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Demon Copperhead: A Novel Hardcover – October 18, 2022
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WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION
New York Times Readers’ Pick: Top 100 Books of the 21st Century • An Oprah’s Book Club Selection • An Instant New York Times Bestseller • An Instant Wall Street Journal Bestseller • A #1 Washington Post Bestseller • A New York Times "Ten Best Books of the Year"
"Demon is a voice for the ages—akin to Huck Finn or Holden Caulfield—only even more resilient.” —Beth Macy, author of Dopesick
"May be the best novel of [the year]. . . . Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, this is the story of an irrepressible boy nobody wants, but readers will love.” —Ron Charles, Washington Post
From the acclaimed author of The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees and the recipient of the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, a brilliant novel that enthralls, compels, and captures the heart as it evokes a young hero’s unforgettable journey to maturity
Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.
Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens’ anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can’t imagine leaving behind.
- Print length560 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarper
- Publication dateOctober 18, 2022
- Dimensions6 x 1.48 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100063251922
- ISBN-13978-0063251922
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Review
"Demon is a voice for the ages—akin to Huck Finn or Holden Caulfield—only even more resilient. I’m crazy about this book, which parses the epidemic in a beautiful and intimate new way. I think it’s her best.” — Beth Macy, author of Dopesick
“Brilliant. . . . A page turner and Kingsolver’s best novel by far. . . . Kingsolver has some of Mark Twain in her, along with 21st-century gifts of her own. More than ever, she is our literary mirror and window. May this novel be widely read and championed.” — Minneapolis Star-Tribune
"May be the best novel of 2022...Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, this is the story of an irrepressible boy nobody wants, but readers will love….You may be reminded of another orphaned boy slipping through the country’s underbrush, just trying to stay out of trouble: Huck Finn. With Demon, Kingsolver has created an outcast equally reminiscent of Twain’s masterpiece, speaking in the natural poetry of the American vernacular….Kingsolver's best demonstration yet of a novel’s ability to simultaneously entertain and move and plead for reform."
— Ron Charles, Washington Post
“If you’re familiar with the Charles Dickens classic, you’ll follow the story’s beats and chuckle….What keeps you turning the pages is the knowledge that Demon has a future. The novel ends on a note of hope...not every fate is decided by the circumstances of one’s birth.” — Associated Press
"There’s really nothing like being immersed in a Kingsolver novel. . . . Damon [is Kingsolver’s] bravest, most ambitious creation yet." — Los Angeles Times
“Kingsolver’s capacious, ingenious, wrenching, and funny survivor’s tale is a virtuoso present-day variation on Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield. . . . Kingsolver’s tour de force is a serpentine, hard-striking tale of profound dimension and resonance.” — Booklist (Starred Review)
“An epic…brimming with vitality and outrage….the rare 560-page book you wish would never end.”
— People "Book of the Week"
“With its bold reversals of fate and flamboyant cast, this is storytelling on a grand scale. . . . As Demon discovers, owning his story—every part of it—and finding a way to tell it is how he’ll wrest some control over his life. And what a story it is: acute, impassioned, heartbreakingly evocative, told by a narrator who’s a product of multiple failed systems, yes, but also of a deep rural landscape with its own sustaining traditions.” — The Guardian
“Extraordinary. . . . Much like Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain or Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, Kingsolver’s epic is narrated by a self-professed screwup with a heart of gold . . . chock-full of cinematic twists and turns. It’s a book that demands we start paying attention to—and embracing—a long-ignored community and its people." — San Francisco Chronicle
"Kingsolver's new novel is her best in years. . . . The character of Damon is right up there with the best classic orphans of literatre. Believe me: you will root for this lost boy." — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“In Demon Copperhead…Kingsolver channels the voice of a disenfranchised boy lost in the failures of our social system. It's a testament to her storytelling mastery that this novel also illustrates how deeply intertwined our attitudes about nature are with our collective destiny. As always, her purpose is to make us think about the ways we all must look out for each other.” — Arizona Republic
“Absorbing….Readers see the yearning for love and wells of compassion hidden beneath Demon’s self-protective exterior…. Emotionally engaging is Demon’s fierce attachment to his home ground, a place where he is known and supported, tested to the breaking point as the opiate epidemic engulfs it…. An angry, powerful book seething with love and outrage for a community too often stereotyped or ignored.” — Kirkus Review (Starred Review)
“A deeply evocative story…Kingsolver’s account of the opioid epidemic and its impact on the social fabric of Appalachia is drawn to heartbreaking effect. This is a powerful story, both brilliant in its many social messages regarding foster care, child hunger, and rural struggles, and breathless in its delivery.” — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
“Kingsolver brings a notably different energy from her previous work to Demon Copperhead…through a tremendous narrative voice, one so sharp and fresh as to overwhelm the reader’s senses….Demon’s spirit comes through, and it is haunting. It’s the reason the pages keep turning….Kingsolver has made this story her own, and what a joy it is to slip into this world and inhabit it, even with all its challenges.” — BookPage
“Demon Copperhead is a propulsive reading experience, energetic and funny while still conveying Kingsolver’s fury at the institutions that have let her community down.” — Slate
“You’ll be enthralled by [Demon’s] voice, simultaneously hilarious and wise, as he illuminates life in rural America…..this is the ideal late-fall read to sink your teeth into.”
— Real Simple
“A dazzling novel….a lyrical re-dreaming of Dickens’s David Copperfield. The social injustices of Victorian England have been transplanted, with spellbinding success, to modern-day Appalachia…populated by America’s rural white underclass and now ravaged by the opioid crisis…Kingsolver maintains an astonishing level of energy and intensity….This novel is surely a highpoint of Kingsolver’s long career and a strong early candidate for next year's Booker Prize.” — Times Literary Supplement
“A riveting, epic tale…[Kingsolver’s] exquisite writing takes a wrenching story and makes it worthwhile… Kingsolver has given us a superb novel.” — Christian Science Monitor
"A heartrending, probing and ultimately hopeful tale about a young boy’s journey from devastation to survival….It’s hard to ascertain which is more brilliant, Kingsolver’s skill in modernizing Dickens’ narrative or the voice she gives to the privations and adversities facing the land and people she so dearly loves.” — Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"This is storytelling at its best. The voice rings true and so do the incidents." — Stephen King
About the Author
Barbara Kingsolver is the author of ten bestselling works of fiction, including the novels Unsheltered, The Bean Trees, and The Poisonwood Bible, as well as books of poetry, essays, creative nonfiction, and Coyote’s Wild Home, a children’s book co-authored with Lily Kingsolver. She also collaborated with family members on the influential Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Kingsolver’s work has been translated into more than thirty languages and has earned a devoted readership at home and abroad. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and has received numerous awards and honors including the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel, Demon Copperhead, the National Humanities Medal, and most recently, the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and its Lifetime Achievement Award. She lives with her husband on a farm in southern Appalachia.
Product details
- Publisher : Harper; First Edition (October 18, 2022)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 560 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0063251922
- ISBN-13 : 978-0063251922
- Item Weight : 1.9 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.48 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,424 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #17 in Science Fiction Crime & Mystery
- #58 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books)
- #211 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author
![Barbara Kingsolver](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/amzn-author-media-prod/51araa85t61u33vhvep684aone._SY600_.jpg)
Barbara Kingsolver was born in 1955 and grew up in rural Kentucky. She earned degrees in biology from DePauw University and the University of Arizona, and has worked as a freelance writer and author since 1985. At various times she has lived in England, France, and the Canary Islands, and has worked in Europe, Africa, Asia, Mexico, and South America. She spent two decades in Tucson, Arizona, before moving to southwestern Virginia where she currently resides.
Her books, in order of publication, are: The Bean Trees (1988), Homeland (1989), Holding the Line: Women in the Great Arizona Mine Strike (1989), Animal Dreams (1990), Another America (1992), Pigs in Heaven (1993), High Tide in Tucson (1995), The Poisonwood Bible (1998), Prodigal Summer (2000), Small Wonder (2002), Last Stand: America's Virgin Lands, with photographer Annie Griffiths (2002), Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (2007), The Lacuna (2009), Flight Behavior (2012), Unsheltered (2018), How To Fly (In 10,000 Easy Lessons) (2020), Demon Copperhead (2022), and coauthored with Lily Kingsolver, Coyote's Wild Home (2023). She served as editor for Best American Short Stories 2001.
Kingsolver was named one the most important writers of the 20th Century by Writers Digest, and in 2023 won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel Demon Copperhead. In 2000 she received the National Humanities Medal, our country's highest honor for service through the arts. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages and have been adopted into the core curriculum in high schools and colleges throughout the nation. Critical acclaim for her work includes multiple awards from the American Booksellers Association and the American Library Association, a James Beard award, two-time Oprah Book Club selection, and the national book award of South Africa, among others. She was awarded Britain's prestigious Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize) for both Demon Copperhead and The Lacuna, making Kingsolver the first author in the history of the prize to win it twice. In 2011, Kingsolver was awarded the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for the body of her work. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
She has two daughters, Camille (born in 1987) and Lily (1996). She and her husband, Steven Hopp, live on a farm in southern Appalachia where they raise an extensive vegetable garden and Icelandic sheep.
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book engaging with its first-person narrative and lyrical prose. They describe the story as insightful, moving, and uplifting. The characters are praised for their depth and multidimensionality. Customers appreciate the author's depiction of Appalachia and its life in small-town America.
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Customers enjoy the book's readability. They find it engaging, with a memorable character and world. The author creates an immersive world and characters that keep readers hooked until the end.
"...Kingsolver is a deceiving writer. Her style is unassuming and keen-eyed. The text is full of specificity. And energy...." Read more
"That was one helluva read. Full of humor, agony, sorrowful heartbreak, unbelievable beauty...." Read more
"Title of Review: Heartbreaking & Fantastic Title: Demon Copperhead Author: Barbara Kingsolver Date Purchased: 14 June 2023..." Read more
"...not what I'd call an "enjoyable read," it was definitely a worthwhile read...." Read more
Customers praise the writing quality of the book. They find it well-written, with a pleasant narrative style and engaging characters. The prose is described as superior, readable, and full of clever phrases and insightful insights. The book provides a strong sense of place and its narrator's life in the rural South.
"...Demon Copperhead but one of the main things is that it’s so breezily readable. For a 546-page epic, it goes down fast...." Read more
"...A really enlightening portrayal at a gut level of the opiate epidemic and the evil that spawned it and destroyed so many lives...." Read more
"...the descriptions of nature are wonderful and meticulously detailed, especially as seen through the perception of a child...." Read more
"...A bit long but so well written." Read more
Customers enjoy the well-crafted storylines and characters. They find the book insightful and interesting, highlighting the pain and occasional happiness in lives faced with substance abuse. The ending is hopeful and uplifting, even though it's difficult.
"...The “resourcefulness” of Demon is apparent in his stubborn ability to survive. He’s smarter than he acknowledges, and very observant...." Read more
"...What a beautiful story of a life and people who are so unbelievably strong and human despite all the crap they live in...." Read more
"...I think Kingsolver did a great job of telling the stories of damaged kids. I loved this book...." Read more
"...again that she is a master at creating real characters and well-crafted storylines, and at telling stories that need to be told...." Read more
Customers find the book insightful and moving. They describe it as an excellent novel about adversity and resilience. The story helps readers understand the opiate crisis in rural America and is worth reading through difficult times. It touches on sociology in the 1970s and 1980s Appalachia after the coal boom.
"...Demon’s voice is engaging and his struggles are real, particularly when it comes to the challenges of the foster care system and the brutality of..." Read more
"That was one helluva read. Full of humor, agony, sorrowful heartbreak, unbelievable beauty...." Read more
"Title of Review: Heartbreaking & Fantastic Title: Demon Copperhead Author: Barbara Kingsolver Date Purchased: 14 June 2023..." Read more
"...Demon Copperhead was NOT an easy read. It was raw, gut-wrenching, and heart-breaking, even more so if you've worked with kids the system seems to..." Read more
Customers enjoy the character development. They find the characters well-developed and multidimensional. The author provides detailed descriptions that make them feel like they know them personally.
"...There are plenty of characters to keep track of, but Kingsolver gives them juicy nicknames (again, a la Dickens) or colorful descriptions so they..." Read more
"...story of a life and people who are so unbelievably strong and human despite all the crap they live in...." Read more
"...Kingsolver has demonstrated once again that she is a master at creating real characters and well-crafted storylines, and at telling stories that..." Read more
"...the reader is experiencing things through the eyes of a very well-developed character, rather than through the words or actions of less-developed..." Read more
Customers find the book insightful and a love letter to small-town and rural life. They appreciate the realistic depiction of Appalachian life and the author's vivid descriptions of the wild spaces and people. The book provides a wonderful portrayal of the sights and personalities of the Appalachian people.
"...She also provides such details of the places they live and the hardships that they endure that it is hard to fathom why this still occurs in..." Read more
"...Really enjoyed the writing style. Could become a classic. Sad, but very eye opening. Definitely interesting if you have ever been to Lee County." Read more
"...Appalachia is a world unto itself, and yet it is a world we can (and should) all identify with, a world where people care for each other and are..." Read more
"...and rich storytelling painted a familiar yet deeply nuanced picture of the South that resonated with my own experiences...." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the book. Some find it engaging and sad, while others feel it's unengaging and boring for a while. The story is described as heartbreaking and difficult to read.
"...Well written. Entertaing. It is a book I would suggest to just about anyone." Read more
"...I really did not love the story. So much despair and hopelessness, so dark and sad...." Read more
"...It’s full of truth, love, hardships, and disappointments but above all it’s threaded through with hope that if we try hard enough to be true and..." Read more
"...At times it was hard to read due to the continual drug abuse and poor decisions - but Demon owns that in the narrative...." Read more
Customers have different views on the book's pacing. Some find it fast-paced and read it in a week. Others feel the book drags on after a while and has difficulty finishing it.
"...For a 546-page epic, it goes down fast. It’s episodic, a la Dickens, but the character flow is organic, unforced...." Read more
"...However, after a while the book dragged on for me...." Read more
"...1970's and 1980's Appalachia after the coal boom in the form of a fast paced novel...." Read more
"...It was reminiscent of David Copperfield which was the author’s inspiration...." Read more
Reviews with images
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Astounding book, however pages 22 - 56 were missing
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2024In an interview with Ezra Klein on his podcast, Barbara Kingsolver said she wanted to write “the great Appalachian novel.” She conceded, however, that the notion “probably sounds ridiculous.”
In particular, Kingsolver said she wanted to write about the fact that the people who live in Appalachia “are the most resourceful Americans you’re probably going to find anywhere.” Kingsolver, who was raised in rural Kentucky and now lives in rural Virginia, said she wanted to explore the shame she had internalized from her choice of a place to live.
“How many people well-meaning people have asked me, ‘how could I live there in the middle of nowhere?’” said Kingsolver. “People, this is my everywhere. This is my everything.”
Later in the chat: “Everybody looks down on the country people and the country people sort of absorb that. You can’t help but absorb it. So when I set out to write my great Appalachian novel. I was paralyzed with self-doubt because, I mean, my starting point was that I wanted to write about the opioid epidemic, which is become a huge assault on our culture, our families, our communities. It’s devastated so many of the good things about this region that we value and that we love. And so I wanted to write about these kids who’ve been damaged and this place that’s been damaged, and it seemed like a really hopelessly sad story. Plus, it’s about people that I didn’t feel the outer world cared about. And so I just really, I spent a couple of years walking around and around this story, trying to figure out how to break into that house because I really felt sure nobody wants to read it.”
Well, Kingsolver was wrong. At least, she was wrong about the interest in her topic—not her take on the people of Appalachia. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and 85,000+ ratings on Amazon (4.6 stars).
There’s so much to like about Demon Copperhead but one of the main things is that it’s so breezily readable. For a 546-page epic, it goes down fast. It’s episodic, a la Dickens, but the character flow is organic, unforced. Demon’s voice is engaging and his struggles are real, particularly when it comes to the challenges of the foster care system and the brutality of OxyContin addictions. Kingsolver’s empathy for addicts comes pouring out of the story. She is non-judgmental, plays it straight.
Here is Demon, somewhat early on, looking back on the power of addiction: “I had roads to travel before I would know it’s not that simple, the dope versus the person you love. That a craving can ratchet itself up and up inside a body and a mind, at the same time that body’s strength for tolerating is favorite drug goes down and down. That the longer you’ve gone hurting between fixes, the higher the odds that you’ll reach too hard for the stars next time. That first big rush of relief could be your last. In the long run, that’s how I’ve come to picture Mom at the end: reaching as hard as her little body would stretch, trying to touch the blue sky, reaching for some peace.”
That’s as good a passage about the feeling of addiction, and a description of its power, that I’ve ever read. (Kingsolver also read that section on Klein’s podcast.)
Kingsolver is a deceiving writer. Her style is unassuming and keen-eyed. The text is full of specificity. And energy. If you have any doubts about tackling this book because it looks too heavy, squash those notions. Here’s the beginning of Chapter 34:
“A lot of firsts that school year. First scrimmage, first JV game, first tackle, first passing yards made. First school dance, with an eighth-grader girl that was dead serious about it. So, my first real date, evidently. Angus and Sax went together dressed as Planet of the Apes, loser of their grade contest (Sax) being the human on a leash. This is Homecoming mind you, not Halloween, so. Not a date. But Angus took mine over, ordered the corsage from Walmart, took me to Goodwill where we found this dope white suit from the sixties. In my size, unbelievable. I’ve grown into my hands and feet by this point, and I’m pushing 6 feet. Thank you, Mattie Kate.”
Mattie Kate is the housekeeper who worked for football Coach Wingate, where Demon lived while he was being developed as a potential football star. There are plenty of characters to keep track of, but Kingsolver gives them juicy nicknames (again, a la Dickens) or colorful descriptions so they are easy to track. U-Haul. Fast Forward. Waddles. Mouse. If you know David Copperfield (it’s been decades since I read it) you’ll have a great time with what Kingsolver did with her names. For instance, Uriah Heep becomes Ryan Pyles.
The “resourcefulness” of Demon is apparent in his stubborn ability to survive. He’s smarter than he acknowledges, and very observant. In Demon Copperhead, bad things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people, too. Many around Demon are not so fortunate and literally or metaphorically drown. You can’t help but think about the failure of our institutions around child welfare, the foster care system, adult welfare, and drug abuse. But Demon finds his talent, develops a passion, and puts it to use. Hello, the power of art. And love. Every great novel, and this is one, is a love story in the end.
Demon Copperfield was written with passion for Kingsolver’s very personal reasons. The execution is a thing of beauty—and something we can all admire.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2024That was one helluva read. Full of humor, agony, sorrowful heartbreak, unbelievable beauty. What a beautiful story of a life and people who are so unbelievably strong and human despite all the crap they live in. A really enlightening portrayal at a gut level of the opiate epidemic and the evil that spawned it and destroyed so many lives. Demon was truly a diamond. Flawed to be sure but strong and hard and precious.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2024Title of Review: Heartbreaking & Fantastic
Title: Demon Copperhead
Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Date Purchased: 14 June 2023
Amount Paid: $15.99
Page number: 556 pages
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Coming of Age
Date of Review: 29 July 2024
Winner of Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: 2023
This was a book I read for my local book club.
Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead tells the story of a boy born to a teenage single mother in a single-wide trailer. With no assets beyond his deceased father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a sharp wit, and a fierce survival instinct, Demon navigates the modern challenges of foster care, child labor, failing schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and devastating losses. Narrated in his own unflinching voice, Demon grapples with his invisibility in a culture that has largely abandoned rural communities. Inspired by Charles Dickens' David Copperfield, which drew from Dickens' own experiences with institutional poverty, Barbara Kingsolver transposes a Victorian epic to the contemporary American South. She channels Dickens' anger, compassion, and faith in storytelling's transformative power to give voice to a new generation of lost boys and those born into beautiful yet cursed places they can't imagine leaving.
I think Kingsolver did a great job of telling the stories of damaged kids. I loved this book. Though it was hard to read in places—heartbreaking and sad—it was also heartwarming. The writing was superb, and the story captivated me from start to finish. It examined critical social issues while educating and showcasing the resilience of the human spirit.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2025I do seem to have made a habit of starting my reading year off with a bang! In 2024, my first book of the year was Horse by Geraldine Brooks - which incidentally was still my top read of 2024 on December 31, and now, in 2025, I started my year with Demon Copperhead, another read that will not quickly leave me.
Demon Copperhead was NOT an easy read. It was raw, gut-wrenching, and heart-breaking, even more so if you've worked with kids the system seems to have forgotten or lost someone in the pharmaceutics-created Oxy epidemic, but WOW! it is worth the emotional rollercoaster to read from start to finish. Barbara Kingsolver has demonstrated once again that she is a master at creating real characters and well-crafted storylines, and at telling stories that need to be told.
Five stars for characters I grew to love, a story I wanted to finish even knowing it wasn't likely to end well for many of its characters, and a novel that will not soon leave me. While Demon Copperhead was definitely not what I'd call an "enjoyable read," it was definitely a worthwhile read. That said, if you're looking for fun, lighthearted, and/or pure entertainment, this is NOT your book!
Top reviews from other countries
- john sidenReviewed in Canada on January 24, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent book
Great story if a little depressing .But overall a quite awesome story .Very well written and with detailed characters .
- Stephany andrewsReviewed in Mexico on May 10, 2023
1.0 out of 5 stars Only received four chapters
I want to finish reading but I only received four chapters on this device.
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Amazon CustomerReviewed in Italy on January 27, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Un capolavoro
Avvincente e realistico.
Purtroppo la mia edizione perdeva le pagine man mano che procedevo con la lettura.
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Horst WahlReviewed in Germany on January 20, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Tolles Buch
Spannend. Gut gegen Langeweile
- CustomerReviewed in India on January 20, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
Great