A review by moonandmadness
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

When I say this has every trigger warning under the sun, I mean it. Despite this, I don't feel the horrors contained in this novel ever lack self awareness. Although I can see an argument about cheap shock factor being exploited, I felt that the strength of this novel is facilitating empathy without ever glamourising, or glorifying the characters - an even more startling feat when considering how thoroughly unpleasant most of them are.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol