Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

192 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

willardbug's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Fatphobia, Sexual assault, and Violence

abassard's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Minor: Homophobia

florencedobie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Rape

raybudbury's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

A sucker punch of a book. Well-written especially the Scottish jargon. Well-deserving of the man booker. Initially hard to get into but also hard to read at points due to the subject matter. I feel like this is really a well-written take on how families with addiction get rocked by the person addicted and the system. I imagine it’s really a good period piece for how people were dealing with poverty in the 80s-90s + the homophobia one gets in their youth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

bokslukaren's review against another edition

dark emotional sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

What does it mean to be a man? This story tackles masculinity, sexuality, the loss of innocence, and the butterfly effect of abuse. The Scottish slang, phonetics, and social lives were, at times, confusing for a person who's lived in Sweden all his life but very effective for immersion. Shuggie’s life was very different from my own, but many times, I saw myself in him and his distinctive ways. I'm very glad to have read this book and gained a new perspective.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Drug use and Rape

readbycarina's review against another edition

Too dark for my mood right now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Infidelity and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Homophobia and Pregnancy

uuuultraviolennnnt's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

his life was sour when all he craved was sugar sweetness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault

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