Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

11 reviews

nineinchnails'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

i was prepared for this to be a little depressing but i was taken aback by how heavy the actual content was so i definitely suggest checking the trigger warnings before picking this up. it's a testament to douglas' talent that i repeatedly felt physically nauseous while reading. the imagery is incredibly vivid and i felt like i was right there - unfortunately this was also the case for the fishing trip chapters. despite the bleakness of the novel, james and mungo were incredibly sweet and i couldn't help feeling anxious for the two of them. mungo is a tender soul in a very cruel world!! i just wanted to protect him

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

was the one who almost repeated her mistakes - a case could be made for hamish but it's not really comparable (in my opinion) as women are required to sacrifice so much more to raise children,

even more so 3 decades ago. even though she was arguably the most kind and loving towards mungo

she was far from accepting of his sexuality when he told her - this feels much more like a consequence of the world they live in than a judgement on her character, however. i got the impression she was scared for him, not disgusted with him

. i think the novel ended with

mungo slightly bitter towards her because he felt much more hurt by her rejection than anyone else's - "If Jodie, of all people, could not love him, all of him, perhaps he could not be loved."

really highlights this.

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 full context behind her sending him away with those men is absolutely sickening

i came out of it absolutely hating her guts after starting it disliking  and mildly pitying her. on the other hand, there's hamish who is violent and abusive. their father died before mungo was born, so hamish is the closest thing he has to a father figure and mungo loves him in spite of the way he treats him. mungo doesn't embrace masculinity the way his older brother does, and it seems to be an endless source of frustration for hamish. he brings up needing to "toughen him up" constantly, and i got the impression that some part of him genuinely thinks he is acting in his brother's best interests. it doesn't excuse his behaviour but he is more redeemable (to me) than their mother, who doesn't seem to care about anyone other than herself.

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

killing his rapists. i pray for every rapist to meet the very same fate

so i'm not upset at all at how it ended, outside of it feeling like it didn't quite fit the story/character. i didn't mind it (and absolutely wouldn't recommend it being amended, since the setting is very much crucial to the story being told) but there is a lot of scottish slang and i struggled a little even as a british reader but you do get used to it. 

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

hamish to take mungo's place with the police

and i am probably wildly delusional but i saw it as a sign that he loves him deeply, in his own way. it could absolutely be a show of masculinity or family loyalty but i'm choosing to be an optimist after all the misery and desolation of this book. all in all i would highly recommend this book given you check the trigger warnings!!!

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Content Warnings

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 work

blues's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

5.0

Che viaggio spettacolare. Questo libro mi ha catapultato in una Scozia degli anni 80-90, in un ambiente chiuso, iper-mascolinizzato e religioso (con annesse lotte tra la parte protestante e la parte cristiana) e me l'ha fatto sentire a 360 gradi. Mi ha fatto conoscere Mungo, ma con lui anche tante altre persone con cui sono riuscito ad empatizzare, nonostante questi non fossero sempre personaggi molto positivi. Vediamo questi personaggi sia nei momenti "pieni" di trama, sia in quei momenti di quotidianità (soprattutto Mungo ovviamente), il che ci aiuta molto a capirli meglio, a capire come ragionano e quali sono i loro punti di forza e le loro insicurezze. 
Ho adorato particolarmente tutte le metafore che Douglas Stuart ha utilizzato per descrivere i sentimenti di Mungo e di tutti questi personaggi, facendomi sempre capire appieno la sensazione che voleva trasmettermi. 
Un'altra cosa che ho amato sono le descrizioni degli ambienti: riuscivo davvero a sentirmi dentro ai posti che raccontava. Non solo li vedevo nella mia testa, ma ne sentivo anche gli odori, i rumori e i sapori. Ero davvero insieme ai personaggi.
Questo libro mi ha preso il cuore e me l'ha strappato in mille pezzi, ma mi ha anche lasciato una parte di Mungo, che si muoverà con me ovunque io andrò. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Outing, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Homophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Sexism

Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Death, Blood, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Minor: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Grief

readerxan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful relaxing 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow. I just finished Young Mungo right now and I can’t believe the story is done. I feel sad I can’t live through Mungo’s experiences anymore but at the same time, I don’t want to experience them again either. It was written beautifully; it has you going through different waves of emotions. Jodie surprised me at the end, they all did, except Mo-Maw. Mungo is my favorite character, and so is Poor-Wee-Chickie. I give this book a 5/5 in stars. Would I read it again? No. I wouldn’t read it again because of how it made me feel. You will have moments where you want to laugh, cry, scream, squeal, etc. At times I wanted to throw the book and patch it up again. It truly is an amazing story that draws you in. It’s going on the favorites list.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Sexual harassment, Violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Addiction, Sexism, Blood, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Hate crime, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

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

johannamrr's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

3.0

first of all, this book needs a fucking content warning jesus christ
anywayyy, the pacing was a bit off for the first 150 pages in my opinion bc nothing happened and it was getting slightly boring imo 
the writing is great though it‘s just the plot (and how graphic it is) that I struggled with
also, this book is advertised in such a weird way?? like people need to start making it clear when a book is as violent as this one is because they really didn‘t and I don‘t like when stuff like this is being jumped on me (my bad for not looking up the content warnings first, i guess)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Violence, Abandonment, Murder, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Abortion, and Physical abuse

hypocrisis's review against another edition

dark reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

felt like i was being wrung out like a wet towel, truly gut wrenching passages in there which is why i had to shelve it for a couple of months before reading the second half. there are beautiful moments of hope but you never get to savour them as the inevitable next chapter looms over peaceful scenes like a dark cloud. 
what i love about stuart's work is the realistically complex full characterisation of the families in his books, once again the mother figure sticks out in this regard. definitely worth a read if you can stomach it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Blood, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Rape, Addiction, Classism, Drug use, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Torture, Vomit, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Violence, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Abortion, Domestic abuse, Outing, Excrement, Infidelity, and Misogyny

Minor: Death of parent, Xenophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

skudiklier's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.5

Please read the content warnings before reading this book.

It's written well, and Mungo is a likable and sympathetic character (especially his autism, which I immediately related to). But overall this book is just too sad, dark, and upsetting to me. I didn't get enough out of it for the darkness to be worth it. I might have DNF'd it if it wasn't for a book club I'm hosting; the time pressure was my only real motivation to keep reading. I didn't even necessarily want to know what would happen, because I knew it wouldn't be good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, Ableism, Child abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Abortion, Pedophilia, Rape, Religious bigotry, Violence, Sexual assault, Bullying, Child death, Classism, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Outing, Infidelity, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Fatphobia

cluckieduck's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-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

5.0

 I have been sitting with my thoughts on how to review this book for some time now, as I grapple with my feelings. How do you rate something that is unspeakably tragic, yet utterly captivating? Seriously, this is Shakespearean-level tragedy here, equally one of the most horrible books I've read this year (possibly ever) but also one of the best.

What it did do, however, was reinforce my love for romance novels because the amount of despair & anguish that poor Mungo goes through is too much for my poor heart. Seems I can only take one piece of contemporary fiction like Young Mungo each year! Thankfully it ended on a somewhat hopeful note, otherwise I don't know how I would have coped. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Excrement and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent

jhaneveauguste's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Blood, Hate crime, Murder, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

alisonannk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Outing, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, Excrement, and Torture

Moderate: Gore, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, and Terminal illness

Minor: Fatphobia