Mungo is fourteen and lives on a housing estate in Glasgow, Scotland. His mother had the children young, only twenty when Mungo the youngest was born. She is an alcoholic who is rarely home, off with men who will keep her supplied with drink. Mungo's oldest brother, Hamish, is eighteen. He is the leader of a group of Protestant boys who fight with Catholics and immigrants. Hamish already is a father and spends most of his time with his young girlfriend and baby. That leaves Mungo alone most often with his big sister Jodie. Jodie is smart and yearns to go to college one day if she can break free.

Lonely most of the time, Mungo meets James. James lives with his father but his father works on the oil rigs, away for weeks at a time, leaving James to live alone. His family is Catholic so he and Mungo should never be friends according to those around him. James raises pigeons and the boys bond over their care. Eventually the friendship turns romantic although both boys are ashamed of their love for each other.

There are two main stories that intertwine in the book. One is the friendship between Mungo and James and how that progresses over time and the other is a weekend that Mungo spends camping with two old men. His mother has sent him away with them, saying they will show Mungo how to fish and survive in the woods but really because they provided her with money to buy the drink she cannot live without. What happens on that trip will affect Mungo's life forever.

Douglas Stuart got off to a huge start in the literary world. His first book, Shuggie Bain, won the Booker Prize which is unheard of. This book echoes many of the same themes, the Scottish lower class families, the enmity between the two religions and homosexual love. The book is lyrical and the reader will just want to reach into the pages and save Mungo from the disasters one can see coming for him. I listened to this novel and the narrator's Scottish accent made the characters and place come alive. I'm looking forward to Stuart's third book to see if he can break away from this environment and write about different things. This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.

“I’m too many bad things, I don’t want to be a liar too.”

Prepare to be broken in half. This book is so expertly woven, jumping timelines to give you little bits of information across multiple moments that ultimately bring you to the culminating look at the protagonist, 15 year old Mungo. Dealing with heavy themes of forbidden love, family power struggle, toxic masculinity, and alcoholism, ultimately this coming of age tale is a portrait of what being Queer in Glasgow in the (implied) 80s/90s was like for Young Mungo.

Trigger warning and spoiler, there are some quite difficult scenes of non-consensual sex. Luckily the author avoids the bluntness of explicitly writing these out, opting for more of an aftermath perspective.

I tried the physical copy as well as the audio, and I think this book is just not for me in terms of style and pacing.

What a tour de force! This is a book that will reward the patient listener, the listener who is willing to wade through the slow exposition and rising action--which is not hard to do because the writing is stunning, but not much happens so some people might struggle with this.

Once you do get past it, then my oh my... What a literary treat!

All the stars! What a ride. This was absolutely devastating and heartbreaking, but so beautiful.

Mungo is a Protestant, James a Catholic. And they are supposed to be enemies. But they're drawn to each other, become best friends. And even start to fall in love, until life catches up to them.

Douglas Stuart has written another compelling, emotional, real and raw contemporary fiction. The writing and story-telling are so gripping. Watching James' and Mungo's relationship grow in their own little sancturary at the pigeon dovecote was so special. I was so drawn in, and attached. I hate how sad this book made me, which made me love and appreciate it even more.

Phenomenal audiobook and narration. The characters felt more real, I absolutely loved it.

I am enamored by Stuart's stories and I cannot wait to see what he publishes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for a copy of this audiobook.

"Young Mungo" is a powerful and evocative novella that tells the story of a young boy growing up in Glasgow in the 1980s. The book is a prequel to Stuart's award-winning novel "Shuggie Bain" and explores the early years of Shuggie's older brother, Mungo.

One of the things that I loved about this book is the way that Stuart captures the voice and perspective of a young child. Mungo's thoughts and observations are at times innocent and at other times insightful, and the author does an excellent job of immersing the reader in the world of a working-class family in Glasgow.

Another standout feature of "Young Mungo" is the way that the author explores the themes of family, identity, and masculinity. Mungo's relationship with his father is particularly poignant, and the book does an excellent job of capturing the conflicting emotions of love and resentment that can exist between family members.

The writing in "Young Mungo" is spare but impactful. Stuart has a talent for conveying emotion through small details and observations, and the book is filled with moments of both joy and heartbreak. Despite its short length, the book packs a powerful emotional punch, and I found myself deeply moved by the story.

Overall, "Young Mungo" is a stunning novel that stands on its own as a powerful work of fiction. It is also an excellent companion piece to "Shuggie Bain," providing additional context and depth to the world and characters that Stuart has created. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys literary fiction that explores the complexities of family, identity, and growing up.

'Young Mungo' is Douglas Stuarts second book after the Booker winning 'Shuggie Bain'.
Mungo is a young man facing hardship and conflict in his young life. When he develops feelings for his friend, in the backdrop of a time when it was not acceptable he faces more hardship and difficult times.
'Young Mungo' continues Douglas Stuart's realist and honest writing.
The characters are well developed and you feel like you are on their journeys with them.
It is a story that won't leave you and in a way makes you feel loss for the characters when you finish the book.
Highly recommended and a great read.
Listening to the book with its great narration adds to the dimensions of this book.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley in allowing me to read in return for a review.

“It was good to put your weight on someone else, even if it was just for a short while.”

YOUNG MUNGO is the story of a fifteen-year-old queer Protestant boy in Glasgow that is by turns desolate, heartbreaking, and beautiful. The novel unfolds in two timelines: one in the present as Mungo is taken away on a fishing trip to a remote loch by two older men, and one in the recent past, laying out the events leading up to the trip. The structure gives the entire novel an ominous feeling: on the trip, the behavior of the older men is increasingly disturbing, and in the chapters preceding the trip you know something horrible is going to happen to result in Mungo being sent away. As the abuse, violence, and betrayal Mungo experiences are made plain - at the hands of his alcoholic mother, his angry older brother, and the predatory men on the fishing trip - along with the oppressive homophobia, a feeling of hopelessness pervades the story. The only thing that kept me going through the bleakness was his budding relationship with James, a young Catholic boy who lives in Mungo’s neighborhood. The entire book is exquisitely written, but the scenes between them - their tentative attraction, their anxious vulnerability, their earnest childhood intimacy - are breathtaking. The ending glimmers with a slight ray of hope that I was grateful for after 400 pages of almost unending horror (the other exception, aside from James, being Mungo’s relationship with his older sister). It's a powerful exploration of family ties, the quest for masculinity, and queer love unfolding within conflict. I’m curious how this landed for folks who have read Stuart’s previous novel, SHUGGIE BAIN; I’ve heard it’s thematically and tonally similar. Thanks to Grove Press and Recorded Books Media for the ALC!

Content warnings: rape, statutory rape, child sexual abuse, intense beatings, murder, intimate partner violence, bullying, homophobia, suicidal ideation

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

I had no idea what to expect from this book but I was pleasantly surprised. The narrator was fantastic and I was so happy that they used a traditional Scottish narrator to really make the story come to life! I did have to slow down my listening speed a bit so I could fully comprehend what was being said, but I didn’t have any issues once the story started picking up. This is a coming of ago tale about Mungo, his chaotic home life, and his struggle with his sexuality. I found all aspects extremely compelling and was routing for Mungo along his journey. I will definitely recommend to family and friends, as many people will be able to relate to his struggles.

The narrator was fine, but took a bit of time to get into the swing of the accent. The story was so depressing! I understand that it was sort of the point of the whole thing, that Mungo has a shit life, but the poor kid couldn't catch a break. And his mother...what a dumbass! Let's send my kid off with two men I know nothing about for a weekend of camping. Brilliant plan! I was continually cringing through the whole book.

Young Mungo is a gritty, unflinching, coming of age story that shocked me at times, and made me recoil in horror at the cruelty of this world. Beautiful Mungo is born into poverty in Glasgow to a selfish, alcoholic mother. His older brother is a street fighter, drug peddler and downright vicious. Only his sister, intelligent Jodie, shows him any love at all.
Mungo finds friendship and eventually love with James, but has to hide this from everyone, especially his own family. The story is told in two timelines. In the present, Mungo’s mother has sent him on a camping trip with two ex-cons, both of whom were inside for sex crimes, if you can believe that. The story takes us in alternative chapters into the past to hear about Mungo’s upbringing, his devotion to his horrendous mother and his manipulation by his brother.
This is not an easy story to listen to. Douglas Stuart doesn’t spare his readers the gory details. I had to listen to it over time while reading other books in between. It evoked so many emotions, especially abject horror at the behaviour of Mungo’s self-absorbed mother, the violence of the streets, the camping trip which was a recipe for disaster, and the cruelty of his brother.
I absolutely adored the ending, and would love to say something about it, but cannot without spoilers. You’ll just have to read it. But beware, trigger warnings for abuse, rape, violence, religious intolerance, homophobia – this is definitely not a book for the faint-hearted. However, it is also a story of hope and redemption, and there are moments that are beautiful and pure.
The narration was absolutely wonderful and although I bought the physical copy I am delighted that I was able to listen to this. Chris Reilly brought the characters and story to life with his wonderful voice.

Unfortunately this audiobook title was archived before I could access and download it. What drew me to it was the emotional and raw description of the story. I will have to consume via alternate means.

As much as I enjoyed Douglas Stuart's debut novel "Shuggie Bain," with its complicated portrayal of a mother's alcoholism, I found myself wanting to know more about Shuggie and what it's like to be a young working-class homosexual kid in Scotland. There are many moving episodes with Shuggie, and the film mostly focuses on his point of view, but the drama is actually about his mother, Agnes. So I was delighted to see that "Young Mungo" is nearly entirely about Mungo himself. On the surface, the two novels appear to be comparable since they include individuals from the same socioeconomic background in the 1990s who are both dealing with issues of poverty, addiction, and toxic masculinity. However, the individuals in "Young Mungo" are diverse and approach their problems in quite different ways. Another problem raised in "Shuggie Bain" that piqued my interest was the sectarian war in Glasgow between Catholics and Protestants. This conflict is also highlighted in this new work since Mungo is born into a Protestant household and becomes involved in the subsequent street fighting with Catholics. Furthermore, it's the gay 'Romeo and Juliet' romance I've always wanted to read since Mungo falls in love with Catholic kid James. The outcome is a stunning and heartbreaking romance about a personal journey for acceptance in a culture that cannot accept or allow diversity.

I will say right away that Douglas Stewart's much-anticipated second novel Young Mungo (2022) turned out to be my second disappointment of the year after the new Yanagihara. And here's why.

⁃ The cover and synopsis of Young Mungo sets readers up for a certain kind of feel: a coming-of-age novel about the love of two poor boys from opposing camps of Catholics and Protestants. In fact, however, Mungo and James' romance does not begin until the last third of the book and is given barely a tenth of the entire text.

⁃ Much of Young Mungo is very much a Shaggy Bane-like story of a young working-class boy in Thatcher Glasgow, forced to live in a violent environment, with an alcoholic mother and similarly unstable siblings: his brother is a gangster, and his sister (perhaps the brightest image of the book) gets pregnant by a teacher. The novel reads like a sequel to "Shaggy Bane" about a grown-up hero - if he was 10 in the first novel, he was 15 in the second.

⁃ For the first two-thirds of the book, almost nothing happens, very long exposition. The novel jumps structurally in two time strata: Mungo's life with his family in Glasgow, meeting James - and some time later a "tent from hell" on the lakeside with two men from the mother's AA club. Anything that could have been done to Mungo, these drunks here have done to him.

⁃ Young Mungo is stuffed to the top with brutal, detailed scenes of human cruelty at the bottom of society. Mungo is just a magnet for all the trigger-happiness. Rape, paedophilia, alcoholism, parental neglect, domestic violence, homophobia, teen abortion, etc. Misery porn is better than A Little Life, but it won't bring a tear to your eye - Stewart's writing is both dry and redundant.

⁃ Stuart writes in a way that makes the reader uncomfortable. Lots of Gaelic slang, lots of broken colloquial grammar. The principle of show, don't tell is pushed far back, throughout the text the author repeats or paraphrases what he has just said. It looks something like this: Under a grey, dim, colourless sky in a square blown by a cold, piercing, northern wind, Mungo saw the town punk. "City punk," thought Mungo, but said nothing aloud and only kept silent.

⁃ On the whole I don't understand the point of this novel - just about everything Stewart is talking about here, all the Gaelic pain of a depressed city and the difficult experience of growing up - he told it all perfectly in Shaggy Bane, and Young Mungo looks like a self-repeat. Only this time Stuart has shifted the focus a bit from the alcoholic mother to her son, and dropped all 33 misfortunes on his head.

Interesting and well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Just a little slow and unbelievable at some points. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

wow, wow..all the stars for this one!

Get your hankies at the ready and brace yourself for the truly heartbreaking and captivating story of lovely young mungo.

Told in a dual timeline with some alternative POVs we get drawn into the true essence of what it means to grow up in Glasgow in the 80s. Whilst there is a constant feeling of dread hanging over this story, there is still beauty to be found in some of the more intimate moments between mungo and the people in his life.

I was drawn in from the first page and whilst most of this book instills a sense of dread, the ending leaves the other quietly optimistic .
My favourite read or 2022

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.

Also, I cannot recommend enough listening to the audiobook version of this story if it's available to you. The narration really adds to the experience ✨

A big thank-you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for giving me a copy of this book for an unbiased review.

4.5/5 - Loved it.

"It was like hot buttered toast when you were starving. It was that good."

If that sentence doesn't send shivers down your spine, you must not have read "Young Mungo." This book is incredible. I feel at loss to even put into words what reading this was like, because I genuinely felt plunged into Mungo's world - the vulnerability and devastation, the beauty in the brokenness, the hope in a space that feels entirely desolate. As many readers have commented, "Young Mungo" strikes similar chords to "A Little Life" with a main character who is just too pure for this world and a painful narrative in which this character is faced with trials far too cruel for their kindness.

Yet despite the dark themes of this book - homophobia, violence, nationalistic conflict, addiction, rape - there are such intense rays of hope and light and brilliance that come in the form of characters who keep their basic goodness in the face of all the evils that the world can throw at them. This book is simultaneously heart-wrenching and inspiring. And I could not stop thinking about Mungo the entire time I was reading it. I wish I knew Mungo. I wish I could hug him and keep him safe. I completely fell in love with him and with James, with the intense goodness of these two boys.

Although I got a copy of this book to review, I went out and bought it today because I need to own it so that I can read it and re-read it and re-read it again. If I can't have a Mungo on my life, I need a Mungo on my shelf.

Young Mungo was one of my most anticipated releases of 2022, and it didn't disappoint.

With the same mind-catching writing as Stuart's previous bestseller, Shuggie Bain, this story shows both the beauty and danger that being young, queer, and in love would've wrought in Glasgow many years ago. Not only that, this story also takes us down a darker path of how abuse can so easily take place, and the pain that comes with it when it does.

This novel isn't for the faint of heart. While I did enjoy it, it left me in tears during at least one point, and so very angry during several others. The happiness never lasted for long enough, but it captures well the tragedy of a life so unfairly unbalanced.

I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Chris Reilly and quite enjoyed the experience, the narrator did a beautiful job. My only true critique is that it felt a bit slow in a couple of places, but other than that it's lovely and I'd definitely recommend it. I'd especially if you were a fan of Stuart's previous novel, Shuggie Bain; these two novels feel like brothers in a way.

*I was given a copy of this title via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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.