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torismazarine's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Outing, Violence, Abortion, Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Police brutality
matildacc's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Rape
Moderate: Alcoholism, Abortion, and Vomit
forestfloor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Reading this made me feel like I had a cord tied to my diaphragm and someone was continually tugging at it, there's something terribly tender about it. The characters come to life with a brutal realism and the descriptive prose is absolutely gorgeous, like I was reading a film. It's praise when I say that I wanted the plot to leave Mungo alone a bit, only a reflection of how deeply the writing pulled me to care for him.
The plot starts off slow and as the mystery of what got Mungo from the "before" timeline into the "after" setting unravels, the pace picks up. It's tense and I think it's a really good structure for the story. However, the main thing that stops me from giving this 5.0 stars is that there's not a lot of clarity or warning about how the plot jumps between timelines and different character's points of view. I think that honestly, just formatting with that little squiggle some books use between two paragraphs would've solved that for me.
I also wished that it would've held on just a little longer before ending. Just enough to know for sure that Mungo could follow that set of splinted, beckoning fingers to safety. Instead, the ending is a bittersweet, trembling thing, a silver through a cloud that promises of sunshine and the clearing of rain, but could just as easily be covered again by a drab blanket of grey. I do think that the ending suits the story, no matter how selfishly I wanted to see Mungo and James definitively safe, on a bus together.
I also have to say, just to be clear, that this is a heavy read. I saw it described as a gay, Glaswegian, Romeo and Juliet and I can't emphasise enough how much that refers the violence of the play, as well as the romance. Definitely read the trigger warnings before deciding to pick this book up.
Graphic: Violence, Abandonment, Rape, Alcoholism, Murder, Pedophilia, Outing, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, and Homophobia
Moderate: Abortion and Classism
Minor: Racial slurs and Eating disorder
smellerbee93's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Sexual assault, Abortion, Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Pedophilia
oscarlavista's review against another edition
- 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
It's simply a masterpiece. I've not read anything like this before and I will probably never read anything like it again. It's the best worst time I've ever had. Now I'm off to have a good cry 😢
Graphic: Sexual assault, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Classism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Pedophilia, Confinement, Cursing, Hate crime, Violence, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Animal death, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Alcohol, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, and Child abuse
Minor: Incest and Self harm
nineinchnails's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
all of the characters were well developed and fleshed out but jodie was particularly interesting to read about. she was one of the only characters to treat mungo with love and care relatively consistently. she was something of a mother figure to him, despite only being a year older - to me this shone a light on mungo's naivete as well as jodie's parentification. they had a teenage brother but the responsibility of raising and caring for the two of them still fell on her shoulders alone. jodie "hated" their mother, but
mungo seems to be endlessly loving, endlessly obedient, and endlessly forgiving. it's painful to see him repeatedly get taken advantage of by the people in his life. his mother has pretty much no redeeming qualities and just seems to take and take with no regard for the wellbeing of her own children. getting to the end and finding out
the ending of the fishing trip did feel a little dissonant considering the overall tone of the novel and the characterisation of mungo up to this point. of course, he was put in a situation where he had few options and i am more than relieved that he ended up
i didn't expect to tear up for the reason that i did when i finished this. it was very shocking while also making complete sense for
Graphic: Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Violence, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Murder, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Animal death, Sexism, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Abortion
Minor: Terminal illness, Infidelity, Death of parent, Cancer, and Pregnancy
Child sexual abuse, Grooming, Child neglect, Poverty, Student/Teacher relationship, Backstreet/unsafe abortion, and Prostitution/sex workjupytwo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
read the content warnings! i did not.
Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, Murder, Rape, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Abortion
adrienne_rennie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Murder, Alcoholism, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Abortion, Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Animal death
Minor: Pregnancy
niduran's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Dieses Buch... war heftig. Ich glaub ich bin traumatisiert. Keine Ahnung wie man ein Buch schreiben kann das so abgrundtief widerlich ist. Das Setting ist deprimierend und schmutzig, die Leute sind gemein und widerwärtig, alles ist voller Gewalt und Missbrauch und es so gut geschrieben, dass man es wirklich FÜHLT.
Diese Vergewaltigungsszenen sind wirklich hart. Ich würde mich eigentlich in der Hinsicht nicht als besonders sensibel bezeichnen aber ach du fucking scheiße. Mein Herz wurde gebrochen und ich bin sauer. Sehr sauer. Was für verdammte hurensöhne. Es macht mich richtig glücklich dass sie beide gestorben sind. Aber eigentlich war das nicht genug. Sie hätten schlimmeres verdient. Viel schlimmeres.
Und jodies Affäre mit ihrem Lehrer und der Schwangerschaft hat mich auch wirklich angeekelt. Widerwärtig.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence
Minor: Abortion
pencilspeaker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Bullying, Alcoholism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Child abuse, Ableism, Abandonment, and Classism
Minor: Death of parent, Abortion, and Pregnancy