Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

127 reviews

csteidl93's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Pedophilia, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

archerisonline's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

fatkidatheartreads's review against another edition

dark emotional

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

"She was no use at maths homework, and some days you could starve rather than get a hot meal from her, but Shuggie looked at her now and understood this was where she excelled. Everyday with the make-up on and her hair done, she climbed out of her grave and held her head high. When she had disgraced herself with drink, she got up the next day, put on her best coat, and faced the world. When her belly was empty and her weans were hungry, she did her hair and let the world think otherwise."

A wonderful but haunting story of Shuggie Bain and his mother. It's so terrifying to see how two major decisions made by Agnes Bain shaped the entirety of her life and her children's lives. It was a heavy but necessary read and I took my time living in 1980s Glasgow. This is not a book to be rushed. Reading it, I understand why it deservedly won the 2020 International booker prize. 

Shuggie Bain is a portrayal of addiction and resilience in the face of it. Other themes include sexuality and social & economic struggles in working class and struggling communities.

Content warnings ; sexual violence, homophobia, pedophilia, domestic abuse, misogyny, addiction.

Rating; 4 stars 🌟

Also, Shuggie's and Leanne's friendship reminded me of Mandy and Ian from Shameless and that made me smile.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Rape

biggareader's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

sharon_s's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

katiehuntington's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

sarah_eggleton's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

It was one of those books where I would wonder about the characters in my spare time. The way Stuart writes about really difficult topics is masterful

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, and Rape

verynicebook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

minusy's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Heart-wrenching, frustrating, and unsatisfying – like a good emotional book should be. This book tells a story about grief, tough decisions, unstable relationships and hard work. It's the story of a gay young boy in the 80s, but not necessarily about the topic of sexuality. Every character tries their best to make the most of what they have, but has many frustrations and makes a lot of mistakes. There is no happy ending, although that depends on how you define it. Simply the story of a woman who had little, wanted it all, got lost somewhere along the way between those two points and the effect it had on those around her. And it's the story of her son who tries to clean up the mess around him at the cost of his own childhood, until he has few options left. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Grief

lucykateburns's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

I really don't know what to make of it all. I don't have much experience with alcoholism but, being from Glasgow, I am well aware that it is a problem in the city. It goes without saying that it made Agnes a very dislikable character and despite the author's efforts to make us sympathise with her, I found it difficult to like her. I especially didn't like her air of superiority, nor that she valued herself as better than other women for having 'pride' in her looks. I hated that she tried to embody the role of the good wife, but I also can't blame her for longing for what society says women should strive to be and do. The sexual violence suffered by the character was difficult to read, although it didn't go into much detail, and I felt that it was brushed past too easily. Too many traumatic events happened that could have been delved into further but weren't (I mean the aftermath, not the actual events...). That goes for some of the things that happened to Shuggie too.

On the contrast, it was hard not to love Shuggie. I don't know how to sum him up. What child doesn't love their mother? It's hard to grow up and accept that they aren't the heroes you once thought them to be. Parents can be very flawed people and, as in Shuggie's case, so flawed that there is nothing you can do to help them. The whole book felt like a journey into Shuggie's letting go of his mum, he couldn't keep her here for him. I think ultimately letting her go was the best he could have done.

In this sense, the theme of recurring self-harm and inability to recover reminded me of A Little Life, and both share similar endings in this regard. The tragic comparison between Leanne's mother and Shuggie's is something to comment on, but I won't go too much into it. Essentially, it just shows the possible paths alcoholism can lead a woman down, neither of which are positive. For this reason, I think the book has a very depressing overall tone to it, there isn't a fairytale ending but sometimes that is the reality of things. Clearly this was never entirely Agnes' fault, but in the world we live in she didn't have much choice. Eugene must feel eternal guilt.

It is difficult to finish the book and not know where Shuggie ends up, or what exactly the outcome of the journey with his sexuality will be, but I am comforted with his friendship with Leanne. I hope they both find love and happiness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Pedophilia, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, and Gaslighting

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail