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4.38 AVERAGE
4.38 AVERAGE
3.5
“Mungo's capacity for love frustrated her.
His loving wasn't selflessness; he simply couldn't help it. Mo-Maw needed so little and he produced too much, so that it all seemed a horrible waste. It was a harvest no one had seeded, and it blossomed from a vine no one had tended.”
Young Mungo is about a fifteen-year-old boy living in Glasgow social housing, with an alcoholic mother and two older siblings who are trying to fend for themselves. He meets James, a boy living in the neighbourhood and as they get closer, he starts to realize he has feelings for him. The story goes between the present and the past, with a significant event triggering the current events. While I thought both parts were well-written, I was frustrated with the back and forth. Each time I would get involved with one part of the story, we would switch to the other part. While that might work for some people, for me it would’ve been better if the chronology was linear.
The story is depressing to say the least. I don’t know why I was expecting it to turn around at some point, when everything was suggesting it wouldn’t. It talks a lot about class, and how living in poverty influences everything, including your self-esteem and how much you think you deserve happiness. We see that not only through the perspective of Mungo, but also the people around him. Stuart Douglas does a wonderful job of being empathetic towards the conditions of these people, which creates three-dimensional characters. It’s not a justification for how they treat Mungo, but it makes you understand that they’re only doing what they can. There’s rare moments of kindness that feel so much stronger in the midst of tragedy. It’s hurtful to realise this could’ve been the norm if it weren’t for their social status.
There’s a lot of traumatic events happening, including sexual assault, violence and homophobia. They were all treated sensibly, while not shying away from the gravity of the matter. At one point, I wondered if there was even a happy ending in sight. I was relieved the author settled on the ending he did, because if it ended with what I thought it would, it would have ruined the book for me. While I think it’s important to show these issues that affect a lot of people, I think it’s primordial to have at least a little spark of hope. In the end, you can’t control what fate reserves you. What you can do is choose to not let it swallow you whole.
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I understand the appeal of this book I think i just read it at the wrong time cuz it sent me into the worstt reading slump i’ve had in ages…
Åh det var godt å komme tilbake til the girls and the gays i Glasgow altså, det var jo det. Synes Young Mungo var litt irriterende lik Shuggie Bain, men skjønner jo at man skal skrive om det man allerede kjenner. Gøy at vi denne gangen fikk med gnisningene mellom protestanter og katolikker, og at hovedpersonen endelig fikk seg noe . Det gjør meg alltid glad, særlig i lys av at Shuggie aldri kom så langt shamene.
Synes dette også var en helt fantastisk bok, jeg gråt og lo og koste meg stort, men er nok litt påvirket av at jeg leste Shuggie først, så Shuggie ble liksom min første kjærlighet. Der skrivingen i Shuggie skviiiiste saft ut av mother issues og gay awakening-sitronen synes jeg kanskje Young Mungo fløy forbi, særlig mot slutten. Men ja, kanskje det er sånn det føles når man er hodestups forelska i en Fenian, catholic guilt'en gjør jo det hele mer intenst. Tenk så mye mer gøy det er å være katolikk, man får pokker meg aldri pause. Helt til slutt må jeg innrømme at jeg ikke likte slutten så mye, den besvarte liksom ikke noe spørsmål og jeg slet med å lese mellom linjene på hva som kom til å skje - plutselig kom det liksom et lite mini-klimaks på de siste to sidene, og jeg er en fyr som trenger å sette strek.
Kan dessverre ikke gi denne boken 5-stjerner helt ennå, men tror jeg skal lese den en gang til etter at jeg har flyttet tilbake bare for å kjenne litt på nostaligen (og helt ærlig, panikken som alltid er der når man går hjem fra byen - under welcoming week fikk vi bl.a. vite at vi bør holde oss unna store offentlige steder under kamper mellom Rangers og Celtic). Kulturhovedstad.
Synes dette også var en helt fantastisk bok, jeg gråt og lo og koste meg stort, men er nok litt påvirket av at jeg leste Shuggie først, så Shuggie ble liksom min første kjærlighet. Der skrivingen i Shuggie skviiiiste saft ut av mother issues og gay awakening-sitronen synes jeg kanskje Young Mungo fløy forbi, særlig mot slutten. Men ja, kanskje det er sånn det føles når man er hodestups forelska i en Fenian, catholic guilt'en gjør jo det hele mer intenst. Tenk så mye mer gøy det er å være katolikk, man får pokker meg aldri pause. Helt til slutt må jeg innrømme at jeg ikke likte slutten så mye, den besvarte liksom ikke noe spørsmål og jeg slet med å lese mellom linjene på hva som kom til å skje - plutselig kom det liksom et lite mini-klimaks på de siste to sidene, og jeg er en fyr som trenger å sette strek.
Kan dessverre ikke gi denne boken 5-stjerner helt ennå, men tror jeg skal lese den en gang til etter at jeg har flyttet tilbake bare for å kjenne litt på nostaligen (og helt ærlig, panikken som alltid er der når man går hjem fra byen - under welcoming week fikk vi bl.a. vite at vi bør holde oss unna store offentlige steder under kamper mellom Rangers og Celtic). Kulturhovedstad.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Ich kann ohne Probleme Hardcore-Thriller lesen. Aber diese Geschichte hat mich an meine Grenzen gebracht. Was Mungo und James ertragen müssen, hat mir das Herz gebrochen.
jesus fuckin christ just rip my heart out of my chest and stomp on it why don’t you
edit: sat with it for a couple of days and i think the ending maybe resolves a little bit too quickly. things seem to fall into place too fast (which is not necessarily a bad thing) but it just feels a little disjointed with the rest of the book which moves at a much slower pace. but still, it’s a fantastic book and doug stuart is an unbelievable author
edit: sat with it for a couple of days and i think the ending maybe resolves a little bit too quickly. things seem to fall into place too fast (which is not necessarily a bad thing) but it just feels a little disjointed with the rest of the book which moves at a much slower pace. but still, it’s a fantastic book and doug stuart is an unbelievable author
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
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:
Complicated