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A review by stephh
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I really wasn't sure I'd enjoy this - everyone said it was an incredibly depressing read, and the list of trigger warnings is one of the longest ones I've ever seen. HOWEVER, I found that, although the book is bleak it isn't a miserable read by any means, and some of the content the trigger warnings were there for wasn't graphic at all.
Shuggie's a young boy in the early 80s living in Glasgow just after Thatcher has closed the mines. His mother Agnes is an alcoholic and, despite Shuggie's best efforts, they live a tumultuous life together with his grandparents, father and older brother and sister. We watch Shuggie grow up across the book and learn to navigate a world that's stacked against him throughout his childhood.
I feel like I can't do justice to just how good this book was. It's given me one of the biggest book hangovers I've ever had, and has been all I can think about for a good week now. I found that, although the book was dark and gloomy, there was always a thread of hope running through it keeping you going. I'm not usually a fan of a book where a lot of the main characters are flawed, but this one was so incredibly well written that I loved following the entire Bain family. I can't wait to read Young Mungo now, and see if that lives up to the lofty heights of this.
Shuggie's a young boy in the early 80s living in Glasgow just after Thatcher has closed the mines. His mother Agnes is an alcoholic and, despite Shuggie's best efforts, they live a tumultuous life together with his grandparents, father and older brother and sister. We watch Shuggie grow up across the book and learn to navigate a world that's stacked against him throughout his childhood.
I feel like I can't do justice to just how good this book was. It's given me one of the biggest book hangovers I've ever had, and has been all I can think about for a good week now. I found that, although the book was dark and gloomy, there was always a thread of hope running through it keeping you going. I'm not usually a fan of a book where a lot of the main characters are flawed, but this one was so incredibly well written that I loved following the entire Bain family. I can't wait to read Young Mungo now, and see if that lives up to the lofty heights of this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail