Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Shuggie Bain

Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

118 reviews

danaaliyalevinson's review

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

5.0

This book is really fucking good. I had read Douglas Stuart’s second novel “Young Mungo” before I read this one and liked it a lot. But this was another level. And I’m glad I didn’t read it before “Young Mungo” because I think I would’ve compared the two and I perhaps wouldn’t have enjoyed his second novel quite as much as I did.

Through the lens of a young queer boy being raised by, and more often taking care of, his alcoholic mother, we explore themes of poverty and addiction.

This book will break your heart… so, of course I loved it. The storytelling is impeccable. The characters are beautifully drawn. Its emotionality burns bright on every page. I highly recommend it.

Content Warnings

emmaisabelle's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

I wish this book hadn’t beaten Real Life by Brandon Taylor for the Booker because I LOVE that book and unfortunately couldn’t stop myself from comparing the two even though they’re so different.

I loved the way the book zeroed in on Shuggie and Agnes’s relationship. I went in thinking it was more going to be about Shuggie but it really is about them
both and their relationship and the havoc addiction wreaks on a family. This book is just… so heartbreaking and raw. It does a great job of evoking the pain of being a child of an alcoholic. I may be alone in this but I deeply felt for Agnes throughout.

When she relapsed, my heart broke and like Leek, I was ready to beat up Eugene too.

I really devoured the second half and finished it in a day. I think Stuart did a great job of also helping readers deeply understand Leek, Catherine and the other side characters without really having to go or their heads or focus on them. Shuggie isn’t the most reliable narrator but we can really feel their emotions and motivations despite that through the whole book.

Content Warnings

killerwhalie's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.5

fuuuuuuck me. this book really fucked me up. it feels weird to say that you loved a book that was essentially a 400-page exercise in misery, but that's the closest descriptor that i can come up with for how i feel. it was extremely fucking hard to read at points, so depressing that I wanted to close the book, and just about the bleakest thing i've ever lain eyes on, but it was also incredibly well-written. stuart's ability to pull the reader into the setting and immerse you in the story is a talent, second only to how he breathes complex, flawed life into his characters. this book is about loving someone so deeply who fails you repeatedly in the cruellest ways, about failing the ones you love despite that being the last thing you want, about understanding the point when you've done all you can and need to leave, even if that hurts the ones who remain. all this is set against the backdrop of Thatcher-era Glasgow, complete with how all of the various social, political, and economic factors of that era play heavily into our characters' lives. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since i finished it. I'll certainly be picking up stuart's latest, but likely after a long recovery period. i don't think i can take another heartbreak like this one for a while.

Content Warnings