learned in a similar way, "how there is no kind of sad in the world that will stop it turning," the world goes on. Demon Copperhead is a modern classic to me, and I could go on longer describing why and literary excerpts and themes I loved - but I'll stick to the ones above since they really hit home and made the book for me. I do think that after Demon's mother died for a bit I did think, "wow this is kinda turning into everything that could go wrong does, and this book is really veering into full on trauma dump as Demon speed runs to rock bottom." It eventually does stabilize but for several chapters after his mom's death I did start to question the immense misery he is put through - despite it depicting what many have to go through. However, this is a book I loved and will plan to read again. I debated 4-5 stars, but I'm giving it five since its stuck with me.

Wow. I think this is one of my top books Ever. It was written as a response to Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy and has definitely met that mark. Too often when we think of Appalachia it’s all rednecks, hillbillies, druggies. And believe me there is plenty of that out there and in this book. But how did does that culture start?

Despite tracing a similar timeline of coal country and the opioid crisis, Kingsolver and Vance reach vastly differently conclusions on who is to blame. Now I haven’t read David Copperfield so I can tell you how faithful of an adaptation it is on that front, but the narrative it tells is compelling and tragic, even in the brief interlude of happiness halfway through, you’re conditioned that it can’t last, the other shoe has to drop. 

Heartbreaking bildungsroman you can’t help but Feel for everyone in this book. If you have the time if you don’t Read this!!!!

Ford rec. 

Wow. I think this is one of my top books Ever. It was written as a response to Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy and has definitely met that mark. Too often when we think of Appalachia it’s all rednecks, hillbillies, druggies. And believe me there is plenty of that out there and in this book. But how did does that culture start?

Despite tracing a similar timeline of coal country and the opioid crisis, Kingsolver and Vance reach vastly differently conclusions on who is to blame. Now I haven’t read David Copperfield so I can tell you how faithful of an adaptation it is on that front, but the narrative it tells is compelling and tragic, even in the brief interlude of happiness halfway through, you’re conditioned that it can’t last, the other shoe has to drop. 

Heartbreaking bildungsroman you can’t help but Feel for everyone in this book. If you have the time if you don’t Read this!!!!

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.

I feel like Demon Copperhead will stay with me forever. It's been awhile since I read something that felt so human. This book ended up on my radar because it was the #1 book picked by readers as one the best books of the 21st century so far. After reading I can understand why. The writing is so mesmerising, something about the way Demon described things captivated me. Although what Demon went through was nothing short of horrifying, the humour and his point if few made this so addicting to read. 

I loved Demon, he felt like my son, my brother, someone I am intimately connected to. I felt so much for him, at each turn I was anxious what was to come next. Demon is so vibrant and full of life even at his lowest I couldn't help but love him.

I love the most how this book portrayed and discussed poverty and addiction. Especially the opioid crisis. While I knew about the crisis from watching documentaries, I think reading about it in this way made me understand it in away that I really couldn't otherwise unless I talked to those affected in real life myself. Its one thing to read about the devastating impacts of the opioid crisis caused by Purdue, its another to watch someone you have become atrached to  (in this case Demon) have his world crumble around him. To already have suffered so much in life due to poverty, terrible social care system and the abandonment of rural areas by governments among so much else have his happiness stripped away was shocking. I think Demon Copperhead shows all sides of addiction,  the good, the bad and the downright terrifying. I hope Purdue Pharma lose everything.

Speaking of poverty I liked that Barabara Kingsolver chose to write about this, I think when many think of poverty they are thinking of those in third world countries or maybe someone sleeping rough in the city. Demon Copperhead shows how poverty exists everywhere, in the same countries people are driving supercars and drinking 60 dollar milk, people like Demon are being failed of their basic rights. I could understand poverty as a systematic issue and not just something that is sad. It affected Demon his whole life and he really had to fight to just exist, not to become a millionaire or a wonder kid, just to exist. I think its something ill never forget. 

This is a book filled with love and empathy which may be hard to believe because of the subject matter but its true. Its love and community that helped Demon survive. I hope that we continue to treat people with all the love and kindness in our hearts. A spectacular read. 

Marz 

I feel like Demon Copperhead will stay with me forever. It's been awhile since I read something that felt so human. This book ended up on my radar because it was the #1 book picked by readers as one the best books of the 21st century so far. After reading I can understand why. The writing is so mesmerising, something about the way Demon described things captivated me. Although what Demon went through was nothing short of horrifying, the humour and his point if few made this so addicting to read. 

I loved Demon, he felt like my son, my brother, someone I am intimately connected to. I felt so much for him, at each turn I was anxious what was to come next. Demon is so vibrant and full of life even at his lowest I couldn't help but love him.

I love the most how this book portrayed and discussed poverty and addiction. Especially the opioid crisis. While I knew about the crisis from watching documentaries, I think reading about it in this way made me understand it in away that I really couldn't otherwise unless I talked to those affected in real life myself. Its one thing to read about the devastating impacts of the opioid crisis caused by Purdue, its another to watch someone you have become atrached to  (in this case Demon) have his world crumble around him. To already have suffered so much in life due to poverty, terrible social care system and the abandonment of rural areas by governments among so much else have his happiness stripped away was shocking. I think Demon Copperhead shows all sides of addiction,  the good, the bad and the downright terrifying. I hope Purdue Pharma lose everything.

Speaking of poverty I liked that Barabara Kingsolver chose to write about this, I think when many think of poverty they are thinking of those in third world countries or maybe someone sleeping rough in the city. Demon Copperhead shows how poverty exists everywhere, in the same countries people are driving supercars and drinking 60 dollar milk, people like Demon are being failed of their basic rights. I could understand poverty as a systematic issue and not just something that is sad. It affected Demon his whole life and he really had to fight to just exist, not to become a millionaire or a wonder kid, just to exist. I think its something ill never forget. 

This is a book filled with love and empathy which may be hard to believe because of the subject matter but its true. Its love and community that helped Demon survive. I hope that we continue to treat people with all the love and kindness in our hearts. A spectacular read. 

Greg Talbot

First fiction book i've read in about 4 years, and it hits with all the moral truth and clarity of nonfiction. Through the eyes of Demon copperhead, a young boy whose only protection in life was the amniotic fluid of his birth sac, we see the unfolding of a story of poverty, divestment, drug crisis and moral injury. This is a riveting story that pushed me to consider the ways poverty is less a sovable crisis than an unending choke hold. Some have said Kingsolver has written the great Appalachian novel, and I think it could be described as one of the great American novels so well. Given her own life story from the foothills of Kentucky to an educated worldly writer, this story is very personal to her. There are characters that have some clairity and authority like June, that seem to be voicing some of Kingsolver's sentiments This is a joy to read. As many reviewers have pointed out, it's easy to identify to Demon's uncensored self. There are the behaviors of a young man building his self, creating loving bonds, creating financial opportunities and being responsible to others. You just really feel for him, especially having lived a very different and more stable high school experience. As pitiliess as the forces of poverty are, we see an individual attempting to build something more, even with the most painful decisions. Truly a great read, and I am so thankful to all the podcasters (John Dickerson, Dax Shepard) who recommended this. Long but never dull, a truly great adventurous novel.

"Kingsolver is a writer who can help us understand and navigate the chaos of these times." --Minneapolis Star Tribune From the New York Times bestselling author of Unsheltered and Flight Behavior, a brilliant novel which enthralls, compels, and captures the heart as it evokes a young hero's unforgettable journey to maturity. "Anyone will tell you the born of this world are marked from the get-out, win or lose." Demon Copperhead is set in the mountains of southern Appalachia. It's the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities. Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.

A Novel

M. Sosotris

This book destroyed me. The only way I got through this one is because I adore David Copperfield, and I know that one ends okay. Demon is such a wonderful protagonist. It’s like he’s your younger nephew, and all you want is to see him succeed in life, and you’re forced to watch in tragic horror as the people around him mistreat him and he falls into bad friendships and tragic relationships, and you’re just shouting at the book because you know he’s a good person and he doesn’t deserve any of this. 

This book is such a gorgeous rich tapestry of a life with soaring heights and bleak lows, and the portrait it paints of small town Appalachia, and the hold the coal industry, the American war machine, and the opioid corporations have on the low income families there is harrowing.

This book is a staggering work of art and one of the greatest books I’ve ever read. It’s worth it. Please read it!

A true masterpiece.  So engrossing, that I found myself thinking about the characters as if they were real people.  A once in a lifetime read. 

Emily Hylton

Ben Hutchings

Super entertaining

Easy to read and amusing 

Coach 

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

I enjoyed this book way more that I thought I would. From the first line, I knew I would find this to be a modern literary classic. It's depictions of addiction are extremely accurate. I believe Kingsolver is extremely clever in the way that she showcases Demon's life and how the system fails him over and over again. Child services seems to work for a bit, but then his case worker "angel" Mrs. Barks goes away to get a better job. Personally, this is better for her, but it then leaves Demon with no one who cares and advocates for him. His new case worker takes weeks to get back to him and doesn't stand up for him when he's mistreated. She tells him he must do a better job standing up for himself when his foster parents don't give him what he needs- but how is a child to do that when his family refuses to give him food as he's hitting a growth spurt and forces him to get a job to live under the roof he's supposed to be entitled to?

Throughout the book Demon remarks also that people like to make up narratives about the why he and others in his community are in the position they are in. Early on he remarks that he has never seen a poisonous copperhead around, but everyone swears that they're in the woods. People see folks and their "bad choices", like his mother's "bad choices" and blame it on the individuals themselves without reflecting on the many decisions and systems that put them in their position in the first place. Its easier to judge when you don't stop to analyze and contextualize that these are people and these are the lives - and no one choice got them there and they're trying to make the best of it. "A 10 year old getting high - foolish children. This is what we're meant to say. Look at their choices, leading to a life of ruin. But lives are being lived right now this hour. Down between the dirty cracks of the tooth-brushed nighty-nights and the full grocery carts, where those words don’t pertain. Children, choices. Ruin, that was the labor and materials we were given to work with. An older boy that never knew safety himself, trying to make us feel safe. We had the moon in the window to smile on us for a minute and tell us the world was ours. Because all the adults had gone off somewhere and left everything in our hands." It's easier to call a child a Demon and look at him at face value in distain for the lot he got in life than to place the blame on the society who fails to care if people have access to the pursuit of happiness.

The first half of the book gripped me because of Demon's relationship with his mom and it being eerily familiar. It was heart wrenching to see this family's narrative play out. A teen mother desperate for friends and to fend off loneliness (and disregarding her son's well being as well as her own), and a son stepping in and taking the role of adult. "When your parent clocks out before you clock in- you can spend way too much of your life staring into that black hole," and Demon does having to navigate how to find shelter and find food when his mom ODs and he has no reliable care.

The scene in the diner when he talked to his mom and how she was optimistic about the future stuck a chord in me. He says his mom says he'll be the reason she sobers up, but he believes it will just start the same cycle again in a month. His internal monologue also questions why he is being given yet another responsibility by someone who should be taking care of him. If it doesn't work out does that mean "[he] wasn't a strong enough reason," to stay in this world or keep his family in tact? His mom is giving him "the superpower of getting and making her clean," when she should be taking responsibility and when Demon himself should be able to watch superheroes and see one that he loves take care of him. The theme of superheroes comes up a lot since they seem to be remarkedly absent in Appalachia, and Demon remarks this himself. And as if trying to cement this further, Demon's mother dies after leaving rehab due to another OD on oxy. At the funeral Demon wrestles with his mom's death. Though as a more mature narrator he has processed this, in the moment he wrestles with the thought that he wasn't a good enough reason for his mother to stick around. That depiction and monologue were moving and real. Demon remarks something that I felt I learned in a similar way, "how there is no kind of sad in the world that will stop it turning," the world goes on.

Demon Copperhead is a modern classic to me, and I could go on longer describing why and literary excerpts and themes I loved - but I'll stick to the ones above since they really hit home and made the book for me. I do think that after Demon's mother died for a bit I did think, "wow this is kinda turning into everything that could go wrong does, and this book is really veering into full on trauma dump as Demon speed runs to rock bottom." It eventually does stabilize but for several chapters after his mom's death I did start to question the immense misery he is put through - despite it depicting what many have to go through.

However, this is a book I loved and will plan to read again. I debated 4-5 stars, but I'm giving it five since its stuck with me.

I enjoyed this book way more that I thought I would. From the first line, I knew I would find this to be a modern literary classic. It's depictions of addiction are extremely accurate. I believe Kingsolver is extremely clever in the way that she showcases Demon's life and how the system fails him over and over again. Child services seems to work for a bit, but then his case worker "angel" Mrs. Barks goes away to get a better job. Personally, this is better for her, but it then leaves Demon with no one who cares and advocates for him. His new case worker takes weeks to get back to him and doesn't stand up for him when he's mistreated. She tells him he must do a better job standing up for himself when his foster parents don't give him what he needs- but how is a child to do that when his family refuses to give him food as he's hitting a growth spurt and forces him to get a job to live under the roof he's supposed to be entitled to?

Throughout the book Demon remarks also that people like to make up narratives about the why he and others in his community are in the position they are in. Early on he remarks that he has never seen a poisonous copperhead around, but everyone swears that they're in the woods. People see folks and their "bad choices", like his mother's "bad choices" and blame it on the individuals themselves without reflecting on the many decisions and systems that put them in their position in the first place. Its easier to judge when you don't stop to analyze and contextualize that these are people and these are the lives - and no one choice got them there and they're trying to make the best of it. "A 10 year old getting high - foolish children. This is what we're meant to say. Look at their choices, leading to a life of ruin. But lives are being lived right now this hour. Down between the dirty cracks of the tooth-brushed nighty-nights and the full grocery carts, where those words don’t pertain. Children, choices. Ruin, that was the labor and materials we were given to work with. An older boy that never knew safety himself, trying to make us feel safe. We had the moon in the window to smile on us for a minute and tell us the world was ours. Because all the adults had gone off somewhere and left everything in our hands." It's easier to call a child a Demon and look at him at face value in distain for the lot he got in life than to place the blame on the society who fails to care if people have access to the pursuit of happiness.

The first half of the book gripped me because of Demon's relationship with his mom and it being eerily familiar. It was heart wrenching to see this family's narrative play out. A teen mother desperate for friends and to fend off loneliness (and disregarding her son's well being as well as her own), and a son stepping in and taking the role of adult. "When your parent clocks out before you clock in- you can spend way too much of your life staring into that black hole," and Demon does having to navigate how to find shelter and find food when his mom ODs and he has no reliable care.

The scene in the diner when he talked to his mom and how she was optimistic about the future stuck a chord in me. He says his mom says he'll be the reason she sobers up, but he believes it will just start the same cycle again in a month. His internal monologue also questions why he is being given yet another responsibility by someone who should be taking care of him. If it doesn't work out does that mean "[he] wasn't a strong enough reason," to stay in this world or keep his family in tact? His mom is giving him "the superpower of getting and making her clean," when she should be taking responsibility and when Demon himself should be able to watch superheroes and see one that he loves take care of him. The theme of superheroes comes up a lot since they seem to be remarkedly absent in Appalachia, and Demon remarks this himself. And as if trying to cement this further, Demon's mother dies after leaving rehab due to another OD on oxy. At the funeral Demon wrestles with his mom's death. Though as a more mature narrator he has processed this, in the moment he wrestles with the thought that he wasn't a good enough reason for his mother to stick around. That depiction and monologue were moving and real. Demon remarks something that I felt I learned in a similar way, "how there is no kind of sad in the world that will stop it turning," the world goes on.

Demon Copperhead is a modern classic to me, and I could go on longer describing why and literary excerpts and themes I loved - but I'll stick to the ones above since they really hit home and made the book for me. I do think that after Demon's mother died for a bit I did think, "wow this is kinda turning into everything that could go wrong does, and this book is really veering into full on trauma dump as Demon speed runs to rock bottom." It eventually does stabilize but for several chapters after his mom's death I did start to question the immense misery he is put through - despite it depicting what many have to go through.

However, this is a book I loved and will plan to read again. I debated 4-5 stars, but I'm giving it five since its stuck with me.

Took me too long to finish this book because every chapter I would get so frustrated I would set the book down and glare at Barbara Kingsolver's name on the cover for a full five minutes. Putting a character through tragedy is not the same as writing a compelling story! Have we learned nothing from This Little Life? Kingsolver can write well and has some good sentences but people are definitely not telling her no enough.

Eli Alvah Huckabee

Throughout the entire experience, I could not get rid of the feeling that this novel wanted to become part of the literary canon so desperately that it actually forgot if it had something to say. It should have concerned itself a little less with being a retelling (?) of "David Copperfield" and quite a bit more with the intended messaging which I believe was about the poor rural (white) communities of America and how poverty perpetuates a cycle of misery.

The novel does nothing on that front, by the way. It neither gives emotional or personal depth to the characters and the above communities nor does it say that those people may be forced to make poor choices by their harsh circumstances or that they may not always contain great poetic depths within them but they are still worthy of respect and dignity. It notes but does not examine how society has left them behind and ostracised them and how this is the inevitable product of a capitalist society (or juxtapose it to the currently prevalent view among some communities that this is due to marginalised communities gaining equal rights).

Also, it does this thing where it aims for pretty poetic writing but presents the characters as the opposite. Even though this is a first-person narration.

Throughout the entire experience, I could not get rid of the feeling that this novel wanted to become part of the literary canon so desperately that it actually forgot if it had something to say. It should have concerned itself a little less with being a retelling (?) of "David Copperfield" and quite a bit more with the intended messaging which I believe was about the poor rural (white) communities of America and how poverty perpetuates a cycle of misery.

The novel does nothing on that front, by the way. It neither gives emotional or personal depth to the characters and the above communities nor does it say that those people may be forced to make poor choices by their harsh circumstances or that they may not always contain great poetic depths within them but they are still worthy of respect and dignity. It notes but does not examine how society has left them behind and ostracised them and how this is the inevitable product of a capitalist society (or juxtapose it to the currently prevalent view among some communities that this is due to marginalised communities gaining equal rights).

Also, it does this thing where it aims for pretty poetic writing but presents the characters as the opposite. Even though this is a first-person narration.

Took the encouragement of a friend to get me through a slump in the middle, and I’m glad I did eventually finish this.

Emma Cragg

Loved it! Classic, wonderful, character based storytelling. A fantastic rendering of David Copperfield. 

Mark Phillips

Not my favorite book of the year I don't think, but a strong narrator with a compelling story. I think it dropped off a bit toward the end for me, so it was a bit of a slog to make it through, but the story was pretty good. I could hear the narrator speaking in my head and make more stories from that, kind of funny. 

A similar strong lead like A Gentleman in Moscow. I might've just made both of these stories a little shorter toward the end. 

BC Hark

Not my favorite book of the year I don't think, but a strong narrator with a compelling story. I think it dropped off a bit toward the end for me, so it was a bit of a slog to make it through, but the story was pretty good. I could hear the narrator speaking in my head and make more stories from that, kind of funny. 

A similar strong lead like A Gentleman in Moscow. I might've just made both of these stories a little shorter toward the end. 

Demon Copperhead

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