I read “Shuggie Bain” the first book of the author right after it won the 2020 Booker Prize and immediately Douglas Stuart became my most coveted author of my lifetime. The sheer brilliance of the craft is simply sublime and I am still in awe of them after.
In Mungo we are introduced in the similar milieu as Shuggie's, set in Glasgow, an alcoholic mother, neglected adolescent life in poverty. Mungo too as Shuggie feels that his mother is his responsibility and he can save her.
Stuart’s prose perfect and is nuanced as expected in this book as well and he is exploring masculinity through the various male characters.
Thrusting with violence of all forms that punches in the gut, which Mungo a queer boy is exposed and subjected As difficult as Mungo's situation is he is exploring what it takes to be a man and what is in store for him.

Thank You to GroveAtlantiv and to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

This was a compelling read. I will admit that I found it hard to read the accents at times, but that was definitely a me problem.

A worthy successor to the Booker-winning debut, Shuggie Bain, Stuart's second novel follows the childhood and early adolescence of a gay boy who, much like Shuggie Bain, is the youngest child of an alcoholic mother in a working-class household in the late 80s and early 90's Glasgow. Overcast by Thacher's Britain, Mungo grows up and tackles complicated family dynamics while falling in love for the first time.

Even though Stuart's two novels are similar at face value, this sophomore novel explores themes that echo the author's childhood with a new spin. Young Mungo doesn't shy away from difficult topics while having humorous moments and scenes bursting with love. I particularly enjoyed the dreamlike prose and the way the author subtly revealed the characters through various scenes and interactions. There are some harrowing scenes of violence and neglect and parallel stories following Mungo's siblings giving more insight into the lives of family members and, by extension, the working-class community in Glasgow during that time.

The latter half of the story focuses on Mungo's blooming romance with Christopher, the boy next door, them coming to terms with their sexuality, and navigating the complex landscape where the fact that one boy is a Protestant and the other a Catholic poses just another threat to their relationship. Unfortunately, I found the novel's final third a bit lacking, with pacing issues that made the ending feel rushed.

Nevertheless, this book is a must-read for fans of Shuggie Bain, and seeing the author be more confident with this book makes me very excited to pick up anything he writes in the future.

Another amazingly heartbreaking and beautiful book by this author. Hard to read at times but so well written! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher! Loved it

This is my first Douglas Stuart novel so, not having read Shuggie Bain, I have nothing to compare it to. I always say that the mark of a truly great author is one who makes the reader FEEL something. That doesn't mean that we have to like every character, but if we hate some of the characters, that's important, too. That's how I would describe this book. It's a book that makes you feel things - about the characters, about the situations they're thrust into, and about the situations some of the characters force others into. I thought the characterization was this novel's strongest aspect, and I really got a great sense for how the characters would react in certain situations as the novel went on. I took one star away from my rating, simply because I felt it was incredible slow moving at time. For all the immense detail given to the characters, the same amount of details was given to descriptions of places, and characters' thoughts, and it got to be too much at time. However, I did appreciate how the author did not shy away from tough topics, but instead addressed them head-on in a very real and relatable way. If you don't mind a book that takes a little while to get where it's going, I'd definitely recommend Young Mungo.

Absolutely stunning.
A truly brutal read that had me hooked until the very end. The characters were beautifully crafted and the author did a fantastic job of making us, the reader, feel everything that the characters were feeling. I must say that there are a lot of troubling themes that may not be for everyone, so I recommend doing a little research before going in.

Young Mungo now sits among my favourite books of 2022. Beautifully written and I'm now excited to pick up Shuggie Bain.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This book was amazing. I coudn't put it down. It was magical. Higly recommended! The characters, the plots, the writting: wonderful and perfect.

After loving Shuggie Bain, I was extremely excited to be granted access to the ARC of Young Mungo from the publisher via NetGalley. From the first page, his style of writing comes through loud and clear. It was a welcome return, and I knew I was in good hands.

He introduces us to Mungo, a young teen who is living in poverty with a wayward, drunken mother Mo-Maw, who is prone to abandoning the children at a whim. The mother has left again, and he is left to the care of his adoring older sister Jodie who tries to shelter him from his sociopathic older brother, Hamish who has given himself over to a life of theft and violence, running a small gang of Protestant kids. This is Glasgow in the late 1970s or early 1980s (I forget which) but the divide is strong between the Protestants and the Catholics. This turns out to be another boundary he crosses along with his sexuality as he meets and falls in love with James.

I love his writing, and I find myself invested in his protagonists, so anything that hurts them is painful. This book had a bit more pain than I could tolerate and by the end, I was left so shaken. Often, I like books that push me emotionally, but this could be the nature of the cruel times we live in, but it was more than I could stomach. But I am glad to have read another book by Stuart and will read more by him in the future.

This was a powerful book, almost gothic in style. Douglas Stewart has a distinct voice and makes you feel the discomfort and displeasure, the raw and real feelings that the characters are going through. Slow burn but a fascinating storyline

This is a tough and dense book to read. I didn’t read Stuart’s last book, but my sense is that this is in a similar vein to Shuggie Bain. My favourite aspect is the love story between the teen boys, however I have to admit the alcoholic mother almost did me in. It’s a tough book to read, but it’s certainly worthwhile. Nothing feels flat in this book, the writing is evocative and at times chilling. I’d recommend it, but you need to be in a certain mood

I haven’t read Shuggie Bain yet so I went into Young Mungo completely oblivious as to what Douglas Stewart can do.

Young Mungo is a very raw story. While there are moments of happiness, do be prepared for hardship, violence, and the crushing of sensitive souls. However, the author doesn’t write any scene for shock value. The sad, true story is that Mungo’s like was – and still is – the case for many people. While there are some elements that make it clear this book was written based on the 90s, if you take some minor elements out, the plot of this book could very well be happening now. Just look at Norway last week (June 2022). Violence against members of the LGBTQ+ community is still very much happening.

What I loved about Young Mungo was that it’s wasn’t a thrashing of the working class. Yes, it’s showed that being born into a working class life can be a factor pushing people toward a less than savoury lifestyle, it’s also shows that it doesn’t have to be. It also shows that working class people are often the salt of the earth, the people who would give you their last cup of milk to help out.

Young Mungo is a triggering story so please do check if it is for you before reading. If you do go ahead and read it, read it openly. There are scenes which are uncomfortable. Don’t skim over them. Embrace the despair as well as the feelings of hope. Only then can books such as this work as a catalyst for change.

Mungo lives with sister and violent older brother while their alcoholic mother disappears for weeks at a time. There are alternating chapters between Mungo’s life at home and when he’s away on a fishing trip with two older men his mother makes him go on. During the home life chapters, Mungo meets James, and they become friends.
This is where I stopped reading. As much as I wanted to love this book due to the great reviews and adoring “Shuggie Bain,” I found this boring. I could sense there was a lot more sadness in the two thirds I had left to read, but I didn’t want to read it. Disappointing.

Unsurprisingly this was a *great* book!

The themes of this book intersects with the themes of Stuart's previous book, Shuggie Bain - there's alcoholism, poverty, neglect, abuse. And there's a young, gay boy, trying to find his way in all of it. This book, however, is more explicit in its detailing of 1990s sectarian Glasgow and the all too pervasive homophobia. It was in many ways a devastating read. The experiences forced upon Mungo. The hyper masculine ideals that he tries his hardest to evade and not internalise. But it was also, in a way that I didn't feel Shuggie Bain was, a hopeful read. It can seem hard to imagine how, going through all that Young Mungo goes through, one can continue to both fight back and remain loving and believing in them self. But Mungo, in many ways, manages to do this. He refuses to let other people's convictions taint his feelings and hopes and wants. And that makes reading through all of the truly horrendous things portrayed in this story worth it in a way I maybe, looking back now, did miss in Stuart's first book.

Such a tender LGBT story and I cannot wait for it to get all the attention it deserves upon release this year!

Shuggie Bain exploded into the literary world and is equally matched by the heartbreakingly brilliant Young Mungo. There are similar themes of homophobia, alcoholism and never-ending poverty as those that we met in Shuggie Bain, but its in no way a rehash of the same story. Douglas Stuart handles Mungo's story with delicacy and a beautiful sense of emotion, allowing the characters space to grow and experience the world.
Powerful writing, an honour to be able to read it.

This is an incredibly raw, moving story. As it is a very emotional and dark story, I do imagine this may be a very triggering read for audiences with similar trauma. Definitely recommend checking out the trigger warnings before proceeding.

Young Mungo is a strong and touching novel following the story of a teenager who had more than a rough life. This story is sad, unique while revealing the difficulties faced by the queer community. This is the kind of novel that you hug as you finish it while you're trying to process the powerful story that the author shared with the world.

Thank you so much for the advanced copy, I will cherish this story with me for a long time while I try to recover from it.

As if Stuart’s first book, Shuggie Bain, wasn’t enough to rip the heart out of readers, he adds to our emotional turmoil with Young Mungo. Life is miserable for Young Mungo in Glasgow, Scotland. His drunk mother and a bully of a brother five him no happiness. If it weren’t for his sister, Jodie, he’d have no love at all. But then he meets James Jamieson, a slightly older Catholic boy as he helps James with the doves in his dovecot. They fall in love, and they plan to move away when Mungo turns 16. But the fear of his feared brother, Hamish, and know knowing which would be worse that Mungo is homosexual or that James is a “Fenian” I enjoyed the book, but I agree with Molly Young, who wrote the NY Times review …” been thrust into the role of a misery tourist. Shuggie Bain met my quota for suffering and unhappiness it was the excellent narration in the audio version that kept me listening.

While I was concerned this would be a similar feel and story to Shuggie Bain, this has an even more raw and emotional feel.
It’s the same world as Bain but experienced completely differently from the young boy in the previous books

A fifteen-year-old boy navigates poverty, gang violence, family dysfunction, and homophobia in 1980s Glasgow, Scotland. Such is the subject of Douglas Stuart’s (Shuggie Bain) latest novel, and it’s an immersive and emotionally gripping story with thematic similarities to the work of James Joyce.

Mungo Hamilton is the youngest son of an alcoholic, often absent mother Maureen (Mo-Maw). He lives in public housing in one of Glasgow’s poorest neighborhoods where the economic policies of the Thatcher administration have created widespread unemployment. The enormity of Mungo’s plight is evident from the first chapter. Mo-Maw has disappeared, again. There’s no food in the apartment, no money to pay the bills, and his older brother Hamish (Ha-Ha) is strong-arming him to help out with his street crime schemes. Mungo, named after the lesser-known Saint Mungo of Medieval Britannia, has not yet succumbed to the bitterness of his older siblings. His sister Jodie rages over their mother’s failings while Hamish tries to grab what scraps he can from an unjust world, no matter who he hurts along the way. Mungo is the peacekeeper, the optimist, and the gentle soul in the family. Both in spite of and because of his nature, one immediately worries about the tragedies that lie ahead of him.

Yet, it’s Mungo’s story, and Stuart brings the reader in to see things from Mungo’s perspective. His mother’s neglect is frightening, but when she’s around, they share an intimate bond that transcends the troubling uncertainty of the world. His sister Jodie likewise provides some maternal comfort and protection. She wants Mungo to get an education and serves as a foil to Hamish, who’s a dropout and a thug. Mungo isn’t ready to decide what kind of man he should be to survive life’s hardships, but with his family dissolving, very soon, he must.

Then he meets an Irish Catholic boy named James, and that decision gets even more complicated.

James is gentle-hearted like Mungo, and he’s handsome and embattled by his own family problems. He raises pigeons in the backyard of his apartment building. Mungo is fascinated by him, and the fascination is reciprocated. They’re set apart by their religious affiliations, and though religious tensions abound in 1980s Glasgow, the boys are too young to have been spoiled by those prejudices.

Homophobia is a different story, however. Mungo recognizes that the feelings he has for James could lead to a lifetime of ridicule if discovered and even his own destruction.

Being the kind spirit he is, he worries more about the consequences for James. Thus their relationship develops tentatively and secretly. A side character, nicknamed Poor-Wee-Chickie, is Mungo’s only reference point for how gay men live, and as they say, it’s complicated. Chickie is unabashed, reviled, the butt of jokes, fearsome and lonely, living by himself. Worried about guilt by association, Mungo is terrified of him at first. But he turns out to be the confidante Mungo desperately needs, and he provides Mungo with some pivotal advice.

Stuart clearly knows 1980s working class Glasgow. Its sights and sounds and smells materialize from the pages, from rundown tenements to the crude vernacular of its denizens to their greasy home cooked meals. Amid the unpleasantness of urban living, Stuart also shows how beauty can be found in unexpected places. The prettiness of a Catholic boy’s face, which Mungo glimpses before the lad jumps him in a street fight. The joy of riding double on a bike with one’s best friend, feeling like the wheels you pedal could take you anywhere. A neighbor who gives Mungo the dignity of eating a much-needed meal in privacy. Stuart masterfully renders the environment that surrounds young Mungo with all its toxicities and its sustaining characteristics, however spare.

A portentous side story is slowly interwoven into the major plotline. It involves Mungo going on a fishing trip with a pair of sketchy men who Mungo’s mother hopes will teach him how to be a man. To describe it more would be giving everything away, but suffice it say, prepare yourself for heartbreaking twists.

An absolute triumph in coming-of-age literature, certain to appeal to readers of gay literary fiction and British historical fiction.

Reviewed for Out in Print.