Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

78 reviews

claudini's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Murder, Hate crime, Violence, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, and Blood

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, Addiction, Drug use, and Cursing

Minor: Abortion

andrea_lachance's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

God, my feelings about this book are so complicated. Stuart writes with such lyricism and beauty that makes the extremes of violence and beauty in this book dance on a razor's edge. It's a good book. It's heartbreaking, and it is not for everyone.

The beginning of the book is slow going, trying to parce who's-who and what exactly is going on takes time. The second half really kicks into gear with gut-wrenching revelations. Mungo is a babe in the woods, and this book beats the innocence out of Mungo in the worst possible ways.

It's a good read. An important read. There are probably people with much better reviews for this book, this is me spitballing.

Personally, the detailed descriptions for characters dealing with alcoholism were so tough for me to read because it was so realistic. It's horrifying what kinds of details one notices when a body is so ravaged by alcohol abuse.

I give it a 4.5 because the emotions I went through reading this book were so viceral, and for me personally that's one of the most important things a book like this can do.

Mungo's relationship with his mom is codependent, incestuous, and emotionally abusive. This book speaks volumes about class and poverty directly impact the cycle of abuse in families. It's painful to read about, especially when it takes the whole book and Mungo being violently assaulted twice for Mungo to realize that his mother will never love him the way he loves her. It's brutal. The phone call between Gallowgate and his mother was such a horrid moment of realization for me. 

The glimmer of hope at the end is a sigh of relief. The ride in the car with the nice man was a reprieve. Poor Mungo isn't young when he comes home. He knows his family will never be the same, Josie will go to college and never come back, Mo-maw will keep drinking and being with whatever man will give her attention, and Hamish will keep stirring shit with the Catholics. So he leaves. We don't get to know where. But he's choosing to break the cycle of abuse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexism, Drug use, and Misogyny

Minor: Domestic abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, and Pedophilia

tarsier's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Blood, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Addiction, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Abortion

Minor: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Drug use, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

rachpach's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Abortion, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Murder, and Sexual violence

levtitticus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Drug use, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Pedophilia and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abortion

babymoomoocow's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

This is a heartbreaking book. Douglas Stuart writes characters so real you easily get sucked into the book. You really just want to hug Mungo and tell him it'll be okay and that he should run away with James. But life really isn't like that and neither is this book. 

This book is definitely a book you're gonna want trigger warnings for because it's not for the faint of heart. 

I was listening to the audiobook as I read the physical copy and I think that's ideal because you hear the glaswegian accent and how things flow. It makes for a much better reading experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Alcohol, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Murder, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Classism, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

pkc's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

At the half way point, I couldn’t have envisioned giving this book five stars. Some of the subject matter is harrowing and tough to read, but tell me why I finished reading it, feeling, of all things, hopeful? Mungo as a protagonist is sweet and complicated. His journey of discovery is as joyful as it is harrowing in places and seeing him endure what he does filled me with a deep sense of anger and hurt and seeing his transition at the end of the novel left me feeling conflicted.

No one should endure what he has to, but the result is that he survives his ordeal with his brother and the loch and comes back with a sense of perspective - he will fend for himself and do what is right for himself.

 

All in all, a much bleaker picture than ‘Shuggie Bain’ but definitely more complex and engaging.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Self harm, Terminal illness, Torture, Animal death, Bullying, Vomit, Rape, Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Murder, Violence, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Death, Medical trauma, and Outing

lauraevelyn's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Blood, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Addiction, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

remimicha's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Addiction, Abortion, Ableism, Abandonment, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Classism, Bullying, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Child abuse, Blood, Animal death, Murder, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical content, Homophobia, Hate crime, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Infidelity

mai_books27's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book took me by the throat and broke my heart and i still couldn't put it down. The storytelling is atmospheric and phenomenal, the characters are so tangible and human. I cannot recommend this book enough, but due to the weight of the subject matter it's one you have to pick up in your own time. A new favorite, for sure. Violen  but soft and loving, this book is worth every penny. Please read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Death, Outing, Murder, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Grief, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Rape, Police brutality, Child abuse, Sexual content, and Sexism