Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

58 reviews

sam_w_r's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

mugan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.0

Sadly this book did not impress me. The content is bleak, grim, depressing and tough to comprehend. But this isn't what I disliked about the book. The straightforward narrative of alcohol abuse, rape, domestic abuse and the tale of Shuggie attempting to grow made the book gut wrenching and harrowing but the writing style felt so stagnant. It felt like the characters were in a stasis, a never ending cycle and it just got repetitive and boring, which really took away from the depressing monologue the author had created.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Rape, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Death, and Death of parent

maneatingbadger's review

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

deezy's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

amberlovick's review

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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

4.0

Tw: alcoholism, paedophilia, rape, self harm and a whole load more. 

*audiobook*

This felt very reminiscent of A Little Life and was not an easy read. I felt this book was brilliantly written and I grew very attached to Shuggie. It was a very raw and explicit depiction of the era and really demonstrated how difficult peoples lives were and the vicious cycles society perpetuated. 

I would highly recommend this book, well worth the read, just read your trigger warnings first.

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Content Warnings

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

greypaperboats's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

This is one of the best, most heartbreaking books I've read in a long while. The characters are written with such compassionate clarity. They've found a home in my heart. There is not much I can respond with except that I'll be carrying this story with me, hoping that if anyone has Shuggie's heart it should be everyone or no one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Infidelity, Homophobia, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Death, Child abuse, Bullying, and Abandonment

laurenw's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Medical content, and Misogyny

Minor: Blood and Body shaming

amberinbookland's review

sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Violence

lenin_lover_69's review

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

3.0

Shuggie Bain is relentlessly grim, but the evocative and poetic prose used to sketch out the city of Glasgow made it a worthwhile read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Vomit, Sexual violence, Violence, Self harm, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Rape, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Bullying, and Death

stayathomereader's review

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Vomit