Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

4 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!!!

---

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

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.

---

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

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

---

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

srm's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Outing, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, and Mental illness

Minor: Self harm, Pregnancy, Abortion, Drug use, Grief, Rape, Sexual content, and Terminal illness