Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

15 reviews

kittiesss's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Child abuse, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, and Addiction

notthatcosta's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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? No

3.25

This was a book of two halves for me. I loved it as an ethnography slice of life from the East End of Glasgow in the 90s, which I found very interesting. The characters were very well fleshed out and the 'world' felt incredibly vivid and visceral. Douglas Stuart is clearly very talented at world building. 

However, the flashes forward to the plot at the loch veered into misery porn in a way that felt unnecessary. I hate the countryside as much as it is, and I don't feel like the events that transpired really added anything to the book, nor did it really inform the plot. I feel like it would have been a total triumph had it completely erased that sub plot, including the ending.

Overall the excellent parts outweigh the part I resented having to read, and I'm keen to read Shuggie Bain off the back of this.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Animal death, Alcohol, Sexism, Child abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gore, Homophobia, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Body horror, Classism, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Rape, and Sexual assault

em_h_ma'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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Gore, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

cristian13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Sexual assault

jacq_s's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Absolutely heartbreaking and upsetting despite the wonderful writing. Read the trigger warnings, violent and terrible with small bits of beauty. I’m still processing how I feel about this book. It did rattle me and move me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Sexual violence, Violence, Abandonment, Hate crime, Alcoholism, Gore, Pedophilia, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Rape, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Classism, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Outing, Abortion, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Drug abuse

aleksanski's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Bullying, Classism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Violence, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Outing

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

owenwilsonbaby's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? No

4.25

""Don't." Something in him could not stand to be loved."

I loved this! It was sad and brutal but not without beauty. I think it avoided a lot of sentimentality in romance by focusing on the physical and the unglamorous, and then working hard to draw out the tenderness within that realism. The imagery and lyricism made this a beautiful, if slightly dense, novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Self harm, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Abandonment, Abortion, Alcohol, Sexism, Sexual violence, Addiction, Animal death, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Blood, Bullying, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

literarylion'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

4.5

Pros:

• Really well-constructed and perfectly paced 
• Every character was so vivid and engaging
• Just a lovely story beautifully written

Cons:

• Could be a bit melodramatic at times 
• Injury descriptions were so intense as to be unbelievable in some cases 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Gore, Grief, Violence, Homophobia, and Abortion

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Cursing, Drug use, Outing, and Hate crime

Minor: Classism, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

robyn_quick's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Religious bigotry, and Abortion

kathrynreadsbooks_'s review against another edition

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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Rape, Religious bigotry, Grief, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Homophobia, Hate crime, and Gore