Reviews

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

migavoh's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

jennyluwho's review against another edition

3.0

So sad.

tarapatey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.5

aoifedrain's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? No

5.0

mschat12's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-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

adam_marcus's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

liestschonwieder's review against another edition

dark sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

helloooooree's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

abassard's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

Minor: Homophobia

ruttery's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars. This is miserable. So relentlessly miserable I had to put it down and revisit it later on. A very hard-hitting and raw depiction of alcoholism, poverty, neglect, abuse, assault and broken families of working class 1980s Glasgow. I appreciate the author's vulnerability in writing it - it definitely has a sense of 'realness' that I'm extremely grateful to never have experienced. I just felt there was something lacking in its ability to really draw me in, and not because of the depressing content. At times I didn't feel there was really much plot development or a clear narrative, I would probably have preferred to read more about Shuggie's life later on as a young adult. But maybe that in itself is a clever way of framing the setting of poverty - the same bleak cycle repeating itself over and over.