Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

144 reviews

katlouisee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Self harm, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Homophobia

Minor: Excrement

encharro's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Rape, Toxic friendship, and Alcoholism

knowledgeable_but_stupid's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It was a wonderful book, in my opinion. I immediately bought this one after reading Young Mungo. He writes so vividly that I can imagine every scene and use his descriptions to fill in the blanks in my mind in a most natural way. A lot of topics were the same as in Young Mungo, but this one touched more on the perspective of the alcoholic mother and it was written as more of a life story. The repetition compared to the other book made it feel a bit predictable at times, but to be fair, this one was his first novel. Maybe I should’ve read them in the correct order. I enjoyed the way he described bad things in a good way and good things in a bad way. It’s like he doesn’t try to make his work “fancy” like many writers do. Last point is that I expected the phonetically written dialogues to be difficult to read, but this wasn’t the case at all. Again, it’s a very naturally written story and it was great to be able to immerse myself in it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, and Rape

megb64's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Self harm, and Rape

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Mental illness, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Excrement

pawtory's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Honestly the most depressing thing I've ever read (maybe I Gevalia avoid that but good god). Realistic to the point of hopelessness. I know terrible people and situations exist but there was no relief here for Shuggie. I think he had a handful of people shown his life who weren't completely  awful? It was well written, but if I could tell past me to skip this one I would. The content warnings are quite serious. I would only rec this book if you  need to read about stuff that's so awful anything in your life will seem better in comparison...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Rape, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Homophobia, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Terminal illness and Religious bigotry

readingslumpx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Drug use, Bullying, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Infidelity, and Sexual harassment

elharpwhy's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Rape, Pedophilia, Death, Classism, Bullying, Addiction, and Alcohol

aw_katie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Addiction, Sexual assault, Blood, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexual violence, Bullying, Rape, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Homophobia, Classism, Vomit, Self harm, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Hate crime

doolittlems's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Alcoholism

nikkibisbee's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Abandonment, Addiction, Child abuse, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship