It’s tough when I’m reading advanced reader copies and the publisher gives it to reviewers a few weeks before a review is due, especially with a book like this. Right on the first page I could tell this wasn’t the novel I was expecting, this isn’t a bad thing. I’m use to these recent lgbt fiction books to be a simple fast paced read, Young Mungo is not that. It’s a story I really want to take my time on and spend multiple days immersed with the world and it’s characters. For future readers: make sure you are taking your time on this one. I only got 150 pages in before it was turned in on NetGalley (little early because I have a work trip the rest of the week) but I will be picking it up at the store to get the rest of the story.

I will start by saying if you really enjoyed Shuggie Bain then you will likely enjoy this book as well. While inherently different, I think the two books have a lot of similarities then Shuggie lovers will enjoy here as well. While I thought Shuggie Bain was an objectively strong novel, I didn't enjoy it as much as others. This book is even tougher to truly enjoy because there is a lot of difficult content to endure. It also starts off very slow and the beginning parts were difficult to get through for me and figure out what the story was really about. I also had some troubles making sense of the dialect that is used heavily throughout. All this may sound like I disliked this book, but I can still say that it is still objectively strong writing that is gripping and devastating at the same time once you get about a third of the way through. The final half to two-thirds were definitely much easier to get through than the beginning and while still not what I would call enjoyable, there is a strong story. For better or for worse, it's also probably not a story I will soon forget. I'm sure this one will be well reviewed like Shuggie Bain, but overall I'm not sure it is an experience I could recommend to a friend.

Douglas Stuart has done it again. He has written a novel that is so authentic and so heartbreaking and so wonderfully written. Young Mungo will stay with me for a long time to come.

Fifteen year old Mungo is sweet, kind, and caring, despite the harsh realities of his upbringing. His future looks bleak with pressure on him to join his older brother in the vicious gang that he is leader of. But then he meets James and a beautiful friendship is formed. But Mungo and James must keep their feelings for each other secret. Things come to a head when Mungo's mum sends him off on a fishing trip with two strange men with shady pasts. Will Mungo be able to find his way back to James and the future they dreamt about?

It was impossible to read this and not want so much more for Mungo, who at times seems so much younger than his fifteen years, and at other times so beaten down and world weary. And while this book explores some similar themes to Shuggie Bain, there's alcoholism, violence, broken families, and poverty, it's also very different and stands solidly on it's own merits. In fact I'd probably go so far as to say that this one impacted me even more than Shuggie, and that's saying an awful lot.

Despite moments of tenderness, if you're looking for something soft and sweet then Young Mungo may not be the book for you. But if dark, gritty, and realistic is your thing then this is a must read. I know that I'll be singing the praises of Young Mungo and the beauty of Douglas Stuart's writing to anyone who'll listen. What an incredible author!

Thanks so much to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for my review copy.

Douglas Stuart obviously isn't an easy author to read, but those who do read are well rewarded.

I didn't get a chance to read his award-winning Shuggie Bain (yet), but Young Mungo is a masterpiece. It's difficult in the same way that Jennifer Kent's film The Nightingale is difficult, but there are hurdles to overcome and, should you stick with it, it will leave a mark. As I said in my review of that film - art should always elicit a reaction, and great art always does.

Mungo is one poor, unfortunate soul. He's 15, he's gay, he's living in poverty and if that wasn't enough, he's discarded by his alcoholic mother. This is his story, and it is captivating. While I didn't fully understand the Protestant vs. Catholic history, the book doesn't dwell often and when it does, it makes things easy to decipher.

Stewart's writing style is fully formed, but the language he uses is often casual because of the characters he's created. This is much the same as someone like Cormac McCarthy - the writer has almost created his own dialect. Part of the joy of reading novels like these is becoming immersed in that world.

I won't go into any details, but the book will be a trigger for those who have dealt with sexual abuse.

Stuart's sophomore novel comes at the hot tails of his debut hit, Shuggie Bain. I was definitely excited to grab my hands on this. But i was left quite perturbed.

Mungo's life has a major similarity to Shuggie's. You can't help but to definitely compare. Alcoholic mom who for Mungo, is mostly absent. Has an eldest sister who takes over mom's place but still yearns to leave and get a better life. An elder brother who is the leader of a local gangster gang dealing with drugs and violence. Only difference is that Mungo at 15 is clearly gay and fallen for another neighbourhood boy. Unfortunately, apart from their same sex relationship unacceptance, Mungo was a Protestant while his boyfriend a Catholic. This part of the story has a West Side Story slash Romeo and Juliet feel, unforbidden love with family at the background. Things were wholly depressing too with lots of abuse and intense poverty making everyone just so sad and all the situations heartbreaking. And then it got to the second half which mostly left a bitter taste in my mouth. It was just... Disturbing. Trigger warning for rape and paedophilia.

I don't know. Maybe i wasn't the right target audience. I took quite a while with this, reading then setting aside. Then picking up again. Finishing it and taking a long while to process it. I really loved Stuart's writing but the subject at hand in Young Mungo got too much for me. It's ok for me if it really was a coming of age queer love story amidst poor upbringing in a poor neighbourhood. I could take that. But this got too depressing too much with really vivid scenes. There were alot of unhappy people doing bad things while that supposed love story just gets enveloped in all the bitterness. I was angry and left stumped. Please please be in the right state of mind before you attempt to read this. ❤️

Young Mungo is a heartbreaking tale and tender love story of a sensitive teenager, brutalised by his origins and the society he lives in. Fifteen year old Mungo lives in poverty in a Glasgow housing scheme with his single mum and older sister Jodie. His father was killed on the streets in the ongoing violent and senseless warfare between protestant and catholic gangs. His mother was only a teenager herself when her first child, Mungo’s older brother Hamish was born, and unable to cope on her own with three youngsters took to the bottle to numb her pain. Never a good mother, she neglects Jodie and Mungo, leaving them alone for weeks at a time with no food in the house while she spends any money she has on alcohol and pursues her latest love interest. Despite all this Mungo loves her dearly, even though the more pragmatic Jodie tells him he should see her for what she is.

Mungo is a lovely soft-hearted boy who helps out his neighbours. He is artistic and not interested in sport or fighting, but now that he is nearing sixteen, the age he can leave school, pressure is being put on him to harden up and become more like his brother. Hamish is the violent leader of the local protestant gang that steals and damages property. He also deals drugs and at nineteen is already a father. Jodie, determined to go to University and thus break away from the entrenched poverty and early motherhood that awaits girls her age in the housing schemes, tries to steer him away from falling into a life of sectarian violence and think about a future career in art and design. However, when Mungo falls in love with James, a gentle, motherless catholic boy who breeds pigeons, his mother sends him away on a camping trip with two men she barely knows from her AA group. Mungo’s world will never be the same again.

I haven’t yet read Stuart’s Booker prize winning novel Shuggie Bain, but this appears to be set in a similar setting with similar themes of post-Thatcher poverty in 1990s Glasgow, single families, alcoholism and violence. The focus of this novel is the adolescent Mungo rather than the younger Shuggie and his mother Agnes. The writing is evocative and liberally sprinkled with colourful similes and descriptions and the authentic dialogue very much captures the mood of the time. The main characters are so well drawn we would recognise them in an instant and even the minor characters have an authentic individuality about them. The ending is dark and disturbing and left me feeling sad, but really hoping that there will be some light in both Mungo’s and James’ futures after all they have endured and lost.

I'm struggling to put into words my feelings about this book. It was an intense book. It is not for the faint of heart. But it was also a fantastic book.

Stuart paints an incredible picture of Glasgow in the 1990s. The characters are well built and he transports the reader back in time (and place) to this world and its unique social norms, expectations, and realities.

In many ways, I wish this book was told chronologically. Jumping back and forth in time is a common format but I don't think it served this narrative well. I found the first few chapters confusing and a little disorienting as I tried to understand who everyone was and what was going on. This was increased by the lack of notation of the difference -- the chapter titles didn't indict when the events were occurring. But beyond that, I still think the story would've been even better if we were introduced to Mungo, then James, and then the events of the plot. I think it would have made the story, which was already moving, even more poignant.

Overall, I would recommend this book to readers who are interested in dark plot lines, Scottish (and particularly Glaswegian) history, and lives of the working class in post-Thatcher Britain. It was worth the read, despite the difficulty of the subject matter and the confusion of the format.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book.
Young Mungo follows a young boy growing up in Glasgow from a working class family and shows the relationships he forms with his family and people around him. Mungo meets James and they form a close friendship despite the religious tensions at the time and this soon blossoms into love. When I read Shuggie Bain I thought that no one could write any better and yet Douglas Stuart outdid himself. This story is painful, gritty and raw but it has these moments of such calming and beautiful prose that make it a masterpiece. The depiction of working class life in Glasgow and Mungo’s life was incredibly intricate which meant you could really feel for everything that happened to him. Stuart does an excellent job at exploring complex family relationships and the hardships of alcohol abuse. He shows the pain of some things in such a real way which helps bring the relationships and characters of the novel into their own dimension, incomparable with other characters from other books. I would recommend this book to those who enjoyed A Little Life. I give this book 5 stars. I am very much ready to read anything Douglas Stuart writes.

• "while their hands ferreted inside their trouser pockets as they peeled their ball sacks from their thighs" - this was super specific 🤣
• The Glaswegian accent was so hard to undestand at times. I could hear Lawrence Chaney 😅
• APPARENTLY THERE COULD BE SOME DISTANCE BETWEEN WHAT A PERSON WAS SAYING AND WHAT YOU SHOULD BE SEEING
• Why would you ask those questions to a 15-year old???!!!
• Gallowgate hoisting Mungo on his back, and Mungo feeling safe. The only nice thing on that trip.
• JODIE CAME TO UNDERSTAND THAT HE JUST LIKED TO BE TOUCHED
• Jodie was so savage to Mo-Maw, and clearly the latter deserved them.
• loved Mrs. Campbell
• Jodie's arc was disappointing tbh.
• I thought this part was scary. I didn't expect that it would escalate even further.
• James asking Mungo to come back to the doocot the next day was so sweet.
• Jodie's confrontation with Mo-maw was uncomfortable. I really felt Mungo's betrayal when he learned that his mother was taking care of some other kid.
• Jodie saying she loved Mo-maw once. 😥
• Mungo saying i love you to Hamish
• THAT'S A SAD THING TO BE PROUD OF ME FOR
• Mungo and Hamish's conversation was so sad. The hurt Hamish carried growing up.
• "INSTEAD OF REJECTING HIM JAMES HAD MADE MORE SPACE FOR HIM" - this was so sweet omg
• James asking for Mungo to stay with him. Ughhh they're so loveable.
• HE HAD THOUGHT PERHAPS JAMES HAD NEEDED THE CONTACT, THAT PERHAPS HE WAS LONELY HERE ALL BY HIMSELF, BUT PERHAPS IT HAD BEEN MUNGO WHO HAD WANTED THE COMFORT.
• Mungo comforting James. That was such a vulnerable moment; to trust someone that you can show your full emotions to them.
• IT WAS GOOD TO PUT YOUR WEIGHT ON SOMEONE ELSE, EVEN IT WAS JUST FOR A SHORT WHILE
• Jodie and Mr Calhoun. That was so nice of Jodie.
• MUNGO COULDN'T SAY HOW MUCH HE MISSED HIM. IT WAS TOO BIG A FEELING TO PUT INTO WORDS.
• Jodie and Mungo helping Mrs Campbell from his husband 😥
• TW: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
• Omg that was sick. What happened to Mungo was fucked up.
• TW: RAPE
• Mo-maw telling Mungo to stay away from Mr Calhoun, and then she literally gave him to child molesters. That was fucked up.
• Most of the adults here are fucked up omg.
• Jodie and Mungo destroying Gillespie's caravan. That was well a well-deserved revenge.
• CW: ABORTION
• HE NEEDED TO GO TO THE LOCHSIDE, TO LOWER HIMSELF INTO THE NUMBING WATER, AND WASH IT ALL AWAY. HE WANTED TO SINK BENEATH THE SURFACE AND NEVER COME UP AGAIN.
• Mungo got his revenge. He deserved that.
• "TEAPOT? AYE. WELL. TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE, EH" - facts only
• The beginning of James and Mungo's relationship was so cute. The way they looked at each other as their smile got wider. Ughhhh that's so romantic. 🥰
• JAMES DIDN'T BREAK HIS STARE AND HE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING. HIS GRIN WIDENED SLIGHTLY AND WITH EACH MILLIMETER IT GREW, MUNGO'S SMILE WIDENED TO MEET IT.
• James' birthday was lovely. They rode together in a bike, and they had a picnic.
• James pushing Mungo's hair out of his eyes was such an intimate moment, and then James kissed Mungo, and Mungo kissed him back. Ahhhhhhhh
• James' phone calls 👀
• James telling Mungo not to be like him 😥
• Not Mungo stealing James' boxer shorts and then wearing them 🤭
• THEY HAD WANDERED FROM TIMID TENDERNESS TO AFFECTION WRAPPED INSULTS. IT WAS A LOVELY PLACE FOR TWO BOYS TO BE: HONEST, EXCITING, IMMATURE.
• James' regretting doing it, and Mungo taking the blame was a sign of their trauma.
• IT'S GOT EASIER SINCE I MET YOU
• That bathtub scene was too much. They're so loveable. The way they flirt with each other was so cute. Ughhhhhh
• IT FEELS NICE TO HAVE SOMEONE WORRY ABOUT ME THOUGH
• "'IT LOOKS AWRIGHT.' IT LOOKED LIKE SHE HAD BEEN ELECTROCUTED." - i imagined this scene Fleabag-style. Iykyk 🤣
• I loved those intimate moments as they lay on the carpet after they're spent.
• It was so sad to see them flirt with other girls just to appease James' father.
• I really felt Mungo's happiness when Jodie got accepted to uni, and his sadness when he realized that Jodie will leave him.
• YET MUNGO HAD ALL THIS LOVE TO GIVE AND IT LAY ABOUT HIM LIKE RIPENED FRUIT AND NOBODY BOTHERED TO GATHER IT UP
• Davey MacNeil. You were smooth but that was still a child. Damn
• James stroking the hair on Mungo's back to appease him was so endearing. It was so gentle and intimate.
• It was so hard to see Mungo go along with what Angus wants just so he can survive.
• I really felt Mr Calhoun's regret when he told his story to Mungo. It was nice to see him accept and comfort Mungo.
• IT'S AWRIGHT SON, LET IT OUT. EVERY BRAVE SODJUR GETS TIRED AND CRIED AT SOME POINT
• I loved that moment when they planned to run away together.
• but then Hamish arrived to fuck things up.
• Homophobia should have no space in this earth.
• The escalation of violence in those last moments was brutal. Some of it was hard to read.
• Angus deserved that.
• It was hard and sad to see Mungo clean up their camping site. I really felt his panic and frustration through all of it.
• Callum 💙
• Mungo's disappointment over Jodie's betrayal. Jodie was the only one he trusted, but even she cannot accept Mungo's sexuality. 😥
• Omg James was waiting for Mungo, and he's ready to leave.
• omg what Hamish did was a shocker. I think he felt guilty over what he did to Mungo.
• COME, IT SAID. COME AWAY
• I don't really know how to feel with that ending, and I still don't know how to process what I've read.

My rating - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

Oh. My. Goodness. This was dark, harrowing, brutal, emotional. Some scenes were truly hard to push through, as they were so harrowing, but every inch of this book is worth it.
It tells the tale of two teenage boys in love - one protestant one catholic. Our protagonist, Mungo, battles with his often absent mother’s alcoholism whilst his brother is in a gang that epitomises toxic masculinity. It’s brutal, and I don’t use that lightly. It has quite a bleak, depressing tone which made this a challenging read, but it’s a work of art.

The writing. I can say hand on heart that this is some of the best writing I have ever read and will ever read. It is so poetic, and lyrical, and I can truly say i’ve never read a book with descriptions this good. Every setting is described so vividly, and I sometimes stopped partway through a page just to admire a description or an image created. Stunning. I also enjoyed the use of Scottish dialect/ phonetic dialogue.

The characters. again, so tangible and so gut wrenching. My heart was aching for Mungo and James, I was so in love with their love. I would’ve liked even more content about their time together, as I’m a sucker for a romance, but i guess it showed the shortness of their time together. They were just so lovely, and portrayed with so much raw emotion. Mungo’s family: his mother, brother, and sister; were also so tangible, and so fully fleshed. I felt so immersed within their family dynamic. Each character was presented alongside their problem/ issue that consumed them, and these flaws/troubles added to the fleshing out of their character.

This is a 400 page book, and I did feel the pacing was sometimes off, but never ‘boring’. It flitted between 2 time periods which i really liked, but some scenes felt a little too dragged out. I would’ve loved more content on Mungo and James, and for them to have had more limelight, as honestly I was highlighting quotes every time they were together 😅

Overall, what a powerhouse of a book. challenging and dark, but such a moving read.

- Lara <3

Young Mungo is a gripping work of literary fiction that I will be thinking about still, for years to come. Told in starts and stops between the timeline, this is the story of Mungo, a teenage boy living in Glasgow. The son of a drunkard mother, he has two older siblings. Hamish, the vulgar local gang leader and his sister Jodie, a sweet, kind girl, who takes care of him when their mother is neglectful.

This book was gritty and compelling, but told with so much heart. And while at the heart of it this is a love story, there are so many layers. Mungo finds friendship and ultimately love in a neighbor boy named James. But their clandestine love is dangerous. Aside from their polar religious differences, bigotry runs rampant and it’s not safe for them to live out in the open.

Upon discovery of their closeness, Mungo is sent away on a weekend fishing trip with two questionable men at his mother’s behest. What is meant to straighten him out could be the very thing putting Mungo in more danger.

This is, like I said, a love story at its heart, but it’s about family and social economic class and the ugliness in the world as well. This is one of those recommend to everyone books because while it was dark and raw, it was truly a beautiful piece of writing.

Poor Mungo & the sad secrets that haunt his young life 😩

This story, like the author's Booker Prize-winning Shuggie Bain, is a challenging read. Stuart has created a tragic hero in young Mungo, a boy beaten down by his dysfunctional family and his secret yearning for a forbidden Catholic boy in his neighborhood. The forbidden nature of their relationship thanks to sectarian hatred is, however, dwarfed by the bigger no-no: in this rough and tumble part of Glasgow there is no tolerance for a man or boy who is not heterosexual.

Stuart has alternated the main thread of Mungo's ill-fated friendship with James with a life-changing fishing trip to parts unspecified with two strangers at his mother's urging. Both threads of narrative grow increasingly dark and poor Mungo is caught up in situations that couldn't help but make me mourn for his lost innocence. This gentle boy inhabits a world where violence breeds violence until even he can't escape. It's tragic but somehow fascinating from the pen (or keyboard!) of a skilled writer.

The ending was a surprise and I have to say that, for all the harshness, violence and hardship it contains, this is a story that tugs at the emotions and is well worth the read.

Thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

At first I wondered why I was reading this book. It seemed formulaic and too similar to Shuggie Bain. I guess Douglas Stuart has a formula. But after reading the book I would recommend this over Shuggie Bain any day. I think this is an even better contender for the Booker and I hope this book gets the praise it deserves.

Mungo is a beautifully written character. But all of the supporting characters come to life here, some in absolutely terrifying ways. Just like Shuggie Bain this is not a feel good book. This story will make you feel like your heart is dying a slow painful death. If you can handle that kind of emotion, please give this a try.

"Without questioning it, Mungo sat up in the bed and oriented himself to lie beside James. He pulled the boy onto his chest and felt the crumpled wetness of his face. He held him, just like Jodie would hold him, and let him remember his mother. It was good to put your weight on someone else, even if it was just for a short while."

Young Mungo, Douglas Stuart

This story's about Mungo and James; born under different stars, Protestant Mungo and Catholic James live in the hyper-masculine and violently sectarian world of Glasgow’s housing estates. Being sworn enemies, they found themselves falling in love. When Mungo's mother sends him on a fishing trip, he will need to summon all his inner strength and courage to get back to a place of safety.

First off, the blurb and the cover of this book immediately pulled me in. However, as I read through, I always find myself taking a couple of seconds to fully comprehend the dialogue because of the slang and all. And I do understand that since the story is set in Glasgow, Scotland, which at least provided authenticity to the entire book and its setting.

Other than that, Young Mungo was exceptionally well-written. The characters were depicted and executed really well. I think that this gave me an insight into the reality of violence against queer people, as well as the fear that society instills in gay men.

This book was a gripping and revealing story about the bounds of masculinity, the push and pull of family, the violence faced by so many queer people, and the dangers of loving someone too much, infusing the everyday world of its characters with rich lyricism and giving full voice to people rarely acknowledged in literary fiction.

How special it is to find a writer whose talents for storytelling are so clear and who leaves such an impact on such a wide range of readers. It really is an honor to have Douglas Stuart in this world and to read his stories. His sophomore, Young Mungo novel centers on many of the same elements as his debut Shuggie Bain (life in working-class Glasgow, explorations of masculinity, sexuality, family, addiction, and violence) but focuses more both on the complex realities of queer adolescence and the peripheral characters like the one and only Poor Wee Chickie. Moments of tenderness, of devastation, of violence, and of love cycle throughout the book with passages that range from truly horrific to quietly hopeful. Stuart's clarity and vision, his love for Glasgow and its residents, and his ability to carve out space to dream of a better world for queer youth come together to make a stellar second novel.

𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞. 𝐌𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐛 𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐞, 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐥 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐭𝐡, 𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart will be released on 14 April. Thank you so much @Pan Macmillan @PicadorBooks for allowing me to read Young Mungo early via @NetGalley.

I don't know how to start this review, partly because I want to say everything but don't know how. Mungo is a young boy from a problematic family. He is different from his aggressive brother, alcoholic mother and genius sister. Mungo always felt alone and usually found solace in his sister's arms, but things change when he befriends James, his only hope of leaving his hometown.

The narrative is split into two halves that alternate throughout the entire novel: in "before and during" James, and "after" James, where Mungo goes camping. None of them is happy though, but I won't say more about the plot because this book has to be experienced and I won't spoil ANYTHING. Down below I'll paste my favourite quotes from the book:

(The review might change, but it's a 4.5, almost 5).

"The day was drawing in the last of her colours, and as the softest violets and apricots bled away into the horizon, he was sad to have not arrived sooner. Mungo tilted his head back and
walked in a circle. The sky above him was a darkening blue smeared with faint streaks of lemon. He hadn't known that the sky could hold so many hues - or he hadn't paid it any mind
before. Did anyone in Glasgow look up?"

"There was a gentleness to his being that put girls at ease; they wanted to make a pet of him. But that sweetness unsettled other boys."

"It was James that changed it. The pinkie that had lain next to his own crossed over and locked over his. The electrical current that had burned at the border jumped on to his skin and he was scorched. Without questioning it, Mungo sat up
in the bed and oriented himself to lie beside James. He pulled the boy on to his chest and felt the crumpled wetness of his face. He held him, just like Jodie would hold him, and let him remember his mother. It was good to put your weight on someone else, even if it was just for a short while."

"Shhh, it'll be light again soon. Everything feels better in the light."

"He thought if he played dead, he could invite death to take him away. Several times he tried denying his own breath, not with a puffed-out chest, hoarding oxygen, in the way Jodie had taught him for swimming, but on the edge of his exhale he simply stopped breathing and refused to take more air inside of him. It never worked. His body was a treacherous thing."

"The boys lay a discreet distance apart. James's pinkie found his and they knotted them together like they had that first night in James's bedroom. “Do you mind?” It was tentative, all politeness and consideration. Constant searching for the next stair in the dark."

"He knew if they caught him staring they would have a hundred names for him before he had a name for himself."

"Mungo's capacity for love frustrated her. His loving wasn't selflessness; he simply couldn't help it. Mrs Campbell had once said Mungo's
forgiveness was biblical, but Jodie didn't care much for the Bible, she thought it was stupid of him to be so easily exploited"

"I can leave now, if you can? Tonight. Who cares
if somebody phones the polis? Who cares if the school sends out the social work? We can hide. Let's just fuckin' go."
James chewed the inside of his cheek. It was worse than he had thought. He reached beyond Mungo and closed the doocot door. In the darkness his strong fingers encircled Mungo, they pressed against his ribs and moved around to his spine as the long arms snaked around him. Mungo suffocated himself against James's chest, he found the prickle of Shetland wool solid and comforting.

"Not everything good goes bad."

"The falling darkness ate the clouds out of the sky."

"It was only a matter of time before James would be hurt, and for what? For liking Mungo Hamilton, the ruiner of all good things."

(James to Mungo) Seeing the outline of heel prints under the ointment, still blooming and darkening across his pale trunk, he laid his fingers gently on it. "Sweet suffering fuck."

Another stunner from Douglas Stuart - this book is the perfect spiritual sequel to Shuggie Bain. It’s different, yet touches on many of the same themes. The book is at once heartbreaking and uplifting. The characters are vibrant and the writing impeccable.

Thank you for this beautiful ARC.

Immediately you are sucked into the novel, the same way as Snuggie Bain sucks you in. I loved the characters and how I felt like I was right there with Mungo the entire time.

This book discusses many dark, yet important, topics and would be absolutely perfect for a book club pick.

I also love the cover!

Thank you again for the ARC! Ordered a copy as well to hold on to.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Literary Fiction + LGBTQ

Young Mungo is the story of a fifteen-year-old boy who lives in Glasgow with his alcoholic mother (Mo-Maw) and his elder siblings, Jodie and Hamish. The story is tender as its main character. And this is what causes Mungo to face many difficulties due to being judged constantly by others for what he is. This young boy has to face many dreadful things like his mother’s alcohol addiction, the toxic masculinity that keeps imposing on him to be the typical kind of a man and at the same time prohibiting him to be what he truly is. Then there is the violence, abuse, and religious conflicts that he has to face. But it is not all dark, there is some hope too and love that keep Mungo going.

I have heard so many good things about the author’s debut novel and Booker Prize winner Shuggie Bain. Hopefully, I get the time to read that one soon. What the story shines in are the strong characters and the relatable issues it tackles. Both are intelligently combined and beautifully written in a way making the book very relevant to our time. The characters are vivid and like real people. You feel for them and also get frustrated with them.

I think with each character the author has introduced to us, he also introduced the problem or the issue attached to that character. The mother represented addiction, Hamish represented violence as the hooligan of a gang, St Christopher and Gallowgate were the representation of typical toxic masculinity. James represented not just hope and unfamiliar love for the teenager but also uncertain goals. The boy didn’t know what he wanted and all that was due to his father’s treatment.

I don’t want to use the word “enjoyment” for this book because it is the kind of story that I’d better say that I appreciated than enjoyed. What I liked about the author’s writing is that he always kept the hope there even at the difficult times the character was facing. There is always something to hang to. Yes, the book does have several hard-to-read scenes so be sure to check all the trigger warnings before you decide to read it. I’m intentionally not mentioning the triggers because I feel they will spoil the story and the surprise factor.

Many thanks to the publisher Grove Atlantic, Grove Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book.

Oh mungo.
I loved you so much, and fought for you and willed you on and so desperately wanted you to be happy and escape. All of that whilst reading and trying not to cry/shout/scream.
I was worried when I thought that maybe I couldn’t love another Douglas Stuart book so soon after his booker prize winner, but with this book I did.
Stuart’s writing is so full of emotion you are there in Glasgow living the life with the family, the community, the streets, the fighting, the drinking.
I loved it and I loved Mungo