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nicolechinny123's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Abortion
Minor: Abortion
stayathomereader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.0
#RecentlyRead #YoungMungo 🕊
Douglas Stuart's sophomore novel has a lot in common with his debut, Shuggie Bain. Both feature young queer characters in Scotland during the 80s. Both feature an alcoholic mother and complicated sibling relationship, and both deal with class issues and tension between the Protestants and Catholics.
Once again I was very impressed with the way Stuart writes- he crafts such complete characters and builds an atmosphere so real you feel like you're there, too.
Young Mungo is told over two timelines which converge by the end of the book. At the very beginning we know that Mungo has been caught with another boy, beaten by his brother, and sent away by his mother to go camping with two men (who are basically strangers) to straighten him out, toughen him up... give him some manly guidance.
The other timeline follows Mungo prior to this camping trip- giving us a chance to get to know him and his family, and watch as he developed a friendship (and more) with the slightly older Catholic boy who steals and raises fancy pigeons.
One thing to note about the dual timelines is that there is no visual signifier to the reader when switching between the two. The setting and characters make it obvious enough, but towards the end of the novel, as the time gap closes it becomes a little less obvious... then again, that could have been a mistake I made reading past my bedtime! 😉
Unlike Shuggie, who is a young child for most of his book, Mungo is 15 years old and on the cusp of manhood- by 16 he can be considered emancipated and is free to go where he wants with whomever he wants. My problem with his age is that the way he is so infantilized by his mother and sister made it hard for me to visualise him as a teenager ready to fall in love, run away, and be self sustaining.
Getting past that issue, (which is minor really, because I'm sure if I think about it long enough I can come up with some reasoning as to the roles he plays inside and outside of his home life), I found the characters to be so fully developed that I could feel their emotions and struggles pouring off the page; which was exactly my experience with Shuggie Bain. If I could adopt Shuggie and Mungo both I absolutely would! My mothering instinct aches for them.
So while the writing is beautiful, and here and there are wholesome character relationships, the story is full of sadness and violence that had me grimacing while reading. Portions of this book were literally a visceral experience.
I preferred Shuggie Bain to Young Mungo, honestly; but that is like asking if I want cake or ice cream.... both, please!
Douglas Stuart's sophomore novel has a lot in common with his debut, Shuggie Bain. Both feature young queer characters in Scotland during the 80s. Both feature an alcoholic mother and complicated sibling relationship, and both deal with class issues and tension between the Protestants and Catholics.
Once again I was very impressed with the way Stuart writes- he crafts such complete characters and builds an atmosphere so real you feel like you're there, too.
Young Mungo is told over two timelines which converge by the end of the book. At the very beginning we know that Mungo has been caught with another boy, beaten by his brother, and sent away by his mother to go camping with two men (who are basically strangers) to straighten him out, toughen him up... give him some manly guidance.
The other timeline follows Mungo prior to this camping trip- giving us a chance to get to know him and his family, and watch as he developed a friendship (and more) with the slightly older Catholic boy who steals and raises fancy pigeons.
One thing to note about the dual timelines is that there is no visual signifier to the reader when switching between the two. The setting and characters make it obvious enough, but towards the end of the novel, as the time gap closes it becomes a little less obvious... then again, that could have been a mistake I made reading past my bedtime! 😉
Unlike Shuggie, who is a young child for most of his book, Mungo is 15 years old and on the cusp of manhood- by 16 he can be considered emancipated and is free to go where he wants with whomever he wants. My problem with his age is that the way he is so infantilized by his mother and sister made it hard for me to visualise him as a teenager ready to fall in love, run away, and be self sustaining.
Getting past that issue, (which is minor really, because I'm sure if I think about it long enough I can come up with some reasoning as to the roles he plays inside and outside of his home life), I found the characters to be so fully developed that I could feel their emotions and struggles pouring off the page; which was exactly my experience with Shuggie Bain. If I could adopt Shuggie and Mungo both I absolutely would! My mothering instinct aches for them.
So while the writing is beautiful, and here and there are wholesome character relationships, the story is full of sadness and violence that had me grimacing while reading. Portions of this book were literally a visceral experience.
I preferred Shuggie Bain to Young Mungo, honestly; but that is like asking if I want cake or ice cream.... both, please!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Misogyny, Excrement, Abortion, Abandonment, and Classism
shayna_hadassah's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Moderate: Animal death and Drug use
tanya_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I read and loved Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart last year, and was so excited to receive an advanced copy of the author’s second book Young Mungo from NetGalley.
This book started off really slow for me, but if I remember correctly so did Shuggie Bain. There were a LOT of similarities between the two books - poor families in Scotland, alcoholism, parental negligence - in some parts it felt too similar, especially the parts with Mungo’s mother. Maybe it’s unfair to compare the two books but it’s hard not to.
Young Mungo started to feel like its own story at about the halfway point. It is told in two timelines, one a few months before the other. In the first one Mungo and his siblings live mostly on their own, as their alcoholic mother is absent, spending time at her boyfriend’s house and caring for his children instead of her own. Mungo, teased for his facial tic and for being “soft”, befriends a boy his age and they develop romantic feelings for each other.
In the second, Mungo’s mother sends him away on a fishing trip with two HORRIBLE men from Alcoholics Anonymous (who are CLEARLY NOT in recovery) in the hopes of helping him “man up.” Things took a dark, strange turn on the trip, and not in a good way.
I’m disappointed that I did not love this very much. Stuart is a talented writer, no doubt, but I was underwhelmed. From the descriptions I’d read about it I expected a forbidden love not only between two boys but between a Catholic and a Protestant. That is such a small part of the book. It’s more about miserable adults doing awful things to children mixed in with gang violence. I expected a sad, yet tender story like Shuggie but that’s not what this is at all.
I don’t want to give any spoilers but there are a lot of trigger warnings, including pedophilia and rape, which made it really difficult for me to read.
Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book started off really slow for me, but if I remember correctly so did Shuggie Bain. There were a LOT of similarities between the two books - poor families in Scotland, alcoholism, parental negligence - in some parts it felt too similar, especially the parts with Mungo’s mother. Maybe it’s unfair to compare the two books but it’s hard not to.
Young Mungo started to feel like its own story at about the halfway point. It is told in two timelines, one a few months before the other. In the first one Mungo and his siblings live mostly on their own, as their alcoholic mother is absent, spending time at her boyfriend’s house and caring for his children instead of her own. Mungo, teased for his facial tic and for being “soft”, befriends a boy his age and they develop romantic feelings for each other.
In the second, Mungo’s mother sends him away on a fishing trip with two HORRIBLE men from Alcoholics Anonymous (who are CLEARLY NOT in recovery) in the hopes of helping him “man up.” Things took a dark, strange turn on the trip, and not in a good way.
I’m disappointed that I did not love this very much. Stuart is a talented writer, no doubt, but I was underwhelmed. From the descriptions I’d read about it I expected a forbidden love not only between two boys but between a Catholic and a Protestant. That is such a small part of the book. It’s more about miserable adults doing awful things to children mixed in with gang violence. I expected a sad, yet tender story like Shuggie but that’s not what this is at all.
I don’t want to give any spoilers but there are a lot of trigger warnings, including pedophilia and rape, which made it really difficult for me to read.
Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Gaslighting
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