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ClareR (5885 KP) rated Demon Copperhead in Books
Jan 21, 2023
This will be one of my very favourite books of 2022, without a shadow of a doubt.
Demon Copperhead is a modern retelling of David Copperfield, which I first read years ago. It’s always stayed with me though (as Dickens books have a habit of doing). Demon Copperhead feels more personal though. It’s not because of the setting, I’ve never been to Appalachia, I’ve never seen a trailer park in the flesh, and I’m certainly lucky enough to have never experienced the opioid crisis that’s very much still ongoing in the US.
Demon is our David, born in a trailer to a mother with an addiction that she desperately tries to control. His father is dead before he’s born. His mother makes some questionable decisions: one is that she marries Stone, a controlling bully, and the reason that Demon is taken into care.
There are so many links to David Copperfield, and I’m glad that I’d read Dickens novel first. But it really isn’t necessary at all. This is a truly magnificent novel in its own right.
Demon’s desperation and depression leaps off the page: his desperate need for love and approval, and his eventual descent into addiction were so terribly sad to read. I felt I built a connection with Demon and wanted more for him than society was willing to give. He was given to foster parents who weren’t vetted and were unsuitable. No-one cared enough to help him, and by the time they did, he was past being able to accept their help - he just didn’t think he deserved it.
But there is ultimately hope. There is the chance for Demon to live a good life.
I adored this book. I’m a big Barbara Kingsolver fan anyway, but this just confirmed that for me.
I’m hoping that this book will point more people towards her books. They’re in for a treat!
Demon Copperhead is a modern retelling of David Copperfield, which I first read years ago. It’s always stayed with me though (as Dickens books have a habit of doing). Demon Copperhead feels more personal though. It’s not because of the setting, I’ve never been to Appalachia, I’ve never seen a trailer park in the flesh, and I’m certainly lucky enough to have never experienced the opioid crisis that’s very much still ongoing in the US.
Demon is our David, born in a trailer to a mother with an addiction that she desperately tries to control. His father is dead before he’s born. His mother makes some questionable decisions: one is that she marries Stone, a controlling bully, and the reason that Demon is taken into care.
There are so many links to David Copperfield, and I’m glad that I’d read Dickens novel first. But it really isn’t necessary at all. This is a truly magnificent novel in its own right.
Demon’s desperation and depression leaps off the page: his desperate need for love and approval, and his eventual descent into addiction were so terribly sad to read. I felt I built a connection with Demon and wanted more for him than society was willing to give. He was given to foster parents who weren’t vetted and were unsuitable. No-one cared enough to help him, and by the time they did, he was past being able to accept their help - he just didn’t think he deserved it.
But there is ultimately hope. There is the chance for Demon to live a good life.
I adored this book. I’m a big Barbara Kingsolver fan anyway, but this just confirmed that for me.
I’m hoping that this book will point more people towards her books. They’re in for a treat!
Merissa (12934 KP) rated Scorn of Secrets in Books
Jun 23, 2021 (Updated Jul 18, 2023)
SCORN OF SECRETS will tear your heart out and stomp on it - this I can promise you! It hooked me in from the start as Madison tries to cope with the death of her father, plus have a relationship with her oh-so-loving mother and older sister. Her whole world is upended when they move to a new state, but it's not all that bad... is it?
Told from Madison's perspective, you are with her as she meets the rich man her mother has latched onto, the new home, the new school, the new future step-siblings. She is the quiet one of the two, more introspective than the loud Tanya, and more likely to be on Goodreads than Instagram!
This book was so emotional, I swear I wanted to kill Tanya and Charlotte. Unfortunately, family can be too similar to the way the characters are described, so my heart broke for Madison and how they treated her. The confusion and trauma she goes through were made completely understandable and showed you how little choice she thought she had. Justin is a caring and mature young man who is swept away by Madison. He wants to be there for her in every way. He struggles to understand but, once the secret is out, he fully understands.
This is the first book and does have an open ending. I can't wait to read Book 2, Thorn of Secrets, and I really REALLY hope for a happy ending for Madison and Justin. These two, gah!!! Please let them be happy, they deserve it!
In case you hadn't figured it out, I highly recommend this book! Absolutely brilliant.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jun 23, 2021
Told from Madison's perspective, you are with her as she meets the rich man her mother has latched onto, the new home, the new school, the new future step-siblings. She is the quiet one of the two, more introspective than the loud Tanya, and more likely to be on Goodreads than Instagram!
This book was so emotional, I swear I wanted to kill Tanya and Charlotte. Unfortunately, family can be too similar to the way the characters are described, so my heart broke for Madison and how they treated her. The confusion and trauma she goes through were made completely understandable and showed you how little choice she thought she had. Justin is a caring and mature young man who is swept away by Madison. He wants to be there for her in every way. He struggles to understand but, once the secret is out, he fully understands.
This is the first book and does have an open ending. I can't wait to read Book 2, Thorn of Secrets, and I really REALLY hope for a happy ending for Madison and Justin. These two, gah!!! Please let them be happy, they deserve it!
In case you hadn't figured it out, I highly recommend this book! Absolutely brilliant.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jun 23, 2021
ClareR (5885 KP) rated All the Broken Places in Books
Nov 4, 2023
Gretel Fernsby has a terrible secret that she’d rather others didn’t know. If you’ve read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, you’ll recognise the name: Gretel is the daughter of the camp Commandant of Auschwitz.
In short chapters, flashing between the past and the present, we learn about 91 year old Gretel’s past, and what happened when she and her mother escaped Germany.
Gretel is very well off, living in an expensive block of very large flats in central London. She doesn’t really have any friends, and seems to keep her true self from everyone including her son.
She is confronted with the memory of her younger brother, Bruno, when a boy of his age moves in to the downstairs flat. She realises that his father is violent, and his mother is abused. Gretel can’t let this kind of violence happen again.
The characters in this were superb. Whilst the first book had its problems with historical accuracy, I feel that this book centred more around trauma, guilt and shame. Gretel carries all of these things around with her forever. She feels culpable for what happened in the camp - even though she was both a child and female. In retrospect, she is able to see what was wrong with the nazi regime, but at the time would have been brainwashed. She wouldn’t have known a time where Jews and other “undesirable” minorities would have been treated any differently. The wonder is that she went on to learn that this was wrong. The trauma that she carries with her from the death of her brother, learning about what her father was guilty of, and occurrences in Paris, is lifelong.
From Gretel’s life experiences to those of her downstairs neighbour, everything is handled with compassion and tact. Again, it’s not perfect, but then neither are humans. And that is what this book shows above all: that we can learn from our mistakes if we are willing to do so.
In short chapters, flashing between the past and the present, we learn about 91 year old Gretel’s past, and what happened when she and her mother escaped Germany.
Gretel is very well off, living in an expensive block of very large flats in central London. She doesn’t really have any friends, and seems to keep her true self from everyone including her son.
She is confronted with the memory of her younger brother, Bruno, when a boy of his age moves in to the downstairs flat. She realises that his father is violent, and his mother is abused. Gretel can’t let this kind of violence happen again.
The characters in this were superb. Whilst the first book had its problems with historical accuracy, I feel that this book centred more around trauma, guilt and shame. Gretel carries all of these things around with her forever. She feels culpable for what happened in the camp - even though she was both a child and female. In retrospect, she is able to see what was wrong with the nazi regime, but at the time would have been brainwashed. She wouldn’t have known a time where Jews and other “undesirable” minorities would have been treated any differently. The wonder is that she went on to learn that this was wrong. The trauma that she carries with her from the death of her brother, learning about what her father was guilty of, and occurrences in Paris, is lifelong.
From Gretel’s life experiences to those of her downstairs neighbour, everything is handled with compassion and tact. Again, it’s not perfect, but then neither are humans. And that is what this book shows above all: that we can learn from our mistakes if we are willing to do so.
The Wild Swans ( Timeless Fairytales book 2)
8.0
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Elise is the foster-daughter of the King of Arcainia, a mathematician, and the country’s...
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Kingdom of Us (2017) in Movies
Oct 22, 2017 (Updated Oct 22, 2017)
Poignant, heartbreaking and complex
Another superb documentary film on Netflix exploring the complexities of bereavement, in this case, a family of seven children and their father who took his own life.
The filmmaker follows the journey of the Shanks children, now teenagers and young adults, who six years later are still trying to make sense of their loss. Issues include mental health problems, and dealing with trauma especially with four of the teens suffering from autism. Each person deals with it differently, ranging from creating music, becoming philosophical, to having a full-blown nervous breakdown.
Mother Vikie is incredibly stoic, attempting to keep order despite the horrendous upheaval from the death. There's some disturbing scenes in which the children discuss finding a note in which their father had originally planned to kill them before committing suicide. It is heartbreaking to watch how it has both scarred and shaped the family, but they courageously attempt to pull together as one unit. A must-watch documentary.
The filmmaker follows the journey of the Shanks children, now teenagers and young adults, who six years later are still trying to make sense of their loss. Issues include mental health problems, and dealing with trauma especially with four of the teens suffering from autism. Each person deals with it differently, ranging from creating music, becoming philosophical, to having a full-blown nervous breakdown.
Mother Vikie is incredibly stoic, attempting to keep order despite the horrendous upheaval from the death. There's some disturbing scenes in which the children discuss finding a note in which their father had originally planned to kill them before committing suicide. It is heartbreaking to watch how it has both scarred and shaped the family, but they courageously attempt to pull together as one unit. A must-watch documentary.
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Pay the Ghost (2015) in Movies
Nov 4, 2017 (Updated Nov 4, 2017)
Another terrible Nicholas Cage horror
I was bored so I decided to watch this film knowing that it has terrible ratings. And I can definitely see why.
It surrounds Cage's missing child who disappeared on Halloween. There emerges a rather unclear pattern of missing children and bizarre otherworldly messages. Given that it is New York, it's difficult to see how they established a sequence of missing children as there were far more than just three children going missing on this day every year. And somehow Celtic folklore gets drafted in, where a mother, who was burned at the stake with her three children, seems to be the one taking these kids in revenge.
The end battle is almost comedic, as Cage gets strangled by a burnt witch while hovering in the sky and rotating simultaneously. It's pretty ridiculous - there's nothing that threads the story together, going from all out supernatural to thriller back to supernatural. A flakey story no doubt.
It surrounds Cage's missing child who disappeared on Halloween. There emerges a rather unclear pattern of missing children and bizarre otherworldly messages. Given that it is New York, it's difficult to see how they established a sequence of missing children as there were far more than just three children going missing on this day every year. And somehow Celtic folklore gets drafted in, where a mother, who was burned at the stake with her three children, seems to be the one taking these kids in revenge.
The end battle is almost comedic, as Cage gets strangled by a burnt witch while hovering in the sky and rotating simultaneously. It's pretty ridiculous - there's nothing that threads the story together, going from all out supernatural to thriller back to supernatural. A flakey story no doubt.
Lindsay (1760 KP) rated The Tea Planter's Wife in Books
Dec 7, 2017
The Tea Planter's wife is a mysterious sweet, loving story. It starts out with Gwen coming to Ceylon to be with her husband.
You go allow with Gwen with her struggles and learning curves of being a mother and wife to her twins and what is going on with Ceylon culture.
When one of her children is colored she does not know if it was her husband or someone else's child. She fights with herself when she gives her daughter to a village. That is when she gives birth to her twins. She has a household servant named Naveena.
Gwen had to deal with not only decision to what she made but also her sister in law. She dealt with that and her raising her son. You are lean so much history and culture of Ceylon at that time as well. You meet Tamil and Sinhalese worker that were part of Tea Plantation.
You go allow with Gwen with her struggles and learning curves of being a mother and wife to her twins and what is going on with Ceylon culture.
When one of her children is colored she does not know if it was her husband or someone else's child. She fights with herself when she gives her daughter to a village. That is when she gives birth to her twins. She has a household servant named Naveena.
Gwen had to deal with not only decision to what she made but also her sister in law. She dealt with that and her raising her son. You are lean so much history and culture of Ceylon at that time as well. You meet Tamil and Sinhalese worker that were part of Tea Plantation.
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood in Books
Jan 3, 2018
An insider's view of Apartheid
It seems unlikely that comedian Trevor Noah would have ever made it out of the prison of colonialism, apartheid, poverty and violence, yet now he's regarded as one of South Africa's biggest export. His memoir is brutal and harrowing, describing how because of the illegal interracial relationship between his Xhosa mother and his Swiss-German, his birth was actually a crime.
It's hard to imagine that this legal segregation only ended 26 years ago, yet Noah then faced the turbulent legacy of post-apartheid. Being mixed race posed its own problems, as Noah describes never fitting in anywhere, but being accepted to a certain degree because of his 'whiteness' and his chameleon-like ability to adapt to his surroundings.
There are moments which are truly disturbing, as Noah speaks about his violent stepfather and going hungry. In this way, his life can be seen as a story of personal survival, through intelligence and humour, which millions have come to love.
It's hard to imagine that this legal segregation only ended 26 years ago, yet Noah then faced the turbulent legacy of post-apartheid. Being mixed race posed its own problems, as Noah describes never fitting in anywhere, but being accepted to a certain degree because of his 'whiteness' and his chameleon-like ability to adapt to his surroundings.
There are moments which are truly disturbing, as Noah speaks about his violent stepfather and going hungry. In this way, his life can be seen as a story of personal survival, through intelligence and humour, which millions have come to love.
Jenny Houle (24 KP) rated The Idiot: A Novel in Books
Jan 13, 2018
I received an ARC of this book for an honest and unbiased opinion. That being said, the best thing about this book is that it's over...and I can read pretty much anything.
Early on in the book, the main character, Selin, talks about how there are times when her mother hands her books she's read and says "Read this and tell me the point." I wish I had someone I could hand this book to and say that to.
A rambling stream of consciousness, a book of self-discovery, Selin is this 19 year old who has no idea who she is. And I remember being 19 and not having a clue. It's why I wanted to read this book. But I didn't feel like there was any sort of resolution. There were more misadventures and things that made her unhappy and feel displaced in the world. And then...more passive aggressive whining about how she didn't know what she wanted to make her happy.
Early on in the book, the main character, Selin, talks about how there are times when her mother hands her books she's read and says "Read this and tell me the point." I wish I had someone I could hand this book to and say that to.
A rambling stream of consciousness, a book of self-discovery, Selin is this 19 year old who has no idea who she is. And I remember being 19 and not having a clue. It's why I wanted to read this book. But I didn't feel like there was any sort of resolution. There were more misadventures and things that made her unhappy and feel displaced in the world. And then...more passive aggressive whining about how she didn't know what she wanted to make her happy.
Alison Pink (7 KP) rated Objects of My Affection in Books
Jan 15, 2018
This was a really enjoyable book. It took a few chapters before I was really able to get in to it which is why it gets a 4 instead of a 5. It is not at all that it was boring, it just took me a few pages to get invested in the characters.
This book tells the story of Lucy, a personal organizer who is hired on to help clear out the home of Marva Meir Rios, a hoarding artist. Lucy son also happens to be in drug rehab which has forced her to sell her home & most of her possessions in order to be able to afford the program. The plot is a bit predictable...a reclusive, old, crabby artist; an amiable out to please everyone mother; a handsome younger man; a spurned lover. You get the drift. But the story itself was not always as predictiable as it sounds. Made for an interesting read & an intimate look into the characters' lives, losses, and realizations.
This book tells the story of Lucy, a personal organizer who is hired on to help clear out the home of Marva Meir Rios, a hoarding artist. Lucy son also happens to be in drug rehab which has forced her to sell her home & most of her possessions in order to be able to afford the program. The plot is a bit predictable...a reclusive, old, crabby artist; an amiable out to please everyone mother; a handsome younger man; a spurned lover. You get the drift. But the story itself was not always as predictiable as it sounds. Made for an interesting read & an intimate look into the characters' lives, losses, and realizations.