Reviews

Skagboys by Irvine Welsh

andresguijarro's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

ggwhite98's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

4.0

azk's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

caitlintea'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

4.0

jesuisgourde's review against another edition

4.0

I loved Trainspotting and I thought Porno was alright, but I loved this one as much as I loved Trainspotting. It was so cool to see the "origins" of the lads. I found Sick Boy a little more interesting in this book, since its style showed his actual insecurities a little more via its third person narrative bits. I have been fascinated by Spud in each of the books, and this one was no exception, even though there wasn't as much of him as I'd have liked. I loved seeing Renton's backstory so laid out. Honestly, I read this book and immediately wished there was more, which means I will likely end up rereading Trainspotting.

marinamia's review against another edition

dark tense 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

angus_mckeogh's review against another edition

1.0

I love Welsh. But recently some of his books (notably: Crime) have been fairly awful. Also, prequels tend to be pretty poor (i.e. Star Wars) and usually leave me thinking, "ah...that's why that story was left out of the first book."

Skagboys had me feeling the exact same way. It started great and then just began dragging. Then crawled and became worse. Then died on the table. Such a long and tedious effort. Boring. Uninteresting and unlinked stories bleeding in and out of one another. I'm still waiting for the return of Welsh to form. Another dismal read.

roxyc's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

3.0

charratesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

4.0

The misogyny is accurate but hard to bare

barrydillon23's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense 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

4.5