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A review by raybudbury
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
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.
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