Here’s what I thought of Demon Copperhead and Pod | Women’s Prize reading vlog

I hadn't yet read two of the books that made the Women's Prize shortlist... my most anticipated and my least anticipated.
Come with me on an adventure down in the ocean, and out to Appalachia, and find out what I thought of Pod and Demon Copperhead.
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[@benreadsgood]

Let me know what you thought of these two! 🐬💊

[@rudy679]

I started reading Demon but I stopped. Felt like it was written by an author who read Shuggie Bain, Young Mungo and The Lincoln Highway and just wanted to recreate the same feeling. Even though it's over 500 paged long it felt very rushed to me. It's ok, not for me.

[@benreadsgood]

@@rudy679 Ah that’s a shame that it didn’t work for you. But it is a wonderful thing to know your own taste in literature!

[@YourTrueShelf]

I'm very intrigued how it works filming a video with a script! I've never thought you sounded like you were reading from a script (good thing!) - tell us more! Loved the vlog. Trips to garden centres 👍🏻 just water the plants every day and give them some flower food if they need it every 2 weeks 😊 Loved hearing about demon - I still haven't read it 🙈 I think all the buzz put me off, but you have encouraged me again in the way you talked about it.

[@benreadsgood]

It’s a question I need to answer on my Q&A, which I still need to film 👀 Glad you have been switched back onto Demon, and thank you for the gardening tips. It’s been tough with this hot spell, especially as we’ve been away!

[@lauracorsi3309]

Best review I've seen of Demon Copperhead! Excellent vlog. I really enjoyed the garden bits. 😍

[@benreadsgood]

Thank you so much Laura 🙌 Some of the plants are thriving… others not so much 😂

[@ealo4673]

Thank you for echoing my thoughts on Pod; DC now on my list as well as Dev Patel's DC film. Thanks x3.

[@benreadsgood]

Glad the Pod review resonated! The David Copperfield film is great. A very quirky, stylish adaptation with a surprisingly upbeat tone.

[@CharlieBrookReads]

Yeah for you loving Demon 🎉🎉 I enjoyed your little reading vlog, you definitely need to make more 😊

[@benreadsgood]

Thanks for the encouragement Charlie! They are quite a lot of effort to put together 😅 But I may be just about to start another one as I'm off to Ireland for a bit, so I'm going to read some Irish fiction. Thanks for watching 🙌

[@sniffingthesheets]

a book with free cake! What could be better?! Great reading vlog, Ben. All the dolphin sex does sound a lot.

[@sniffingthesheets]

Oh noooo just realised you didn't get the cake!

[@benreadsgood]

Yeah it was a real rollercoaster of emotions 😂

[@sniffingthesheets]

Also I can confirm if you do a northern accent too much eventually it just sticks. And no matter how hard you try to revert back people will still say you sound like Ur from Emmerdale 🙋🙋🤷

[@chloetimms960]

Okay Ben you've really convinced me I need to read Demon Copperhead. Just got to find the time to get into its chunkiness! This was a great vlog btw - hope you do more!

[@benreadsgood]

Thanks so much Chloe. It’s a quicker read than the size of it might suggest - I hope you enjoy it!

[@bandkh90]

You did a pretty good job with your first reading vlog! “Pod” isn’t making my TBR but “DC” is sitting on my bedside table waiting for me to get up the nerve to start reading - for some reason, it intimidates me! Enjoying your channel and reviews. Thank you, Barbara

[@benreadsgood]

Thank you Barbara, that’s kind of you to say. I felt similarly before starting Demon, but it’s nothing to worry about - it’s so gripping!

[@kelso365]

This format works well for you - more reading vlogs, I say!

[@benreadsgood]

Thanks so much for the encouragement! 🙏

[@ameliareads589]

Great first vlog! I personally prefer the unscripted videos, so no worries needed about that.

[@benreadsgood]

Thanks Amelia! Even my ‘unscripted’ tends to be a bit scripted or you’d end up watching me like a deer in headlights while I try to figure out what to say 😂 I don’t talk to myself very often!!!

[@cmleidi]

I wonder if people's reactions to Pod and Demon Copperhead now would be different if there had not been this constant refrain that the former was terrible and the latter was phenomenal. I think it's hard to read both books without those voices and discussions in our heads.

[@benreadsgood]

That's a fair point. I tried to be as fair as possible but it is always hard to ignore the 'general consensus'. I don't regret reading Pod and I don't think it was as unspeakably bad as some people say, it sadly just didn't work for me. I'd love a Google-only prequel, to learn a bit more about his life.

[@carolbresnahan1244]

Well done on your first reading vlog . Loved it 🌻

[@benreadsgood]

Thanks Carol!

[@seamusgaelic6447]

So glad I came across your book vlog. I've recently subscribed and am glad I did. Your points of view are always insightful, so erudite, and entertaining. I, too, read Demon Copperhead and found it interesting that you bring up Empire of Pain, because I think it probably makes for a great companion read to Demon Copperhead. I've not read it, however, it's definitely on my TBR list. As a personal aside, I spent six months working as a customer service agent for an insurance company that was contracted to service the East Tennessee Tenncare program (the state's medical insurance system for the impoverished), which includes Knoxville (mentioned in the book). This was all the way back in 2004, and the Oxycontin thing was already becoming an epidemic level problem. I can not tell you how many phone calls each day I had to take which involved people addicted to Oxycontin begging me to reauthorize a prescription. Something that we could not do, obviously. As the insurance company, we only could authorize a payment. It was disgusting and it's why, after only six months, I suddenly quit one day with a two-word resignation letter left on my supervisor's desk after walking out at lunch, never to return.

[@benreadsgood]

Thank you so much for the kind words, and for the personal story. That’s so interesting, and so terribly sad. The healthcare industry in the US seems so scary and it’s terrifying how we’re inching closer towards something similar here in the UK. Thankfully (as far as I’m aware) we haven’t had communities targeted by a bad actor like Purdue in the same way though. It must have been tough to deal with the fallout of that, so well done for taking a stand and quitting!

[@alanaestelle2076]

Such a good vlog! And yes the truck scene in Copperhead is a punch to the gut. Oooooh such a good point that these types of stories are destined to repeat. I think you’re on to something. And the drugs use is accurate 😢

[@benreadsgood]

Thanks Alana! Yeah that moment was the first thing that really got under my skin. Well, that and the drugs. I was glad Demon was a needle-phobe as I don't think I could have taken any more realistic scenes of drug-taking. I'm so squeamish about that stuff 😭

[@cathyi3805]

Great wrap up of Demon Copperhead! I had many of the same thoughts/ feelings on the book- I was very happy that it won the Pulitzer. I've had the e-book version of Pod on hold at the library for several weeks. It's become available about three times since but I haven't been able to bring myself to check it out. I've finally decided that the dolphin sex book...lol... isn't for me right now. Thanks for a great vlog! ☺

[@benreadsgood]

Ha, well life is too short to spend time reading books you don’t want to. Unless it wins the Women’s Prize. Then you probably have to read it 😂

[@cathyi3805]

@@benreadsgood So true on both counts!

[@dougallen1611]

Had to hold off checking out your vlog until I finished reading Demon Copperhead. I also had to hit pause at the truck stop scene because I felt the story was on the verge of becoming another Little Life and was just not going to be able to stomach that depth of relentless heartache. Thankfully that did not prove to be the case. Would be very interested in your take comparing the Pulitzer prize co-winners. It's such a rare opportunity to weigh-in on something so highly unlikely to happen again for many years.

[@benreadsgood]

Thanks for watching, Doug! Yeah the truck stop was a heavy moment, but I found the balance really well struck between tragedy and levity overall. Will have a think about comparing the Pulitzer winners! 🙏

[@AliceandtheGiantBookshelf]

I found Dori awful, but then I also didn’t like Dora in David Copperfield. Incredible book, I loved it so much. Agree with pretty much everything you said about Pod too, could have been a book I would have liked a lot more if it had stayed focused on the dolphins rather than all the fish I just didn’t care about. A prequel about Google, I would actually read that (I now can’t recall if you said about that in the video or if I read it in the comments 😂).

[@benreadsgood]

Maybe she’s meant to be disliked then! And yeah the Google prequel request was in the comments, but I’m on board for it!

[@Bessie-On-Wheels]

😅 True story because I listened to audio book until you said I thought it was literally was a farm party because of it's location rather than it's theme. Having read both books I couldn't agree more with both summaries. I love Deamon so much.

[@benreadsgood]

Haha yeah I think Demon thinks the same at first - it’s written ‘farm’ before he realises its ‘pharm’! Glad you loved the book too. Thanks for watching!

[@GunpowderFictionPlot]

I love the Fantasy comparison for Pod. I really felt like Pod was very basic, what you saw is what you got, which is a lot of fantasy. Unfortunately for Laline Paull fantasy authors are much better at getting me to invest in their characters.

[@benreadsgood]

Yeah it just felt like so much hinged on the premise and the research, but it didn’t go deeper. Fantasy authors do it better!

[@melanygomez613]

You should’ve titled the video “I read my most and least anticipated women prize books” Anyways, great video

[@benreadsgood]

Well… maybe I’ll give that a go! Thanks for the suggestion 🙏

[@deckard5558]

Oh wow now I don't wanna read Pod. I was somewhat curious before this video. But animal sex? I'd read that if it was an extreme horror novel and marketed so.

[@benreadsgood]

Yeah there was a lot of that… it sadly just wasn’t for me. But in hindsight I *am* glad I read it, and I have heard nothing but glowing things about Laline Paull.

[@bjminton2698]

I liked Pod more than most people do, I think, but I do like a bit of fantasy and books that are different. To me, it was not nearly as violent as Bandit Queens. I was horrified by the abuse of women and animals in that book, which seems to be culturally acceptable in India. I found DC way too long and quite formulaic, but very well written. Those 3 are the only ones from the longlist I've read, but I've met my quota of literary fiction for a long time 🙂. I found all 3 to be terribly sad.

[@benreadsgood]

Yeah it did really remind me of fantasy, and I don't regret reading it or anything. It just didn't work quite as well as I'd have liked. Interesting that you found it less horrifying than The Bandit Queens. I really, really enjoyed that one and wish it had made the shortlist. A real surprise for me! It definitely had its fair share of trauma, but I thought it was handled really well and the balance between that and the humour worked for me. Thank you for watching!

[@rudy679]

POD is not on my TBR list. Demon Copperhead on the other hand absolutely is though😊.

[@benreadsgood]

Ha, I think it's much the same for a lot of people. I really wanted to read the whole shortlist though!

[@spexi513]

Year long cryogenic sleep 😂

[@benreadsgood]

It seemed to me the only way not to know about this book 😂

[@A_lilBitRatchet]

I agree; Dori was quite annoying. So needy, spoiled, and possessive. I understand her traumas, but boy was she a pain!

[@benreadsgood]

With you on that! I think I just needed her to be more… magnetic? I didn’t get the pull she had on Demon, and if that had been stronger it might have worked despite her flaws.

[@judybrown1624]

Dora in David Copperfield was VERY annoying.

[@benreadsgood]

I felt bad for her given her circumstances, but… yeah she was easily my least favourite character in the book!

[@spexi513]

Demon Copperhead = Kingsolver is a master of the craft imo; I believe It deserves all the accolades it receives & also some it doesn’t . 📖 🪱 💚

[@benreadsgood]

It’s a great book! Glad you agree, and thanks for watching 🙌