Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Young Mungo

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!

Content Warnings

potterpav's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad 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? Yes

4.0

i waited 11 months to read this book in soft cover , and i am so glad i did because if i had read it last year , i wouldn’t have had the mind to appreciate it as much as i can now . this book made me cry , made me feel sick and made me put it down in hopes that when i picked it back up again the words might change . this is a rare book where i feel the hope of the main characters is tangible , and even though mungo had no reason to think james would ever see him again , he still used his hope to get him through the worst weekend of his life . douglas stewart is one of the best writers of this generation , so yes i will be crying at this until i can see again . thank you mungo and thank you james

Content Warnings

alouette's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

CHECK CWs

this is a very difficult, very beautiful novel. i don't think i would've been able to make it through if i related any more to the characters (or was less able to numb myself to their pain). they are all such complicated, broken people and the fact that no one could protect Mungo had me in tears. even when he had to do what he did to protect himself, all i felt was sadness. i had to hold on really tight to the comfort of Mungo's relationships with James and with his sister <3

for all the darkness, my favourite part was the chance for us as readers to choose a happy ending in the implications of the very last scene. the world was and is and will be fill of terrible cultures and places and people, but we will find reasons to keep going.

my second favourite part was when Mungo kissed James and thought "maybe if lord of the flies had been more like this he would've paid more attention." same, bud, same

Content Warnings

unboxedjack's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

Content Warnings

orndal's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

Content Warnings

katieb94's review

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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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Trigger warnings: Rape, transphobia and xenophobia.

This book is definitely not the sort of book that I would usually pick up, I haven’t read Shuggie Bain by the author but I may go back and read it now that I have read a book using Scottish dialect. I honestly heard the accent as I was reading, even though the voice in my head is mine.

I’m trying to read more diversely so the topic of being gay in a time when it was frowned upon definitely counts towards that.

I did enjoy this book.
I really liked Mungo as a character, as well as his sister and James. However, I just really didn’t like the rest of the characters. They were all so cruel, bullies and just didn’t care. For people who supposedly cared for Mungo they didn’t show it.

I did find certain scenes in this novel very difficult to read. I did not expect certain themes and I had to read something else afterwards as I couldn’t bring myself to read on straight away.

I would definitely prepare yourself with the trigger warnings mentioned above before going into it.

It was a good book and a great story showing the difficulty of being who you are in a society where you can’t be. Where you need to put on a front.

I did enjoy it.
I couldn’t sympathise with the characters as my life is quite the polar opposite but I did feel sorry for Mungo, and sad in some places too.

I would recommend it.
3.75/5 stars.

It was almost a 4, but when certain things happened that made me stop reading, I couldn’t go higher.

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