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foxglovefairy'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
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Bullying, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Grief, Classism, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Rape, Homophobia, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Cursing, and Alcohol
laura6891's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Physical abuse, Grief, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Rape, Classism, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse
mashedpotatoandsaladcream'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
it mainly follows shuggies relationship with his mother as he grows from 5-15 watching and caring for his mother as his siblings draw away, forced or willing, as she falls into alcoholism and poverty in 1980s scotland -not only does he struggle with this but he also has to struggle with being an effeminate and seemingly clearly gay kid during a time rampant with homophobia and strict acceptance on what a man should act like. it does have a major list of trigger warning so look at them first if needed but although i said the book is depressing -it almost doesn’t feel that way when you read it. like yes it’s sad and it’s hard reading it at parts and yes it starts sad and ends slightly less sad and i think there’s only like a year period of his life when things are actually happy? but the way he’s written the scenes feels different to me. certain scenes will strick for me (the dancing scene, eugene and the fancy meal with agnes, etc) but the characters just had character and they felt like people to me.
one of these being agnes herself someone who annoyed me so much with how she’d seemed to never try to get better for the kids she seemed to genuinely care for but alcohol seemed to just matter more in its control over her and yet even as she lived in pitshead and all of what happened she still had a pride that was almost inspiring if it didn’t mean it would only lead to her drinking more and pushing her kids away.
and yet when he’s young she relies on him so much that as he grows up we barely ever know anything about him as a person, there were few scenes where shuggie was just shuggie and his identity revolved around his mother -that you wouldn’t know something happened to him until it was referenced once in his narration when with his mother and yet at the end he’s changed and he finally has a friend -something he never had during the rest of the book, in fact most would be shown once and no longer appear and yet by the end he actually calls them a friend.
anyway it’s a good choice if you like a bleak read and i’d recommend for that but not really if you hate them because you’ll just hate this even more.
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Sexism, Drug use, Pedophilia, Cursing, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Classism, Rape, Death of parent, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Blood, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, and Death
megb64's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Self harm, and Rape
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Mental illness, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Excrement
elharpwhy'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: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Rape, Pedophilia, Death, Classism, Bullying, Addiction, and Alcohol
aw_katie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Excrement, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Addiction, Sexual assault, Blood, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexual violence, Bullying, Rape, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Homophobia, Classism, Vomit, Self harm, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Hate crime
leonkaspar's review against another edition
- 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
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
imlfox'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
4.25
Graphic: Physical abuse, Self harm, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Bullying, Classism, and Medical content
bethvance'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Addiction, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Self harm, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood
Minor: Death of parent and Classism
leah_grace7'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? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Death, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Vomit