Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

26 reviews

zacharie's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism and Gaslighting

readerxan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Wow. I just finished Young Mungo right now and I can’t believe the story is done. I feel sad I can’t live through Mungo’s experiences anymore but at the same time, I don’t want to experience them again either. It was written beautifully; it has you going through different waves of emotions. Jodie surprised me at the end, they all did, except Mo-Maw. Mungo is my favorite character, and so is Poor-Wee-Chickie. I give this book a 5/5 in stars. Would I read it again? No. I wouldn’t read it again because of how it made me feel. You will have moments where you want to laugh, cry, scream, squeal, etc. At times I wanted to throw the book and patch it up again. It truly is an amazing story that draws you in. It’s going on the favorites list.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Sexual harassment, Violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Addiction, Sexism, Blood, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Hate crime, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

andrea_lachance's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

God, my feelings about this book are so complicated. Stuart writes with such lyricism and beauty that makes the extremes of violence and beauty in this book dance on a razor's edge. It's a good book. It's heartbreaking, and it is not for everyone.

The beginning of the book is slow going, trying to parce who's-who and what exactly is going on takes time. The second half really kicks into gear with gut-wrenching revelations. Mungo is a babe in the woods, and this book beats the innocence out of Mungo in the worst possible ways.

It's a good read. An important read. There are probably people with much better reviews for this book, this is me spitballing.

Personally, the detailed descriptions for characters dealing with alcoholism were so tough for me to read because it was so realistic. It's horrifying what kinds of details one notices when a body is so ravaged by alcohol abuse.

I give it a 4.5 because the emotions I went through reading this book were so viceral, and for me personally that's one of the most important things a book like this can do.

Spoiler

Mungo's relationship with his mom is codependent, incestuous, and emotionally abusive. This book speaks volumes about class and poverty directly impact the cycle of abuse in families. It's painful to read about, especially when it takes the whole book and Mungo being violently assaulted twice for Mungo to realize that his mother will never love him the way he loves her. It's brutal. The phone call between Gallowgate and his mother was such a horrid moment of realization for me. 

The glimmer of hope at the end is a sigh of relief. The ride in the car with the nice man was a reprieve. Poor Mungo isn't young when he comes home. He knows his family will never be the same, Josie will go to college and never come back, Mo-maw will keep drinking and being with whatever man will give her attention, and Hamish will keep stirring shit with the Catholics. So he leaves. We don't get to know where. But he's choosing to break the cycle of abuse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexism, Drug use, and Misogyny

Minor: Domestic abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, and Pedophilia

fluffy1st's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Toxic relationship

maggiemaryamos's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Abandonment, Murder, Physical abuse, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Torture

notthatcosta's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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? No

3.75

This was a book of two halves for me. I loved it as an ethnography slice of life from the East End of Glasgow in the 90s, which I found very interesting. The characters were very well fleshed out and the 'world' felt incredibly vivid and visceral. Douglas Stuart is clearly very talented at world building. 

However, the flashes forward to the plot at the loch veered into misery porn in a way that felt unnecessary. I hate the countryside as much as it is, and I don't feel like the events that transpired really added anything to the book, nor did it really inform the plot. I feel like it would have been a total triumph had it completely erased that sub plot, including the ending.

Overall the excellent parts outweigh the part I resented having to read, and I'm keen to read Shuggie Bain off the back of this.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Misogyny, Rape, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Classism, Gore, Pregnancy, Suicide, Sexism, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Grief, and Violence

mai_books27's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book took me by the throat and broke my heart and i still couldn't put it down. The storytelling is atmospheric and phenomenal, the characters are so tangible and human. I cannot recommend this book enough, but due to the weight of the subject matter it's one you have to pick up in your own time. A new favorite, for sure. Violen  but soft and loving, this book is worth every penny. Please read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Death, Outing, Murder, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Grief, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Rape, Police brutality, Child abuse, Sexual content, and Sexism

pierrojenesais's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“Young Mungo” creates a great depiction of how toxic masculinity treats young boys in society. My love for Mungo is deeper than a fictional character should be able to make me feel. But his love and suffering feels too real and I can’t help it. He will surely haunt my mind for a long time.
Also this book stomped on my heart so many times I felt like it couldn’t get worse. It did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Animal death, Sexual content, Violence, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Death, Abandonment, Pedophilia, and Blood

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Abortion, and Domestic abuse

jaiari12's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual content, Addiction, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcoholism, and Homophobia

Moderate: Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, and Abortion

lizard800's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Cursing, and Addiction

Moderate: Murder, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Sexism, Abortion, and Outing