Wow. Just wow. The author dropped you deep into immediacy and kept you there the whole time. Such mastery of technique - even in little things like the words that Demon gets wrong. Depressing? Um, yes, but gorgeous and ending on a hopeful note. Dayenu. ( )

Very interesting for quite a while, then it slows to a crawl and drags on - ( )

The story of addictions and the devastation of addictions. Well researched. Very well written story. Deserving of the Pulitzer. ( )

Somehow obvious yet brilliant plan of Kingsolver to take David Copperfield and transplant him to 1990s Appalachia with a teen mom and a dad who has passed away under mysterious ways that aren't mentioned to young Demon (real name Damon). But young "Demon" is anything but that throughout the book. I made sure to read the Charles Dickens tome before attempting this one and I'm VERY glad that I did, as I absolutely could appreciate the nuance and detail in which Kingsolver followed so many characters and plot points. I highly suggest reading both books this way! It really adds some layers. The mirroring and changing the story for the times is amazing. Most of the characters have stand-ins for the original characters. I love the 1990s story mirroring the 1900s story. Both books even have the same number of chapters. Demon - what a character, what a voice. And so many of the other characters are so strongly written and memorable. I have read most of Kingsolver's books, and I would say that the voice of this narrative is very different from her other books... but that is necessary: this is the voice of a young Appalachian foster kid growing up in the 1990s. It somehow seems like it would be more difficult for Kingsolver than if she was writing about the same person in the 1900s but I think she nailed it. However, this is quite the miserable book, as you can imagine, for 550 pages. Demon and his crew go through A LOT of relentless misery. Though Kingsolver does try to maintain some humor even through the darkness, the original by Dickens always had connections between people and David very rarely felt entirely on his own. Demon loses so much that he eventually feels unattached from everyone. But his goodness will get him through. Lastly, Barbara Kingsolver is one of the only writers who might have an appreciation for the specific PLACE in this book. And Demon in the end realizes how important it is to him as well. The book raises so many problems with place, prescription drug addiction, poverty, generational trauma and inherited problems among people who aren't very often represented in books. I agree with the Pulitzer win on this one. (It's usually 50/50 on if I agree or disagree about the Pulitzer for some reason.) ( )

Things I didn't like - it was LONG and there is a good chunk in the middle that is so depressing and difficult to read that I only continued the book because it was our bookclub pick. Things I liked - great writing (as always) and a very likeable character in Demon as well as a fully fleshed out cast of characters and location and world. Things that were interesting but did not necessarily make for better reading - all the tie ins to David Copperfield, including the overwrought writing style. ( )