Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

62 reviews

katierobertsonshaddix's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, Abandonment, Blood, Death, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

nessidy's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Violence, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Excrement, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Rape

doramag's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, and Death of parent

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

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

kchessrice's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

Some reviews describe 'Shuggie Bain' as "heartbreaking", but I would say the story makes numerous jabs at your heart before giving you something to provide a glimmer of hope before dashing you once again. I really felt that I was experiencing Shuggie's story alongside him; all the shabby, grimy, cold streets and the hard-faced women and children trying to make it in 1980s Glasgow were so vividly brought to life through the prose. You can't really say that you "enjoyed" reading this book but it's fair to say it's captivating and doesn't let you go until the very last page. I was pleased that the ending provided Shuggie with a friend who has her own struggles with an alcoholic parent, but who doesn't seem to want anything from him but his friendship. It might be a long road for Shuggie, but I think in the end he will be alright...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

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

leonkaspar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Cancer, Classism, Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Addiction, Medical content, Rape, and Sexual assault

alicefaye_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Abandonment, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicide, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship