Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

14 reviews

pkc's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

At the half way point, I couldn’t have envisioned giving this book five stars. Some of the subject matter is harrowing and tough to read, but tell me why I finished reading it, feeling, of all things, hopeful? Mungo as a protagonist is sweet and complicated. His journey of discovery is as joyful as it is harrowing in places and seeing him endure what he does filled me with a deep sense of anger and hurt and seeing his transition at the end of the novel left me feeling conflicted.

Spoiler

No one should endure what he has to, but the result is that he survives his ordeal with his brother and the loch and comes back with a sense of perspective - he will fend for himself and do what is right for himself.

 

All in all, a much bleaker picture than ‘Shuggie Bain’ but definitely more complex and engaging.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Self harm, Terminal illness, Torture, Animal death, Bullying, Vomit, Rape, Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Murder, Violence, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Death, Medical trauma, and Outing

mabs_grace's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

2.5

There were parts of this book that I liked as much as a 5 star read, but the toxic masculinity and abusive nature of the characters really started to piss me off by the time I was half way through the book. I loved the writing, it was beautiful but god damn I almost DNF’d this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Homophobia, Murder, and Rape

Moderate: Miscarriage and Abortion

tashmachin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Homophobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Pedophilia

Minor: Excrement

introverted_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

I am going to have to pore over this with a pencil. 10/10, cried a few times, prose is beautiful I need to write a full review 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Religious bigotry, Rape, Abortion, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Violence, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Homophobia, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy, Abandonment, Drug use, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Outing, Miscarriage, and Death of parent

samstar's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Addiction, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Drug use, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Classism, Blood, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

pppabblo's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Outing, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Hate crime, Violence, and Domestic abuse

tabear's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Outing, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Rape, Sexual assault, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Murder, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit

rebeccaddnti's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Child abuse, Cursing, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Vomit

theresah's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

I really enjoyed this book.. there were parts i was so angry i had to put it down and now that i’ve finished it, it’s always on my mind. Heartbreaking view into the life of Mungo, my heart hurts for him 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

blainereads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This was good. I haven’t felt such tension in the last pages of a book since Normal People, probably. Every paragraph (in the last chapters) was a gut punch. I truly didn’t know what was going to happen until the very last sentence (upon which I absolutely let out a breath I fully realized I was holding).

There were moments of such beauty in the prose, devastatingly juxtaposed with the darkest, ugliest elements of humanity. The author is a master of manipulating diction with such subtly that you never feel bulldozed by purple prose or other such literary devices and yet occasionally are just walloped by the truth of the words that you have to go back to reread passages. 

I’ve also not read a dual timeline executed SO well before; while I usually find time gimmicks can tend to be a bit annoying, the story is structured in such a way that you just get dizzying, satisfying emotional whiplash. It’s a bit slow in the beginning but the build up is absolutely worth the emotional payoff. 

I LOVE location as character and this created an incredibly immersive experience that I immediately felt transported to a gritty blue collar Scotland every time I picked up the book. It’s well-situated in its time and yet is also timeless all the same. The language element, though perhaps a bit distracting at first, added important color and character and facilitated a real rhythm of language that I don’t often feel when reading.

I could probably go on and on. I haven’t read the author’s booker-winning debut yet but after this??? I simply have no choice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Violence, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Blood, and Murder