A parent child relationship is the foundation, the setting for anything you encounter in life. Your parent is the fall back, the one who loves you unconditionally, and if that relationship isn’t that way, if it’s indeed the opposite of the fall back then, well, that turns everything around on it’s head. You cannot be lovable as the one who was supposed to love you didn’t.

But when do you say enough is enough. When do you reach a point with your mother that makes you go, ok no. this is a step too far? What does it take to love yourself when no one else will?



While writing this the whole time I was thinking- Shuggie- instead of Mungo the titular character. That’s because there are many similarities in this book and that. the setting, the main characters, the Glaswegian dialect, the mother son relationship, the atmospheric writing made me feel like I was reading about a slightly grown up shuggie and like in Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart doesn’t shy away from the raw brutality of alcoholism, poverty, and dysfunctional family lives.

In this one though the focus isn’t completely on the mother-son relationship like it was for Shuggie and Agnes. In this one Mungo’s Mo maw has moved on with life and Mungo is still trying to see where he fits. Snippets of his neighbour’s stories and the general working class life in Glasgow the after effects of Thatcher’s politics still trickle through but are not the highlight.

The book switches between two timelines, one which begins with young Mungo taking off on a fishing trip with two men, and slowly the feelings of dread start building up. All the possible trigger warnings for this one although I won’t go into it in detail.

In Shuggie Bain, the relationship between Agnes, her past and how she became the person she was, was central to the story. In Young Mungo we are told rather than shown about why Mo – maw is the way she is and the words selfish and not a proper mother were thrown around casually and that didn’t sit well with me.

On the whole this one was long but packed a punch and was beautiful in its rawness. It makes me wonder where Stuart will go next though as I cannae imagine anything but Glaswegian leaking from his pages

Goodbye to Innocence, Hello East End.

Stuart's East End bathes Innocence until only dirt, violence and sadness remains, you cannot stay in the East End otherwise. There is a food tradition in Glasgow where all manner of food is battered and deep fried, be it pizza, chocolate bars, haggis. This is described in fact in one of the earlier chapters. Stuart kind of does the same technique, battering and frying by immersing us the readers in the East End, the vernacular, the violence, the sarcastic humour.

I've not read his 'Shuggie Bain' because the blurb had given me an inkling of what to expect, this time round I wanted to give it a try. Let's just say it's a compulsive but also a hard read. In fact I noticed that although I wanted to continue reading some bits were so hard that I had to stop reading and then continue later.

It's a story about cornered rats and how they turn on you and on each other given the chance. How strutting about showing how to be a man is the thing. How crying and drinking are a solution to being dealt a bad hand. How toxic mothers exist as well. Then add in the realisation that you like the boy across the street but hey that's a big problem because you're a boy too.

Stuart is great at creating a dark sense of foreboding which permeates the book, having just finished I'm still looking around to see where exactly I am. Must admit, I'm glad I'm home.

An ARC gently provided by author/publisers via Netgalley

For non Scots like me, I recommend apart from reading this, watching the Glasgow episode of Bourdain's 'Parts Unknown'.

Young Mungo is the second book by Douglas Stuart, the author of the 2020 Booker Prize winner Shuggie Bain. Shuggie Bain was such a brilliant, but also raw, heartbreaking and brutal book, that had such a deep impact on me. Young Mung was therefore one of my most anticipated new releases this year and I was so grateful for the opportunity to read an ARC of it. But even though the writing style and the portrayal of working-class life and toxic masculinity was quite similar to Shuggie Bain, this book was a little less devastating and Mungo a little less engaging character.

Just like Shuggie Bain, Young Mungo is a vivid coming-of-age story taking place in a depressing working class setting in Glasgow, with neglecting and abusive parents, alcoholism, homophobia and violence. Mungo is a bit older than Shuggie though, so the aspect of him realizing that he is gay and the forbidden relationship with James becomes central to the story. Despite all odds, Mungo a Protestant and James a Catholic, meet and fall in love when they should have been sworn enemies and despite knowing the harsh reactions this will evoke.

The story is told in a dual timeline, but with only a few months in between. From the present it takes us backward to Mungo’s life in the period up to and during the romance with James, and then back again. The story taking place in the present time reflects the aftermath of the relationship and adds a horrific twist when Mungo’s mother sends him on a camping trip to a remote Scottish loch with two men she knows from AA to make him ‘man up’, but only to send him straight into the hands of two child molesters. (No spoiler, this part is actually the opening scene of the book.) Like in Shuggie Bains, there isn’t any good news to expect. Around Mungo, his alcoholic mother and his siblings (Hamish, the brutal gang leader and Jodie, who dreams of going to university) there is poverty, unemployment, violence and prejudice, and an overall sense of hopelessness.

The mother is a little less in focus compared to Agnes in Shuggie Bain, so this book is more clearly Mungo’s own story. But that was perhaps also what made this book less engaging and emotional than Shuggie Bain, since Mungo as a main character is a bit bland and I never fully rooted for him the way I rooted for Shuggie, and the way I wanted to protect him from his mother. So, even though this book was not more brutal, violent or heartbreaking than Shuggie Bain I still found myself struggling more with the content this time. Perhaps because it felt too much after reading Shuggie Bain, or perhaps because I didn’t root as much for Mungo and therefore the joy and love that nevertheless was in the book didn’t outweigh the dark and disturbing parts.

But all in all, this was another beautifully written, heartbreaking and tragic coming-of-age story that showed the violence faced by many queer people and the terrible consequences that can come from loving someone you’re not supposed to in a surrounding full of toxic masculinity, prejudice and religious fundamentalism.

3.5 stars rounding up to 4.

Every single one of these characters was beautifully considered and constructed. Regardless of the size of their role, they are multi-faceted and very much alive. Even the more minor characters started to feel incredibly important to me, and that’s testament to the honesty and immersiveness of this book. This is reflected across every element of the writing. Little details like the paragraphs which give us insight into other people’s perspectives, and Mungo and James naming the pigeons in classic teenage-boy style. It all feels very (sometimes painfully) real. The shifting time-frames emphasise the difference between the urban and rural settings mungo inhabits, and drive home the idea that toxic masculinity can be enacted anywhere.

Does mungo go through more suffering than was strictly necessary for the plot? The answer to that is probably yes, meaning it sometimes blurs the line between uncomfortable realism and too-much-misery. But the book is peppered with snaps of humour, fleeting glances of kindness, moments of sweetness and sensitivity and these are more than enough to keep you going. Lovely and heart-breaking.

This was my first Douglas Stuart book and I’m soooo glad that I finally decided to pick one up, because it went above and beyond all my expectations! It tells the story of Mungo, a young protestant lad living in a tenement in Glasgow in the early 90’s with his mum and his older sister, Jodie. His brother, Hamish, is the leader of a gang and is constantly trying to pull Mungo into trouble.

Mungo is just the sweetest kid ever, despite the horrible hand that he’s been dealt. He loves his mum regardless of all the things that she does, and he loves his sister, Jodie (who I also loved!! A really interesting study of ‘eldest daughter syndrome’), and he loves his brother. And then, there’s James. JAMES!! As soon as I met James, I knew that both Mungo and I were going to love him. James is Catholic and, despite the tension between the Protestants and the Catholics, the two of them fall in love in a way that only teenagers who don’t really understand the world could. Their relationship was sweet and heart-breaking all at once, and you can’ help but root for them for the entire book. Overall, Young Mungo is just incredible. The writing is raw and lyrical and really delves into what life was like in a post-Thatcherite world. It’s also absolutely heart-breaking and the last 100 pages or so had me sobbing.

Young Mungo is a novel that I could not relate to. The first half is not very interesting, and the second half is sad. The downside of life seems to reign supreme. The talent of the author is not in dispute, He does a great job creating a world that many of us find troubling. If that was his goal, he did succeed!
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

You really have to be in the mood for this book. I cannot often read sad and tragic stories like this one but every once in a while i crave it. You really gotta have the stomach for abuse and overall drama. If you aren't bothered by this you'll find a beautifully written story about love and the tragics of life

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

Young Mungo is bruise-black, powerful, and unyielding. It features the underlying tenderness of Shuggie Bain but if possible it feels less hopeful (reflecting the worldview of the characters). Trigger warnings abound (including abuse and sexual assault), which makes Young Mungo difficult to stomach at times. If you can make it through, the story will resonate with you long after you turn the final page. I do think there's a slight structural problem, though, There are two storylines in the book and I think one of them (the one with the most violence) could have easily been cut out completely. I think it would have gotten the same themes across and with a few minor tweaks the ending would have worked just as well. True, it would leave the book with a lot less shock value--but Young Mungo is at its best when it showcases Stuart's true skill as a writer: his heart. The small, tender moments between characters are the ones that stand out the most to me--and they're the moments I wish Stuart had focused on.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic and Net Galley for the eARC of Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart. I was so excited to read this book and to experience my first read by the author.

I realize that this book wasn't written for me but none the less, I liked it and think it's one that everyone would benefit from reading! The story takes place in Glasgow. Mungo, the youngest of 3 siblings lives with his alcoholic mother and his older siblings. He falls in love with James and by society's standards and his families is forbidden to act on his feelings due to religion and stigma. His mother sends him on a weekend with some gentlemen she knows from her self help group. Mungo is subjected to sexual abuse but strikes back in order to safe his dignity and himself.

When he returns, he sees James and the aftermath of a horrific event that involved Mungo's older brother before Mungo was sent away.

This story was heart wrenching and heart breaking all at the same time. The story touches upon so many different issues and makes you wonder....... how many other Young Mungo's are there out? The obstacles that Mungo encounters just trying to survive and be happy in his own skin are obstacles that nobody should have to endure but unfortunately so many do.

Overall, a very powerful read!

This book brutally reached into my chest, ripped out my heart, drizzled some sauce on it and fed it back to me like a Sunday BBQ.
I'm not sure what I went into this book thinking, but I entirely underestimated it.

The author was able to create such an awful, yet relatable troubled family that you won't be able not to feel sorry for. Our main character has so many simple wants and needs and yet feels that he should feel guilty or even ashamed for ever thinking they were attainable. Perhaps it sounds familiar to some.

We jump back and forth between two timelines; not totally too far from each other. We're eased into the character's world, full of pity and hope. We're teased with sweet moments (I feel I'm putting that way too softly) while at other times we suffer to see things go from bad to worse. I was itching, craving and rooting for this character up to the end.

I'll admit as a gay guy, this tug at more of my heartstrings then it may for some --- but holy hell did I enjoy the journey, the pain and the delightful moments in this novel.

A huge thank you to the wonderful people at Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for early access to this book. What a way to bring in the New Year!

As other reviewers have already pointed out, some of the subject matter will probably be familiar if you read his previous novel: alcoholism, a semi-absent/abusive mother, growing up as a gay boy in Scotland, etc. The biggest difference is probably the types of relationships the book showcases. This makes sense, as Mungo is slightly older than Shuggie—he’s fifteen years-old—which naturally involves deeper connections to the different people in his life. SHUGGIE BAIN was focused on Shuggie’s relationship with his mother as a single child, whereas YOUNG MUNGO presents a larger circle of characters, including Mungo’s sister and brother.

Unfortunately, there’s something that’s not clicking for me when it comes to Stuart’s writing. I can appreciate that he’s an incredibly talented writer. Maybe it’s a language barrier thing (English isn’t my first language), but I have found both of his books to be extremely hard to read. There are a lot of descriptions, and the book often failed to keep my attention. I would finish a paragraph and realize that I got absolutely nothing from it, and had to read it again. Maybe I just had to put in a little more work to better understand what was going on or to stay focused. But, as I got further into the story, this wasn’t as big an issue. There were also more and more dialogues.

Reading about Mungo and his mother definitely reminded me of SHUGGIE BAIN. Here too, their relationship was intense, difficult; it had its ups and downs. However, I do believe that the most interesting relationships in this book were underexplored and underdeveloped. For instance, the friendship between Mungo and James was, to me, central to the plot. But it took a long time for the two characters to become actual friends, and even then, they didn’t see each other very often, or at least, we didn’t witness many of their interactions. I think if the book had started at page 200, I wouldn’t have had that impression. Honestly, if you asked me to tell you what happened in the first half of the book, I’m not sure I’d be able to.

Now, the second half the book. It was the exact opposite. Many things happened. Like, probably too many things. Hateful things. If I were to tell you everything that happened, I don’t think you’d believe me. It was absolutely horrible, and sad. I can handle sad. But it was just one thing after the other, absolutely relentless. It did keep me on the edge of my seat, and I tore through those last pages—but I’m wondering, now, if I was just hoping to get to the end faster.

It seems like this book is getting a lot of praise, so I kind of feel like the odd one out here. If you liked SHUGGIE BAIN, and if you enjoy Stuart’s writing style, I think you could enjoy this one too. I’d say, be careful, because if you thought SHUGGIE was a hard read, you might not be ready for what’s to come in this one.

When I read Shuggie Bain I at least thought that there was an attempt at something in the storytelling...

Here... here, I have absolutely no fucking clue what Stuart was attempting to do. The alternating timeline was foolishness, and while at least this time the stories meet up in a place that feels a little worth the time spent reading... it's still not at all something I would recommend to most readers.

Pedophiles, alcoholism, homophobic hate crimes, back alley abortions, domestic violence, statutory rape, and general child neglect are all things that play into the story at one time or another, often at multiple points in the narrative. Once again Stuart presents the reader with two-dimmensional characters, most of which feel ripped from the pages of his first novel with the same motivations and bland characterization...

I don't think that all books need to have a point of view, a stance on a topic, but much like how I felt with the first book when you start stacking trauma on a character like a Jenga tower I do expect there to be some kind of examination of that which can be supported by the text in some way, and I don't feel like that's the case.

Instead it's just a series of bad things happening to a character that I don't care about occasionally interrupted by interludes of characters the reader is even less invested in and in one instance the actual child rapist.

Once again Stuart has penned a book that simply exists, and the litfic girlies are gonna eat it up, but I find this is a meal that lacks real substance.
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This novel sucks you in, rips your heart out, and leaves you sobbing on the floor. Seriously. I haven’t been this emotionally impacted by a novel since A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara…and it took me a summer of reading fluffy books to heal my heart.

Young Mungo is about Mungo, the youngest child of three raised (if you can call it that) by a single mother whose presence is sporadic and, more often than not, fueled by alcohol.
Mungo’s life consists of: spending time with his older sister Jodie who serves as a surrogate mother when she is not working, alone, or reluctantly vandalizing, stealing, and fighting in his brother Hamish’s gang.


Mungo is a gentle soul who seeks out friendship and affection from whomever he can. Sadly he is often abused and taken advantage of because of this. Besides the love of his sister and the mother-like attention he gets from his next-door neighbour, Mungo finds friendship and love in his neighbour James. The fact that James is both male and Catholic makes their affection for each other dangerous.


With this second book, Douglas Stuart has become one of my favourite authors. His gift at storytelling is vivid and visceral. The reader quickly becomes immersed in the life of Mungo Hamilton, and at times we are left breathless with emotion.

Growing up in a housing estate in Glasgow, Mungo and James are born under different stars—Mungo a Protestant and James a Catholic—and they should be sworn enemies if they’re to be seen as men at all.

Douglas Stuart is a brilliant author and proves it once again in Young Mungo. A book with very well-built characters and an overwhelming story.

Young Mungo changed my life forever. Reading this story brought me a mix of feelings, love, pain, sadness and in a way, gratitude.

I hope everyone has the chance to read this amazing book, for sure one of the best reads of my life.

My thanks to Pan MacMillan for an ARC via NetGalley

Since the resounding success of Stuart's Booker Prize winning debut, Shuggie Bain, I think many readers, myself among them, have waited with baited breath to find out if the follow up would be just as beloved. Well, Stuart has done it again -- more than that, he's gone one better this time around. Yes, I actually preferred Mungo to Shuggie, and that really is saying something.

This is a book that revisits the themes of it's predecessor and expands on them as succinctly and eloquently as you would expect from the author of such a beautifully written work as Shuggie Bain.

It explores how narrow definitions of masculinity can harm and shape men in various different ways; the precariousness of mother/son relationships that was so prevalent of Shuggie; the politics of gang loyalties in religiously divisive communities and their violent repercussions; the physical, mental, and at times moral degradation that are the consequence of economic deprivation. But most uniquely, this is a queer love story between two boys who are navigating the joy, the shame, and the beauty of their desire for one another in a community who they know will not accept them.

This book is best enjoyed without knowing much about the plot beforehand, but be aware that some of the content is difficult to read. Stuart's candid narrative does not gloss over the harsh realities of Mungo's circumstances. It is a gritty, sobering, but ultimately hopeful novel that is, at it's heart, a story of resilience. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC.

This review also appears on Instagram- @victoriasliterarythings

I feel so lucky to have received an advanced reader’s e-copy of “Young Mungo” by Douglas Stuart. Stuart’s debut novel, “Shuggie Bain”, was one of my absolute favourite reads of 2020, so I’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of his second work for awhile. “Young Mungo” did not disappoint. The novel alternates between two time periods - a nightmarish fishing trip on which Mungo is taken by two men his mother meets at an AA meeting and the central plot a few months earlier, where Mungo meets James and their beautiful, forbidden love story unfolds. Stuart’s writing is beautiful, heartbreaking and filled with impactful juxtapositions - raw, visceral descriptions of 1990s Glasgow’s gritty housing estates and its Catholic v Protestant gang violence; the tender, pure, star-crossed love between Mungo and James; the vivid, well-developed characters that make up Mungo’s dysfunctional family - his absent, alcoholic mother; violent, brutal brother Hamish; kind, wise sister Jodie; and of course the character of Mungo himself, for whom I rooted for a happy ending and for whom my my heart
broke many times throughout the novel. I can’t wait until “Young Mungo”s publication day (April 5, 2022 in Canada and the US) to buy a hard copy for my personal collection. Thank you to NetGalley, Grove Atlantic and Douglas Stuart for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As a followup to the Man Booker-winning Shuggie Bain, I think it’s fair to acknowledge that Douglas Stuart’s Young Mungo treads very similar territory — a sensitive young Glaswegian lad is coming of age in a time and place of casual violence and toxic masculinity, raised by an alcoholic single mother whom he can’t help but love and care for — but while Shuggie’s story was mostly one of a childhood lost, Mungo’s is a tale of exploring one’s sexuality and discovering self. With a plot unspooled in alternating timelines — what events led to Mungo being sent off on a camping trip with a pair of questionable male role models and what happens on that trip — there is a fair amount of tension, if no real shockers (and perhaps some strained credibility), but Young Mungo shines more in the specifics than in the overall picture; and shine it does. Stuart has, once again, created some really fine and believable characters, and in this world of hurt, I rooted for them. Rounding up to four stars.

Douglas Stuart has brought us back to Glasgow where we follow young Mungo, a sensitive isolated teenager. Like in Shuggie Bains, there isn’t any good news here. The characters live amongst the tenements, encased by poverty, substance abuse, prejudice, unemployment and religion. The post-Thatcher setting feels believable and what a depressing, oppressive world it was. The focus doesn’t stray too far from Mungo’s narrative, but we still get enough from the surrounding characters to create depth and understanding. The author flips back and forth to an event in young Mungo’s life and how he came to be there and it’s harrowing. As a reader, even though you feel the suspense, like the main character you still have a sense of innocence and hope throughout. This book felt cinematic and I was engaged from beginning to end. The story takes you along for a ride, a sad one, but one worth taking.

3.5 stars

A beautifully written coming of age story saturated in violence and tragedy.

[What I liked:]

•The prose is lovely. The writing & dialogue catalogue the observations of small daily life things, the beauty of being outside in the summer, the pain of being trapped with no way out, & the confusion of dealing with an emotionally unstable parent.

•Mungo is a pretty realistic portrayal of a 15-year-old kid: the limited perspective on life, the vulnerability, the feeling of being too grown up too fast yet still just a powerless kid, & falling in love for the first time—all are subtly & skillfully captured here.

•The ending is a bit open-ended, & leaves the possibility for something good in Mungo’s future. It could have ended in a much sadder place, & I’m glad it didn’t, because oh my word is this story already tragic and dark.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•There is so much violence, sexual violence, and abuse packed into this one book. I get that it’s realistic, that some people’s existences are just this tragic & bleak, but it is just relentless.

CW: sexism, homophobia, murder, child sexual abuse, sexual assault/r*pe, substance abuse, infidelity, physical & verbal child abuse/neglect, teacher/student sexual relationship, sectarian violence, domestic violence

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]