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remimicha's review against another edition
- 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
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
tarnya_smith's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I'd never read anything before with such a distinctive Glaswegian voice and the audiobook really helped with that.
Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Addiction, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Alcohol, and Violence
faithtrim's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Addiction, Violence, Sexual assault, Abortion, Misogyny, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Homophobia, and Murder
rebeccaddnti's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Child abuse, Cursing, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Vomit
belfrybatz's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Murder, Self harm, Sexual violence, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Torture, Violence, Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Homophobia, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia
orireading's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Violence, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Addiction, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Adult/minor relationship
alouette's review against another edition
- 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
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
Graphic: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Animal death, Violence, Sexual content, Sexism, Death, Grief, Blood, Rape, Murder, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Vomit, Xenophobia, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Police brutality
bubblegum_or_books's review against another edition
- 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? N/A
5.0
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Alcohol, Rape, Blood, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, Pedophilia, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent, Abortion, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Grief, and Religious bigotry
owenwilsonbaby's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
papichulo00's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
the plot ~ in the book Young Mungo we follow the kind and loving 15 year old boy Mungo, and his upbringing and surroundings as a young boy in the part of Glasgow in the late 1900, where everything seems to stay the same and the time to stay still, and where masculinity, hetero normality, poverty and violence is the norm.
and in addition to this, mungo is raised, like many others in a toxic, abusive, egotistical and most of the time loveless home, which shapes him in way he couldn’t even begin to imagine.
so the main character is obviously mungo, so lets start with him ~ mungo is the youngest of three siblings which means he was the one who has been able to somewhat keep his inner child and find joy in small things like, drawing and doodling, psychical touch and giving love to everyone around him without expecting anything in return and oblivious to the sheer horrible truths about his own family, especially his mother and overall what kind of live that awaits him in Glasgows poor streets.
he is the kind of person to easily get manipulated by his brother and sister, because he always believed thee best in people.
there was nothing more shameful than being a poofter*insulting word for gay* which means powerless and soft as a woman.
his mother, Maureen, who insist on being called Mow maw is a person both i, jodie and hamish hate with all our hearts, its just mungo who has a way to big of a heart fro his own good. mow haw is a terrible and self centered mom and person, who is addicted to male attention, validation and pity, and mainly her alcoholic beverages, like this is a woman who would to almost anything from selling herself to giving away her children for a shot of vodka at this point. shes in her mid thirties and got pregnant with hamish at the ripe age of 15, and i would say that she kinda stuck at that age mentally, mainly because she seems to be under the impression thats shes SUUPER young and youthful still *my ass* and shes overall childish, egotistic and not responsible. since the father of her three kids or weans as the glaswegians say died, she has had many men in and out all the time, but no one has stuck around*i wonder why* and the only person in her life that she goes to for encouragement, comfort and forgiveness is mungo, and they mostly dont have a healthy realtionship, which is her fault.
and here are some quotes that i think sums her up ~
it seemed her happiest memories were all housed on wheels, temporary, and without foundations.
his mother had given him to a pair of child molesters with a bag of dog~eared comic books and a ludo game.
his sister Jodie and him always had a dear place in each others life, she had kind been her mom when their actual mom was out lying in a ditch or on another bender. and she had tried to take care of him and protect him, but it wasn't easy. on the bright side, jodie is really intelligent and had just enough traits from her mother to be able to be tough and defend herself too, which is ironic becasue shes the one of the siblings who argue and displays the most anger towards her mom. she had a few mistakes trough the book, the main one was sleeping with a teacher at her school, which she did for the excitement at first but after a while it was like a transaction between her and the man, he got his five minutes of sweaty fornication and she somewhat got that missing father-role in her life back, a break of all the duties and stress back home and a promise of going to college. she ended up getting knocked up, and the teacher fled like a fucking coward, and i was so fucking scared, because the life path she was going down was starting to remind me of mow haw. luckily she got a abortion and ended up getting into uni at the end, which i was so glad to hear. overall i really liked and rooted for her, and think she was a strong and positive influence for mungo.
and lastly we have the older brother hamish, or ha~ha as everyone especially his billy gang has to call him.
he is 19 and drinks, smokes and snorts speed like a grown man, i guess you can see the family resemblance.
he has a child and his girlfriend is 15 sooo thats amazing 🥲. mungo even said at some point that he wondered when he would start hitting her…*bruh*
he is extremely violent, almost sadistic in the way he finds joy in seeing others cry of pain, mainly mungo >~<.
and the reason for this i think is obviously his upbringing and childhood neglect, trauma and abuse.
and it was just perfectly fitting that he ended up being a gangleader, just like his dad was, and a young dad just as his dad.
but at the same time he does care for the people closest to him, he just like almost never shows it.
but he did, in this one moment with mungo, when they were away from the scheme and glasgow
ah dinnae mean to be so hard on you all the time.
i just feel a mental amount of pressure with the billies, with baby adrianna, and looking after you on top of it.
and then he started tugging gently at his ear, which is cute because as i mentioned earlier, mungo really likes and finds comfort in physical touch.
the style of writing ~ i really enjoyed dougla^s way of writing about mungos thoughts and feelings, it made me feel like i understood him and that i was right there with him through good and bad. it was also really interesting and different to read because the dialogs are written in either glasgowian or a scottish dialect, which made me learn alot about scottish dialect, phrases and slang and in addition i was able to read it out in my head correctly and actually imagine it. and im also really happy that even though the story switched between the loch in the middle of nowhere and in glasgow, it wasnt messy and it had mentions that were specific for that place.
if i would have a complaint it would be that it was often hard to read because it was filled with difficult wording and complicated english.
im really upset because i had written about the side characters and the main happenings and it just got deleted which is sad, but ill live..
all in all i ABSOLUTELY ADORED THIS BOOK, and i am really looking forward to read shuggie brain!!
Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Abortion, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault