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4.38 AVERAGE
4.38 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-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
It is incredibly hard to write a review for this book.
Of the two timelines, I found the "past" one to be the story of a gay boy in an extremely toxic-masculine Glasgow. Many characters were the embodiment/symbol of their category (Maureen as the alcoholic single mother, Hamish as the hardened older brother, Chikie as the town's marginalized bachelor, Mrs Campbell as the wife of a violent husband). I'm glad to have read a book written by an author who has actually gone through a life in a place like that, a true moment where we can see the life of people we will maybe never know.
But. The "fishing trip" timeline was, in my opinion, absurdly horrifying. To the point that I started to think it was all becoming a bit too much. There's a limit to the amount of horrible things that can happen to a fifteen-year-old boy, and this second timeline crossed the boundaries and then walked for about a hundred miles past them. I'm aware that many young people unfortunately have gone through sexual assault, but the whole context was just insane. Mungo, when he agrees to go on the fishing trip, doesn't even feel like he's the same character that had stood up for himself some months before. The whole timeline just feels like a nightmare, from the start to the very end. The only thing I really liked was that Hamish eventually talked for Mungo to the police. But I have absolutely no clue how you can look at your brother who looks half dead, whose body has been horribly hurt, and think there's nothing wrong. Because this is what happens. I thought that when he came back Hamish would see him and just realize that something horrifying had happened: he doesn't. How?
The double sexual assault AND the attempted murder on Mungo were just way, way too much. The whole book is a masterpiece except for this part, which felt more so close to A Little Life's "whump" fanfic-y style than realism. And like I said, I totally understand that child sexual abuse is real, that people go through unimaginable things even in reality. But this felt like a way to put a good, gentle character in a meat grinder and then shove our faces close and go, "look at his suffering."
Everything he goes through before the fishing trip is already traumatic. And it's realistic. Everything after that was pure evil, beyond comprehension. This was like reading the death of a boy, as each nail is hammered in his coffin, nothing more. If the past timeline is soaked in love just as much as it is full of violence, the other one is just hammering in our heads all the creative ways that this gentle boy's soul has been killed.
Terrific writing, and I loved the scenes between James and Mungo. As a queer person myself, I feel like those were the most realistic situations written in this book.
I don't like when there are books that portray queer people like small, broken things. We're normal people. We do suffer from injustice and hate crimes, but we also go grocery shopping. We find love and we're loved. We're mechanics and clerks, we're janitors, politicians, and freelance journalists. We're normal people. Some of us are fighters, Olympic athletes, people extremely strong mentally and physically. Others might not be, and the hateful environment around them might make things harder for them to be happy and strong, but this doesn't mean they're not worth the whole universe. This doesn't mean we're broken little things.
When I read books where a queer person goes through hell and back, I feel like all of this suffering is used to make the character feel holy. As if they didn't suffer they wouldn't be sacred. Queer people, as humans, are sacred. All people, as humans, deserve to live a happy, content life in peace and harmony. It's not through showing skin-crawling scenes of rape on a boy that we make queer people worthy of gentleness and love. We're worthy of love from the start. Holiness and beauty are found in the moments of love between James and Mungo, how they care for each other and find a home in one another: that's sacred. That's already something that bathes people in luminous holiness.
At the end of the day, the thing that I loved the most about this book was the way there was always, always love even in the middle of hardships, through pain, through violence. The fishing trip was just the complete oppsite: a wasteland of pain and suffering for the sake of suffering.
Of the two timelines, I found the "past" one to be the story of a gay boy in an extremely toxic-masculine Glasgow. Many characters were the embodiment/symbol of their category (Maureen as the alcoholic single mother, Hamish as the hardened older brother, Chikie as the town's marginalized bachelor, Mrs Campbell as the wife of a violent husband). I'm glad to have read a book written by an author who has actually gone through a life in a place like that, a true moment where we can see the life of people we will maybe never know.
But. The "fishing trip" timeline was, in my opinion, absurdly horrifying. To the point that I started to think it was all becoming a bit too much. There's a limit to the amount of horrible things that can happen to a fifteen-year-old boy, and this second timeline crossed the boundaries and then walked for about a hundred miles past them. I'm aware that many young people unfortunately have gone through sexual assault, but the whole context was just insane. Mungo, when he agrees to go on the fishing trip, doesn't even feel like he's the same character that had stood up for himself some months before. The whole timeline just feels like a nightmare, from the start to the very end. The only thing I really liked was that Hamish eventually talked for Mungo to the police. But I have absolutely no clue how you can look at your brother who looks half dead, whose body has been horribly hurt, and think there's nothing wrong. Because this is what happens. I thought that when he came back Hamish would see him and just realize that something horrifying had happened: he doesn't. How?
The double sexual assault AND the attempted murder on Mungo were just way, way too much. The whole book is a masterpiece except for this part, which felt more so close to A Little Life's "whump" fanfic-y style than realism. And like I said, I totally understand that child sexual abuse is real, that people go through unimaginable things even in reality. But this felt like a way to put a good, gentle character in a meat grinder and then shove our faces close and go, "look at his suffering."
Everything he goes through before the fishing trip is already traumatic. And it's realistic. Everything after that was pure evil, beyond comprehension. This was like reading the death of a boy, as each nail is hammered in his coffin, nothing more. If the past timeline is soaked in love just as much as it is full of violence, the other one is just hammering in our heads all the creative ways that this gentle boy's soul has been killed.
Terrific writing, and I loved the scenes between James and Mungo. As a queer person myself, I feel like those were the most realistic situations written in this book.
I don't like when there are books that portray queer people like small, broken things. We're normal people. We do suffer from injustice and hate crimes, but we also go grocery shopping. We find love and we're loved. We're mechanics and clerks, we're janitors, politicians, and freelance journalists. We're normal people. Some of us are fighters, Olympic athletes, people extremely strong mentally and physically. Others might not be, and the hateful environment around them might make things harder for them to be happy and strong, but this doesn't mean they're not worth the whole universe. This doesn't mean we're broken little things.
When I read books where a queer person goes through hell and back, I feel like all of this suffering is used to make the character feel holy. As if they didn't suffer they wouldn't be sacred. Queer people, as humans, are sacred. All people, as humans, deserve to live a happy, content life in peace and harmony. It's not through showing skin-crawling scenes of rape on a boy that we make queer people worthy of gentleness and love. We're worthy of love from the start. Holiness and beauty are found in the moments of love between James and Mungo, how they care for each other and find a home in one another: that's sacred. That's already something that bathes people in luminous holiness.
At the end of the day, the thing that I loved the most about this book was the way there was always, always love even in the middle of hardships, through pain, through violence. The fishing trip was just the complete oppsite: a wasteland of pain and suffering for the sake of suffering.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
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
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment
Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual harassment
Minor: Abortion
emotional
sad
medium-paced
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual assault, Murder
I think the most important thing to know about this book is it's sad as hell. Like don't expect to be happy at any point- although there are moments of joy. After almost 2 years in Scotland I think I understood the dialogue (much thanks to my one friend who types in Scots) but I wouldn't have before I moved here- so be warned Canadians. But really a beautiful read. Highly recommended- but be prepared to be as sad.
dark
sad
medium-paced
READ CONTENT WARNINGS
This book man. Why did I read it? It made you feel, that’s for sure. I think what makes me rate this well despite the excess of trauma is that well
A.) the trauma was not the whole core of the book that the author seemed to do for little reason but to torture the character(s) (yes, I’m looking at you, A Little Life) and
B.) the complex reality of hate and love is depicted so well for every type of relationship (parental, sibling, friend, lover) that you can begin to understand it by the end.
You start the story with questions of why the hell do these characters stay? Why do they love each other despite being forced to live in their conditions, or being treated as they are? Mungo’s siblings and neighbors even beg answers to these questions. But you end, especially the very end, you and Mungo both come to see the other’s side.
I didn’t think I’d ever see Mungo’s side; I began to worry he’d never see “reason” either. And for that, I rate this highly.
Do I recommend this book? Absolutely not lol. I don’t personally believe reading graphic descriptions of certain content is worth reading a story.
This book man. Why did I read it? It made you feel, that’s for sure. I think what makes me rate this well despite the excess of trauma is that well
A.) the trauma was not the whole core of the book that the author seemed to do for little reason but to torture the character(s) (yes, I’m looking at you, A Little Life) and
B.) the complex reality of hate and love is depicted so well for every type of relationship (parental, sibling, friend, lover) that you can begin to understand it by the end.
You start the story with questions of why the hell do these characters stay? Why do they love each other despite being forced to live in their conditions, or being treated as they are? Mungo’s siblings and neighbors even beg answers to these questions. But you end, especially the very end, you and Mungo both come to see the other’s side.
I didn’t think I’d ever see Mungo’s side; I began to worry he’d never see “reason” either. And for that, I rate this highly.
Do I recommend this book? Absolutely not lol. I don’t personally believe reading graphic descriptions of certain content is worth reading a story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Abandonment
Such a beautifully written, raw and heartbreaking book.