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Demon Copperhead
By Barbara Kingsolver
Published by Harper,9780063251922, Oct 2022, 560 pp

The Short of It:

Not sure what I expected when I picked this one up but the characters have stayed with me.

The Rest of It:

Demon Copperhead had been on my list for a very long time but it never seemed like the right time to read it. It’s lengthy and deals with some heavy topics but then my book club selected it for April so there I was with my copy, eagerly reading and flipping those pages.

Inspired by a trip Kingsolver took to visit the actual Bleak House of Charles Dicken’s fame, the story of Demon Copperhead unspooled from there. Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon is born to a single, teenaged mother with a drug addiction. They don’t have much. His mother barely makes a living and all they have is the single-wide trailer they call home. The story is peppered with well-meaning neighbors and friends. They are all quite the characters.

Demon’s relentless resilience gets him through many heartaches and challenges, but the need for a home, a real home is what drives him forward and unfortunately in this quest, he is repeatedly disappointed. Disappointed with the people around him, the people in charge of his care, the school system, the labor force. How is a young man supposed to make a living without selling his soul to the Devil?

The setting of this novel hints at destruction at every turn of the page. Appalachia is known for its drug trade and it ‘s hard to not be a party to it when you’re a hungry kid just trying to survive. Demon encounters many people and some of those people he holds dear but the constant need to uproot everything he has to move on the next thing affects his long-term relationships. It’s honestly heartbreaking.

I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the characters a lot but it was about 75 pages too long for me. The drug details are very realistic in the telling. I still think it will make my Fave list for the end of the year but it’s not the kind of book you can read alongside others. I found that out the hard way. It’s gritty but in between the grit I did detect hope which is what kept me reading.

Have you read it?

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Black Cake
By Charmaine Wilkerson
Ballantine Books, 9780593358351, November 2022, 416pp.

The Short of It:

This is a case of “like”, not love.

The Rest of It:

In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves. ~ Publisher

I had a really hard time finalizing my thoughts on this one, which is why it’s taken me so long to post the review. This book confused me. I really liked parts of it, but much of it is repetitive, in my opinion, and towards the end of the book I felt like little progress had been made with the story or the characters. I kept looking for growth but didn’t find it.

This was my book club’s pick for February and the host even made us a black cake, like the one in the book. Oh Nellie that cake had a ton of rum in it. Haha! We enjoyed it a little too much. Even with the added spirits in the form of rum and wine, we couldn’t find much to discuss. We all felt that the author could have done more with it. It was almost like she played it safe. I didn’t feel much for the characters and their actions were hard to explain. That said, I would probably pick up another book by this author because again, there were parts that I enjoyed. Other than that, I don’t have much to say about it.

Source: Purchased
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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