Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

15 reviews

fionamclary's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

5.0

Shuggie Bain depicts the ugly details of alcoholism with deep compassion. It's an emotional journey of rage, despair, indignation, grief, and flickers of hope. I don't quite know what else to say about it that others haven't already said better, just that it gave me an intimate window into many worlds which I had previously known little or nothing of.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Minor: Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Racism, and Fire/Fire injury

kristenreads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, and Death of parent

lilacwhisker's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

4.75

Shuggie is a real one for sure 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

emiliarosep's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cancer and Racism

stephh's review against another edition

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.

---

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

smcmullan79's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Self harm, and Sexual assault

ladybirder's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense medium-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Racism

kobra's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Racism

thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Racism, and Pregnancy

raisinflakies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Racism, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment