Reviews

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

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kiakrat's review against another edition

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4.0

Very depressing

easage81's review against another edition

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Got 47% of the way through on kindle, good but wasn’t absorbing everything and on a tight deadline would be good to finish when I have a physical copy

jerushae's review against another edition

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I couldn’t decide on a rating for this book. It was beautifully written and very engaging. It’s a long book but I got through it quickly because I wanted to know what happened.
However, it was incredibly gut wrenching. There were very few happy moments and it made you wonder how much a small child could possibly take. And it’s likely an accurate portrayal of addiction, which makes it all the more depressing.

lilyreecexo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Incredible. Heart breaking. Genuinely one of my new favourite books. I can’t help but compare this to A Little Life, Shuggie Bain is how you TRULY capture trauma and sadness and it’s LEAGUES ahead of any other attempt at this

sn0rkmaiden's review against another edition

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5.0

It's rare I find a Booker winner so readable. Often they require more effort than Shuggie Bain did, where the ease of following the story was so at odds with the content. Easy to read, hard to digest.