Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

79 reviews

kathryngardyne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Abortion, Hate crime, Addiction, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Murder, Sexual violence, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Pedophilia, Rape, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Drug use

snowydaze's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

3.0

I received an audiobook copy of Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Overall, I enjoyed some parts of the book, but I felt that most of it dragged on quite a bit. This made it very difficult to get into the book and get to know the characters in any meaningful way. Additionally at times, it seemed like Mungo did things that seem uncharacteristic of him or contradicted what his character was made out to be like. 
I also found that most of the feminine characters were treated and acted the same way besides a handful of them. I understand that their actions represent the truth of what can occur in some instances, but the way these issues are discussed and treated in the book comes across negatively. 
I also feel like this book should include some form of a trigger warning list as there are numerous things I would have loved a warning about regardless of the effects knowing about it would have on the story. Therefore, I highly recommend looking up a trigger warning list before reading this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Homophobia, Cursing, Death of parent, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Outing, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Abortion

tom_pietra's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Murder, Addiction, Bullying, Outing, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Drug use

mothumn's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

5.0

Arc review for audiobook
Young Mungo is beautifully written and heartbreaking to read. I read Douglas Stuart’s first novel, Shuggie Bain, earlier this year and loved it, but I think that Young Mungo is somehow even better. So much is captured, both beauty and ugliness, violence and hatred and also love. It was at times difficult to read, I had to put it down for a bit because of what happened in it. But it was a very good, but difficult, read. Douglas Stuart is an incredibly talented writer who is able to capture the beauty in what many people would only see as ugly.

I also received an arc for the audiobook which I played along while reading. I don’t have much to say about it, I thought having a Scottish narrator helped to transport you into the story. Although at some points I felt the narration was a bit flat and lacked emotion, overall I didn’t have much of an effect on my reading experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Addiction, Child abuse, Homophobia, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Violence, Abandonment, Abortion, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Car accident, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Outing, and Religious bigotry

adriennne's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence, Blood, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Rape, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Drug use, and Abortion

foxonabook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

I am going to need a moment to recover, because… wow. 

I loved Shuggie Bain and it was hands down my best read of 2021, and as soon as it was announced, Young Mungo became my most anticipated read of 2022.  

Douglas Stuart has done it again. Young Mungo is a raw, brutal and captivating coming-of-age story. Just as with Shuggie Bain, the characters are so well written they could have easily been real people you’d heard of through friends. Not all characters are likeable, especially Mo-Maw and Hamish, however Stuart’s skill means that you are still capable of pitying and sympathising with characters who seem to have little to no redeeming qualities. Stuart also did a brilliant job at making Glasgow a secondary character, with its the sectarian and working class culture presented as facets of the city’s complex personality.

Although the book explores similar themes as his debut, such as growing up in a dysfunctional household with an emotionally immature, addict single mother, this book is a lot darker than Shuggie Bain. I don’t want to share too much of the plot out of fear of spoiling it, but I will say that it is heavy with some light, tender moments in between. I was hooked from very early on, but I had to put the book down at several points just to give myself some breathing space before continuing. 

I loved the ending though I’m not sure if many will feel the same since it doesn’t offer the reader the same cautiously optimistic and hopeful ending that things might turn out alright like Shuggie Bain did. Instead, I was left mourning for the innocence that Mungo was so violently robbed of, with the ending being reminiscent of the working class Glaswegians who were surrounded by sectarianism, addiction and gang violence. 

I’m now going to make myself a very strong cup of tea and nurse this book hangover (which was absolutely worth it). Thank you NetGalley, Picador and Douglas Stuart for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Violence, Sexual harassment, Rape, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Drug use, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Blood, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Hate crime, Death, Classism, Bullying, Religious bigotry, and Physical abuse

Minor: Pregnancy and Abortion

laurxndxx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

First of all this book requires a trigger warning for practically everything from start to finish. There were moments when I had to take a break out of shock. Despite that, it was an extremely emotive story about navigating being gay in a housing estate in Glasgow, whilst having to deal with his alcoholic mother and his overbearing brother. A lot of the characters were unlikable. I feel like this was too graphic for me, and might be better for someone else. I definitely recommend looking into the themes of this before reading it. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Douglas Stuart for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Medical content, Rape, Sexual assault, Racism, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Outing, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, and Violence

daisywilkes's review against another edition

dark 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? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

_bookishbella's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, and Violence