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4.38 AVERAGE
4.38 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
I listened to the audio book which I thought would disrupt the pacing/make me enjoy it less but the opposite happened!
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
The writing was great and I liked Mungo, however, I didn’t realise the dark theme of this book when I picked it up. I’m not one to enjoy books that are so filled with suffering - so the score reflects my personal reading taste!
I have decided that Mungo and James are now old men living on a rural Scottish homestead, who cuddle in front of the fire each night under a hand-knitted blanket. 😭❤️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder
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:
No
Beautiful writing! I loved the story and the character development of the 3 children was great. The ending was perfect.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Ouch! While I’d previously read Douglas Stuart’s other novel, Shuggie Bain, and remember it being good, I don’t remember it having much of a lasting effect on me. To be fair, it was a few years ago. Anyway, Young Mungo hurt. All I could think while reading was the acronym that is THUG LIFE.
Our story centers around Mungo who, at 15, is the youngest of his family. He has an older brother and sister who live with their alcoholic single mom in Glagow. Mungo is soft, kind, and trying to figure out who he is. His brother wants him to be a man and join his band of neighborhood boys to pick violent steal, deal, and pick violent fights with the Catholic boys in the city. His sister wants him to get educated, focus on school, and be better than their upbringing. Everyone seems to have a path for Mungo but no one is listening to what he wants.
Mungo knows he’s different but he also knows what happens to people that are different in the way that he is. He meets an unlikely friend and things start to snowball.
The story is told slightly out of time. I mean this in the sense that the most recent events - the things that happened a few days ago - are dispersed throughout the wider story of Mungo’s life and context and the two begin to slowly converge as the story goes on which I thought was expertly and seamlessly done.
With a quietly beautiful writing style, Stuart portrays what happens when you continue to push someone. How many straws can the proverbial camel actually take? And what happens after the last one? What happens when someone loses their innocence over and over? And what is the fallout?
Oh, and it made me cry so that was fun.
Our story centers around Mungo who, at 15, is the youngest of his family. He has an older brother and sister who live with their alcoholic single mom in Glagow. Mungo is soft, kind, and trying to figure out who he is. His brother wants him to be a man and join his band of neighborhood boys to pick violent steal, deal, and pick violent fights with the Catholic boys in the city. His sister wants him to get educated, focus on school, and be better than their upbringing. Everyone seems to have a path for Mungo but no one is listening to what he wants.
Mungo knows he’s different but he also knows what happens to people that are different in the way that he is. He meets an unlikely friend and things start to snowball.
The story is told slightly out of time. I mean this in the sense that the most recent events - the things that happened a few days ago - are dispersed throughout the wider story of Mungo’s life and context and the two begin to slowly converge as the story goes on which I thought was expertly and seamlessly done.
With a quietly beautiful writing style, Stuart portrays what happens when you continue to push someone. How many straws can the proverbial camel actually take? And what happens after the last one? What happens when someone loses their innocence over and over? And what is the fallout?
Oh, and it made me cry so that was fun.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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:
Yes
Favourite read of the year! I truly did not want it to end and even slowed down the audiobook (which I recommend, as it was really immersive!). Beautiful prose, complicated relationships, some of the best villains ever. The themes were dealt with sensitively and accurately: queer identity, masculine identity, addiction, family dynamics, politics, exploitation, poverty, abuse. It was devastating, yet somehow hopeful. Douglas Stuart does not shy away from tough topics and deserves all the awards.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
Incredible book, although it didn’t hit as hard for me as Shuggie Bain. Stuart is a master of painting worlds within neighborhoods. The ending left me restless.