Reviews with content warning for Self harm - Young Mungo

Reading Young Mungo was like slowly moving your hand closer and closer to a hot stove; You know it's going to hurt, it's probably going to leave a mark, you might cry, but at the end of that you're going to have learned something even if it was the most painful way to learn. It's tense, stomach knotting writing that was an unbelievable joy to read even if it hurt the entire time.

It's simply a masterpiece. I've not read anything like this before and I will probably never read anything like it again. It's the best worst time I've ever had. Now I'm off to have a good cry 😢

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blues's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

Che viaggio spettacolare. Questo libro mi ha catapultato in una Scozia degli anni 80-90, in un ambiente chiuso, iper-mascolinizzato e religioso (con annesse lotte tra la parte protestante e la parte cristiana) e me l'ha fatto sentire a 360 gradi. Mi ha fatto conoscere Mungo, ma con lui anche tante altre persone con cui sono riuscito ad empatizzare, nonostante questi non fossero sempre personaggi molto positivi. Vediamo questi personaggi sia nei momenti "pieni" di trama, sia in quei momenti di quotidianità (soprattutto Mungo ovviamente), il che ci aiuta molto a capirli meglio, a capire come ragionano e quali sono i loro punti di forza e le loro insicurezze.
Ho adorato particolarmente tutte le metafore che Douglas Stuart ha utilizzato per descrivere i sentimenti di Mungo e di tutti questi personaggi, facendomi sempre capire appieno la sensazione che voleva trasmettermi.
Un'altra cosa che ho amato sono le descrizioni degli ambienti: riuscivo davvero a sentirmi dentro ai posti che raccontava. Non solo li vedevo nella mia testa, ma ne sentivo anche gli odori, i rumori e i sapori. Ero davvero insieme ai personaggi.
Questo libro mi ha preso il cuore e me l'ha strappato in mille pezzi, ma mi ha anche lasciato una parte di Mungo, che si muoverà con me ovunque io andrò.

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exquis's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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andrea_lachance's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

God, my feelings about this book are so complicated. Stuart writes with such lyricism and beauty that makes the extremes of violence and beauty in this book dance on a razor's edge. It's a good book. It's heartbreaking, and it is not for everyone.

The beginning of the book is slow going, trying to parce who's-who and what exactly is going on takes time. The second half really kicks into gear with gut-wrenching revelations. Mungo is a babe in the woods, and this book beats the innocence out of Mungo in the worst possible ways.

It's a good read. An important read. There are probably people with much better reviews for this book, this is me spitballing.

Personally, the detailed descriptions for characters dealing with alcoholism were so tough for me to read because it was so realistic. It's horrifying what kinds of details one notices when a body is so ravaged by alcohol abuse.

I give it a 4.5 because the emotions I went through reading this book were so viceral, and for me personally that's one of the most important things a book like this can do.

Mungo's relationship with his mom is codependent, incestuous, and emotionally abusive. This book speaks volumes about class and poverty directly impact the cycle of abuse in families. It's painful to read about, especially when it takes the whole book and Mungo being violently assaulted twice for Mungo to realize that his mother will never love him the way he loves her. It's brutal. The phone call between Gallowgate and his mother was such a horrid moment of realization for me.

The glimmer of hope at the end is a sigh of relief. The ride in the car with the nice man was a reprieve. Poor Mungo isn't young when he comes home. He knows his family will never be the same, Josie will go to college and never come back, Mo-maw will keep drinking and being with whatever man will give her attention, and Hamish will keep stirring shit with the Catholics. So he leaves. We don't get to know where. But he's choosing to break the cycle of abuse.

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pkc's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

At the half way point, I couldn’t have envisioned giving this book five stars. Some of the subject matter is harrowing and tough to read, but tell me why I finished reading it, feeling, of all things, hopeful? Mungo as a protagonist is sweet and complicated. His journey of discovery is as joyful as it is harrowing in places and seeing him endure what he does filled me with a deep sense of anger and hurt and seeing his transition at the end of the novel left me feeling conflicted.

No one should endure what he has to, but the result is that he survives his ordeal with his brother and the loch and comes back with a sense of perspective - he will fend for himself and do what is right for himself.

All in all, a much bleaker picture than ‘Shuggie Bain’ but definitely more complex and engaging.

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ellathorpe's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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jacq_s's review

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dark emotional 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? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Absolutely heartbreaking and upsetting despite the wonderful writing. Read the trigger warnings, violent and terrible with small bits of beauty. I’m still processing how I feel about this book. It did rattle me and move me.

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