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A review by krilves
Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
dark
tense
slow-paced
- 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? N/A
I don't know how to rate this book because I just can't figure out what I think of it.
There was just. so much violence and suffering. If Mungo wasn't being beaten then he was nursing bruises and wounds. if he wasn't being threatened with violence he was being beaten. add to that there rape. graphic rape, on the page, no less than 3 times.
and it's like, yeah this is a well written book, but the whole time I was reading it I just felt like I was reading...misery porn. There were softer moments, good moments, in the book, but I really felt all the violence overpowered the good things.
it's not like I don't get it, I feel like the point is to show that even though Mungo is a kind boy, a soft boy, he is someone who is capable of violence himself because of the way he grew up. Before Mungo murdered the men who raped him, he was already being asked to or forced to commit acts of violence, and on a few occasions did it without prompting - it's not like he's maintained a saintlike innocence throughout his life that gets ruined the moment he is raped, he was always capable of it, and he is a product of his environment.
but also, I don't feel like I have to like it. I'm honestly not sure I'll read Snuggie Bain after this because if it's more of the same, then I've had enough. I really feel like the premise of this book the way it was sold to me was a lot less violent than it turned out to be, and I don't really care what kind of pretty prose it's packaged in, it's still a lot of graphic violence (not to mention, sexual violence) and I don't want to subject myself to that kind of misery if I don't have to, and to be frank: I don't have to.
There was just. so much violence and suffering. If Mungo wasn't being beaten then he was nursing bruises and wounds. if he wasn't being threatened with violence he was being beaten. add to that there rape. graphic rape, on the page, no less than 3 times.
and it's like, yeah this is a well written book, but the whole time I was reading it I just felt like I was reading...misery porn. There were softer moments, good moments, in the book, but I really felt all the violence overpowered the good things.
it's not like I don't get it, I feel like the point is to show that even though Mungo is a kind boy, a soft boy, he is someone who is capable of violence himself because of the way he grew up. Before Mungo murdered the men who raped him, he was already being asked to or forced to commit acts of violence, and on a few occasions did it without prompting - it's not like he's maintained a saintlike innocence throughout his life that gets ruined the moment he is raped, he was always capable of it, and he is a product of his environment.
but also, I don't feel like I have to like it. I'm honestly not sure I'll read Snuggie Bain after this because if it's more of the same, then I've had enough. I really feel like the premise of this book the way it was sold to me was a lot less violent than it turned out to be, and I don't really care what kind of pretty prose it's packaged in, it's still a lot of graphic violence (not to mention, sexual violence) and I don't want to subject myself to that kind of misery if I don't have to, and to be frank: I don't have to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder