I have not read David Copperfield, and I'll be honest after reading so many reviews comparing this book to David Copperfield, I am glad I had the opportunity to experience it on it's own.

The thing I found most compelling about Demon Copperhead was the narrator's "voice" throughout the novel. By the end of the book, I felt as though I could tell you exactly how Demon would respond to any given situation. Kingsolver's character work was superb, and I truly felt like the characters were fully realized individuals. Demon's character was beautifully illustrated. All he wanted in the whole world was to love and be loved (and to see the ocean), but with his rocky family life (to put it lightly) the only love he ever knew was all-consuming and fatal. You want to root for Demon even when he is making terrible decisions. When he

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became addicted to opioids like his mother before him and so many others in his community, I thought "wake up you idiot!!" but I never lost faith in him, and I never lost my desire to see him pull through. I also really empathized with his desire to return home to Lee County, but knowing that to do so would ultimately destroy him and his battle to define "home" even amongst his cycle of fosters.

In terms of content, this book is heavy. Covering the introduction and impact of the opioid epidemic on rural Appalachia (and everywhere, for that matter) in the 90s, Demon Copperhead paints a vivid picture of the catastrophic effects of opioids on the physical, mental, and cultural levels. Some say the somewhat

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cheery ending felt inauthentic, but I disagree. I think for as tumultuous as this tale was, the reader needed something to hold on to at the end and I liked thinking that Demon was the one that "made it out", so to speak.

I had two qualms with this novel. First, it was too long. While I loved following Demon's journey, I think Kingsolver could have cut about 100 pages in the middle, as that is where the book lost some momentum for me. Second, while I appreciate the representation of rural Appalachia, I do think Kingsolver played a little too heavily into the stereotypes put onto rural Appalachia. I understand the purpose of the setting, but at times it felt like Kingsolver was just perpetuating the "dumb redneck, abusive step dad, addict parents" stereotype in a way that felt like punching-down.

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One great example of this was Demon calling Angus his "sister" and then them ending up in a confusing entanglement at the very end of the novel. I'm not saying they couldn't have feelings for each other, but I do think it was too suggestive of incest given the setting.

Not that these aren't real issues, but they are problems beyond the scope of this setting.

I could say a lot more about Demon Copperhead, but I'll leave it at that. A great book!