Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

84 reviews

geminisoul's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This was a very hard book to read in a lot of parts and really shows what alcohol can do to a family. Shuggie and his family are such characters and it's interesting to see the different ways the face the challenges in there home and community. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

zacharymckay's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.0

I was slow to progress through this book. For some reason it was difficult for me to be consistent when beginning this book. It’s possible that the sexist undertones might have made me reluctant in the beginning. While I still feel uncertain about the intention for some of the book’s depictions, I did see myself create deeper meaning and complex feelings surrounding the book’s contents. The prose was beautifully written. I enjoyed how the author executed the transition between narratives as the book progressed. I also really liked the complexity with which Snuggie’s relationship to others and his mother was depicted. This book was quite interesting with storytelling from the perspective of the child of a parent with addiction. I found the second half of this book to be compelling, and I noticed I engaged in more pondering in this half.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

jrrconsul's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Pedophilia

avabevs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual assault, and Suicide

raybudbury's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

A sucker punch of a book. Well-written especially the Scottish jargon. Well-deserving of the man booker. Initially hard to get into but also hard to read at points due to the subject matter. I feel like this is really a well-written take on how families with addiction get rocked by the person addicted and the system. I imagine it’s really a good period piece for how people were dealing with poverty in the 80s-90s + the homophobia one gets in their youth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

graecus_'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

so so good. love this book. very emotional, i was very much feeling things after i finished this book. watching shuggie grow up was absolutely heart wrenching. all of the characters were immaculately written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, and Rape

isabelboswinkel's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

wiktoria_bojda's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, and Self harm

veronikatupa'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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Suicide

ydina's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I really wanted to like it. Especially when I heard that it was heart wrenching and somewhat like A Little Life. Maybe it's accurate about that in a sense that both of them are trauma p*rn. just missed the parts where they would talk more about Shuggies sa? Like I think this should have been significant? 

More about anything else than how many beer and vodka Agnes drinks and how deeply disgustingly obsessed she is with men. 

And it took me so long to finish. I always had to pick it up like a task or homework (which it was thanks to our book club, otherwise would've dnfed it, I fear) 

Other than that I still liked the style of writing. It did have his good parts and did make me feel pitiful every now and then. 

Especially when Shuggie was asking his mother why he wasn't enough for her. This somehow got me. But I guess children having a troubled upcoming will always get me. 

All in all I'll give it around three stars I think.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Outing, Gaslighting, and Alcohol