This is an absolutely brilliant novel that left me completely enthralled from start to finish. The story follows the journey of Mungo, a young boy growing up in Scotland in the 1980s, as he navigates the challenges of poverty, abuse, and his own sexual identity.

Douglas Stuart's writing is simply stunning. His descriptions of the Scottish landscape are so vivid and evocative that I felt like I was right there beside Mungo as he explored the rugged terrain. But what really sets this book apart is the depth and complexity of the characters. Mungo is a wonderfully complex protagonist, and I found myself rooting for him and empathizing with him throughout the book.

The themes explored in "Young Mungo" are difficult and sometimes painful, but they are also incredibly important. Stuart does an incredible job of shining a light on issues like poverty, abuse, and discrimination, while also celebrating the resilience and strength of the human spirit.

Overall, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is a beautifully written, deeply moving, and ultimately uplifting story that will stay with me for a long time to come.

As someone who absolutely loved and adored Shuggie Bain and how it broke my heart, I went into this book with a lot of expectations and the narrative and especially the pacing of the book fell a bit flat. Also, this book had a major Shuggie Bain hangover, like the author himself was not able to recover from the effect of the brilliant first book that he wrote. I wish I liked this book more.

Thank you so much for the publishers at Grove Press for providing me with an e-copy in exchange for an honest review. This was a book that I hoped to work real well for me since it came with a lot of hype with the author's debut winning a Booker Prize. Unfortunately, couldn't finish the book because of its lackluster pacing.

Shuggie Bain was one of the best books I've read in recent years, and Douglas Stuart's Young Mungo is a more than worthy follow-up. Stuart is able to capture the confusion and wonder of growing up; the sense of desperation and loneliness of not belonging to the only place you've ever known; and the joys and pangs of experiencing your first love. Five out of five stars. I can't wait to see what he writes next.

Devestating, heartbreaking, brutal, beautiful, awe-inspiring, a masterclass in writing… I could go on. Douglas Stuart just really gets to the heart of people, he understands them and he paints them so vividly and sensitively with so much care and attention to detail. I was completely immersed from start to finish – a very special book with a love story at the centre that felt so authentic and raw. I found myself encaptured by tiny details – the way Stuart describes the people on a bus, the way the setting is described, the way the narrative shifts perspectives so seamlessly in a way that feels effortless. A brilliant and incredibly worthwhile read.

Young Mungo sat on my unread NG shelf for quite some time. I was afraid to dive into the dark themes, and I was waiting for when I was in the mood for a dark emotional read; however, that didn't come.

Young Mungo tells us the story of a boy and his alcoholic mother in working-class Glasgow. It's hard-hitting, aching, and heartbreaking, with themes of poverty, abuse, homophobia, and toxic male masculinity filled with violence. I don't usually shy away from dark stories, but this one was excessively so. I didn't feel anything hopeful coming for poor young Mungo, and I didn't hang in there long enough to find out if it did. I DNF it around the 70% mark.

The way I wept. Douglas Stuart, you are a talent.

A beautiful, heart-wrenching story of love against all odds. Two Glaswegian teenage boys who fall in love despite being on either side of the sectarian divide, and who dream of a better future together despite the odds stacked against them.

A true masterpiece. Read this book.

I didn't care for the writing style. It was very choppy and confusing. I liked the premise, but the overall just dragged too much. I expected more from such a beloved author.

'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.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley in allowing me to read in return for a review.

I'm glad I gave Stuart another go after not connecting with Shuggie Bain - even if this one didn't hit home as much as I wanted it to.

Young Mungo is a beautifully written story of a teenage boy in 1980s Glasgow, too sweet for the brutal reality around him, and gay in a time when it homosexuality was viewed with hatred. He befriends and then falls in love with a Catholic boy named James, in a Romeo-and-Juliet dynamic, although they both know it cannot end happily.

I actually enjoyed the writing so much - Douglas Stuart has the singular talent of bringing to the page deeply sweet, innocent characters and also dark, broken characters, and make us fall in love with both of them. Even when the characters do something cruel, still we feel that we understand their motives, even if we hate them for it.

This is a very, very brutal story, incredibly violent. I don't recommend it to more sensitive readers (like myself), for whom this book will feel like a miserable experience, despite its magnificent writing. I was also a little bit bored by the fact that Young Mungo reminded me so much of Shuggie Bain - this sweet, young gay boy, the youngest of three, to whom life in 1980s Glasgow dealt very harsh cards and a brutal life. I just felt like I'd read it before, even if Young Mungo was actually heading in different directions in terms of character development.

I would really, really like to see Douglas Stuart do something different for his next novel. He is incredibly talented and I look forward to reading more from him!

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.

5 "perceptive, powerful, painful, poignant" stars !!

A warm thank you to Netgalley, the author and Grove Atlantic for an e-copy. This was released April 2022 and I am providing my honest review.

I do not know how this little review will turn out and I do not wish to censor myself. After finishing this book and crying terribly I grabbed my beloved and asked him to take me out for a long night drive and I listened to slow Arabic love songs and held his hand.

This novel is both intensely intimate and wildly Shakespearean. A family drama, a love story and a coming of age play out in an intensely macho and homophobic Glasgow in the 1980s.

Young Mungo is anxious, needy, sweet, naive and terribly neglected. He is Other and is adrift and friendless until he meets James. The tenderest and sweetest of love unfolds and then...chaos, violence, hurt along with deep care, hope and a yearning for the wider world and connection to nature and beauty.

The prose is vivid and clear and superb. The dialogue zings with authenticity. The psychologies are startingly sound and the sociology unabashedly hyper realistic. The connection to emotions is genuine and painful and the breath is shallow and hurried.

Truly a magnificent and fierce read that permeated to a very deep level....

With humble thanks to Mr. Douglas Stuart !

Oh boy, what an epic novel. It draws you in and makes you feel like you are part of their lives. It is a massive book, but it wants you to read more. It is a rare glimpse into the life of these boys. Great read.

When I read Shuggie Bain I was drawn to it, interested in the story but was also irritated by it: it was too much, too sad, too tragic, meant only to bring out sadness. Young Mungo is similar, but different. The writing is more mature, the story is again tragic, the characters are constantly suffering, the atmosphere is gloomy, but this time, maybe even, not without hope. Cruelty, violence, alcoholism, poverty, rape, hard life that is impossible to escape from. The story was interesting, the characters were well written, I would say more complex than in Shuggie, I liked the delicate love story. But, again, that is it. Just an emotionally more mature version of Shuggie.

So first, I really loved Shuggie Bain and my interior monologue had a Scottish accent for actual weeks after reading it. This is not relevant to this review, I just had to share.

Stuart did not disappoint with this follow-up. He knows how to break a dang heart, and he does it again here. I have no criticism- I liked the two timeframes, the main characters, the amazing names, the writing- I just got my heart broken again.

That is all.

Thanks so much for the review copy!

Thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. After reading Shuggie Bain by the same author, I was anxious to read Young Mungo. This was another heartbreaking and beautifully written book. His characters are well developed and pull you into the story almost immediately. I’ll definitely read more by Douglas Stuart in the future.

I actually enjoyed this novel more than Stuart’s previous, the Booker Prize-winning Shuggie Bain. There were a lot of overlaps between the two main characters, though I found myself more interested in Mungo, who seemed to have a life outside of just his mother. The heart of the novel, Mungo’s relationship with James, came a bit late, and I wished it was introduced earlier. I also found myself jolted by the back and forth time jumps in the beginning, but acquainted myself with them after a time. Overall I’d recommend this book even to people who didn’t love Shuggie Bain.

Ah what a follow up to Shuggie Bain. Yet another heartbreaking story that you can't put down. Really emotional with incredible writing. Would definitely recommend it.

Young Mungo is the newest Scottish book by author Douglas Stuart. This is a heartbreaker of a tale. Mungo is being raised in a tumultuous home by an alcoholic mother. He has an older brother and sister. The brother isn't very helpful but the sister tries to encourage Mungo to think beyond where he's living now and to plan for a better future. Mungo is struggling to figure out how he can be his authentic self while pleasing all around him. You can't help but feel for him. Read and enjoy!

From the author of the wonderful Shuggie Bain comes another novel set in Glasgow, and another plot about a young gay boy. Douglas Stuart is such a wonderful writer that the similarities just add to the enjoyment.