Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

137 reviews

stephbysteph's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

5 gut-wrenched stars.

This is one that stays with you and makes you ask yourself/the author/the universe unanswerable questions.

Shuggie is a complicated boy with - to put it extremely mildly - a complicated upbringing. The love he has for his family is heartbreaking at times. At many times.

There are a few nice and/or funny moments that make you feel ok about continuing, and it's written so expertly today you actually really want to keep going. I audio read this one, and kudos to the reader for bringing the Glaswegian accents and slang to life, and for differentiating the characters' voices enough that you could tell who was speaking - but not so much that it was forced or weird. 

I don't think this is a book for someone who isn't in a good mental/emotional place. It's HEAVY. But it's also incredible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

kbbp080808's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

sha's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

1.5

The descriptions in this especially when they “suck their teeth” 🤢🤮

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

burnourhistory's review against another edition

dark sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Abandonment

graecus_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

so so good. love this book. very emotional, i was very much feeling things after i finished this book. watching shuggie grow up was absolutely heart wrenching. all of the characters were immaculately written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, and Rape

isabelboswinkel's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

mrs_v's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.75

Shuggie grows up in the projects of Scotland with his alcoholic mother. Shuggie begins to realize he is gay.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Bullying and Toxic relationship

wiktoria_bojda's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-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, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, and Self harm

ladystardust1979's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

ydina's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I really wanted to like it. Especially when I heard that it was heart wrenching and somewhat like A Little Life. Maybe it's accurate about that in a sense that both of them are trauma p*rn. just missed the parts where they would talk more about Shuggies sa? Like I think this should have been significant? 

More about anything else than how many beer and vodka Agnes drinks and how deeply disgustingly obsessed she is with men. 

And it took me so long to finish. I always had to pick it up like a task or homework (which it was thanks to our book club, otherwise would've dnfed it, I fear) 

Other than that I still liked the style of writing. It did have his good parts and did make me feel pitiful every now and then. 

Especially when Shuggie was asking his mother why he wasn't enough for her. This somehow got me. But I guess children having a troubled upcoming will always get me. 

All in all I'll give it around three stars I think.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Outing, Gaslighting, and Alcohol