Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

13 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.0

Such a sad story, though an honest portrayal of alcoholism and addiction. This is about everyone who has fallen through the societal cracks and those whose resilience is more than others can handle. Shuggie is brilliant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Outing, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Rape, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, War, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Vomit

ydina's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I really wanted to like it. Especially when I heard that it was heart wrenching and somewhat like A Little Life. Maybe it's accurate about that in a sense that both of them are trauma p*rn. just missed the parts where they would talk more about Shuggies sa? Like I think this should have been significant? 

More about anything else than how many beer and vodka Agnes drinks and how deeply disgustingly obsessed she is with men. 

And it took me so long to finish. I always had to pick it up like a task or homework (which it was thanks to our book club, otherwise would've dnfed it, I fear) 

Other than that I still liked the style of writing. It did have his good parts and did make me feel pitiful every now and then. 

Especially when Shuggie was asking his mother why he wasn't enough for her. This somehow got me. But I guess children having a troubled upcoming will always get me. 

All in all I'll give it around three stars I think.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Addiction, Alcoholism, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Death, Sexual content, Rape, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, Blood, Body shaming, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Bullying, and Outing

knowledgeable_but_stupid's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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? Yes

4.0

It was a wonderful book, in my opinion. I immediately bought this one after reading Young Mungo. He writes so vividly that I can imagine every scene and use his descriptions to fill in the blanks in my mind in a most natural way. A lot of topics were the same as in Young Mungo, but this one touched more on the perspective of the alcoholic mother and it was written as more of a life story. The repetition compared to the other book made it feel a bit predictable at times, but to be fair, this one was his first novel. Maybe I should’ve read them in the correct order. I enjoyed the way he described bad things in a good way and good things in a bad way. It’s like he doesn’t try to make his work “fancy” like many writers do. Last point is that I expected the phonetically written dialogues to be difficult to read, but this wasn’t the case at all. Again, it’s a very naturally written story and it was great to be able to immerse myself in it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, and Rape

leonkaspar's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Cancer, Classism, Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Addiction, Medical content, Rape, and Sexual assault

kobra's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Ableism, Self harm, Drug abuse, Classism, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Death of parent, Rape, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Bullying

Minor: Racism

raisinflakies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Self harm, Misogyny, Grief, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Bullying, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Homophobia, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Abandonment, Cursing, Drug use, Drug abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Medical content, Racism, Transphobia, and Vomit

lucykateburns's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

I really don't know what to make of it all. I don't have much experience with alcoholism but, being from Glasgow, I am well aware that it is a problem in the city. It goes without saying that it made Agnes a very dislikable character and despite the author's efforts to make us sympathise with her, I found it difficult to like her. I especially didn't like her air of superiority, nor that she valued herself as better than other women for having 'pride' in her looks. I hated that she tried to embody the role of the good wife, but I also can't blame her for longing for what society says women should strive to be and do. The sexual violence suffered by the character was difficult to read, although it didn't go into much detail, and I felt that it was brushed past too easily. Too many traumatic events happened that could have been delved into further but weren't (I mean the aftermath, not the actual events...). That goes for some of the things that happened to Shuggie too.

On the contrast, it was hard not to love Shuggie. I don't know how to sum him up. What child doesn't love their mother? It's hard to grow up and accept that they aren't the heroes you once thought them to be. Parents can be very flawed people and, as in Shuggie's case, so flawed that there is nothing you can do to help them. The whole book felt like a journey into Shuggie's letting go of his mum, he couldn't keep her here for him. I think ultimately letting her go was the best he could have done.

In this sense, the theme of recurring self-harm and inability to recover reminded me of A Little Life, and both share similar endings in this regard. The tragic comparison between Leanne's mother and Shuggie's is something to comment on, but I won't go too much into it. Essentially, it just shows the possible paths alcoholism can lead a woman down, neither of which are positive. For this reason, I think the book has a very depressing overall tone to it, there isn't a fairytale ending but sometimes that is the reality of things. Clearly this was never entirely Agnes' fault, but in the world we live in she didn't have much choice. Eugene must feel eternal guilt.

It is difficult to finish the book and not know where Shuggie ends up, or what exactly the outcome of the journey with his sexuality will be, but I am comforted with his friendship with Leanne. I hope they both find love and happiness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Excrement, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit

merle98's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

It is not often to come across a book that so brilliantly and intimately portrays the gritty realities of poverty and addiction, neither romanticising its subjects and their lives nor vilifying their actions. Would highly recommend for people in a mentally stable place.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

rhubarb_the_herb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Blood, Child abuse, and Gaslighting

deezy's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship