Demon Copperhead

(Read in 2023) I think Kirkus hit the nail on the head ("an angry, powerful book seething with love and outrage" for its Appalachian community) - and I guess that's what I was in the mood for, because I loved it. Stunning. Somehow it managed to be funny and hopeful, despite plenty of misery and asshole-type people doing their thing. Great audiobook narration by Charlie Thurston.

Characters you're 'rooting' for throughout. An exposé of the worst societal abuses upon communities and it's impact. Amazingly; hope!

Despite a bit of oversimplification of the socioeconomics and politics of the region (mainly at the very end), I couldn't help but be gripped and moved by the story. Hard and dark and also warm and strangely hopeful, written in a compelling voice.

I don't know what I was expecting, but I know I was hoping for a book that struck me as much as Animal Dreams did. This book just didn't grab me and had strong after-school special vibes.