Glasgow, 1990s. A family trapped in poverty, alcoholism, violence and abuse. The novel is unforgivingly bleak and often an uncomfortable and harrowing read. At the heart of the book is the growing relationship between Mungo and James Jamieson who are at opposite ends of the sectarian divisions in Glasgow. This is carefully developed and at stark contrast to the other interrelationships between the other major characters: the mother and Jock; Jodie and her abuser; Hamish and his girlfriend. There are a number of characters who only fulfil stereotypical roles, without any additional nuance.

The story starts with a trip Mungo makes with two men to Loch Lomond and then recaptures recent events that lead to this trip. Whilst the technique it is effective in casting a pall over the whole novel, it does so with little subtlety and provides an unsettling imbalance to the novel.

Young Mungo is a dark and disturbing story where the only positive thing is the fledgling relationship between Mungo and James. This is a world where the only thing seen to be worse than a relationship between a Catholic and a Protestant is if they also happen to be gay. Mungo is only just beginning to realise that he is different from the other young men around him; he doesn’t fit in, but instead of trapping him this may turn out to be his salvation.
In some respects, this is a kind of sequel to Shuggie Bain in that the main character begins the book at about the same age as Shuggie was at the end. There are similarities and there are differences between the two stories. The setting is the same though time has moved on. This is a much bleaker story as Mungo faces daily the pressure to ‘man-up’ and behave like all the other young men around him. He remains loyal to his mother despite her behaviour. Unlike Shuggie’s mother Agnes, Mo-Maw has no saving graces – she is completely self centered and often leaves her children to fend for themselves, not knowing where their next meal is coming from, as she goes in search of her own gratification.
The writing is excellent, the characters are well drawn, and the time and place are strongly evoked. The two main strands of the narrative are skillfully woven together. The fishing trip is imbued with a strong sense of foreboding right from the beginning, and gradually builds into a nightmarish scenario where Mungo will be tested to the limit. The ending is ambiguous but offers the possibility of hope. I have no idea if Douglas Stuart intends to write any more of Mungo’s story, but I would definitely be happy to read it. Despite the bleakness of this story, I was gripped and hoped that Mungo would escape the toxic masculinity and violence that was seen as the norm for young working-class men at that time. Thanks to Picador and NetGalley for a digital copy to review.

I want to start this review by saying that this book is expertly written and an astonishing portrayal of early 1990s Glasgow through the eyes of 15-year-old Mungo Hamilton. It captures in vivid detail, warts and all a poverty-stricken Glasgow where gangs roam the streets and being homosexual will see you beaten. It is a strong piece of literature.

However, although I can appreciate the strong writing behind this book it was not one for me. Perhaps I was not in the mood, but I found its stark realism dragging me to a dark place. There are lots of trigger points rape, grooming, drugs, domestic violence, and alcoholism and even the burgeoning loose love story between Mungo and James was not enough to reel me in. I don’t want to dissuade anyone from reading this book as it has seen amazing review, it just wasn’t for me.

Powerful and starkly real three out of four stars

Young Mungo is another heartbreaking novel from Douglas Stewart following his amazing debut Shuggie Bain. The novel is set in the East end of Glasgow in the early 1990’s and follows 15 year old Mungo and his dysfunctional family. Mungo’s alcoholic mother is rarely around and his older sister takes better care of him. His brother Hamish is the leader of a Protestant gang involved in violence and drugs. In true Romeo and Juliette style, Mungo falls in love with another boy James, who is also Catholic.
The story has another strand that follows Mungo on a camping trip that causes further trauma in his young life.
This book is beautifully written with amazing characters and attention to detail. It is also one of the bleakest books I have ever read and will stay with me for a long time.

Douglas Stuart has done it again. Young Mungo is another beautiful and compelling novel which broke my heart. Stuart's characterisation of a teenage boy who is lonely, confused about his sexuality and whose home life is unsettled is tender and powerful. Mungo wormed his way deep into my heart and has a place there forever.

I found parts of this book very difficult to read, particularly the camping trip, which felt like it could only ever end in disaster. It was brutal and raw, and full of threat and menace. Stuart's portrayal of Mungo, in the middle of nowhere with two predators was heart wrenchingly awful, but I couldn't look away. Contrasted with the sections portraying his life, filled with sadness and uncertainty but with a glimmer of happiness on the horizon, was a masterstroke. I kept willing Mungo to get through it, to find his way out of the darkness and towards the light.

Young Mungo addresses many of the themes explored in Shuggie Bain such as family, poverty and violence, but this still felt very different to Shuggie Bain. Both books are important and portray a difficult time in history and the reality of poverty and loss. A masterpiece.

I was gripped by this novel. The sustained tension in the plot is really quite sensational. I loved being emotionally manipulated by the author-narrator, and the small cast of complex characters shines brightly. Even though they exist in a world far from mine, I was immersed in that world, and able to see it not just from Mungo's vantage point but from all the others too, one by one, and often at the same time. Considering the subject matter, the voice is pretty restrained throughout, and like the best 19th C. realist novels, it felt important not to be told what to think about the people and events depicted.

What holds YM back from being a four or five star book for me is Stuart's style. I know he is frequently and rightly praised for his lyricism and attention to detail, but there were many similes and metaphors here that came across as overwritten and not-new (teeth like gravestones, orange sunsets and so on). I am also persuaded by reviews from other contemporary Scots writers that Stuart, both in YM and in Shuggie Bain, has a problematic view of (and relation to) the 1980s Glasgow culture he describes - be that over-romanticising or bordering on voyeuristic.

However, I am immensely glad to have read this book and despite some reservations would happily recommend it to friends and family. Thanks to Picador and NetGalley for the advance review copy.

I still haven’t fully recovered from reading Douglas Stuart’s first novel ‘Shuggie Bain.’ A novel that centres around the life of a young child, Mungo, growing up in the 1980’s in a working class area of Glasgow. He has to navigate poverty, relationships and most significantly his mother Agnes’s alcoholism. It is a heart wrenching and poignant text that remains with me still.
‘Young Mungo’ shares many of the similar themes that Shuggie does in that we are once again in the working class streets of Glasgow, sharing the life and experiences of Mungo. He is the youngest of three children who has to deal with and share the burden of taking responsibility for a mother who is dependent on alcohol. Despite the book documenting some pretty harrowing behaviour from Mungo’s mother, his love and adulation of her makes us see the devastating impact addiction can have not just on the individual but on whole communities. Mungo’s mother, Mo-Maw, is at the centre of Mungo’s life and spends the novel battling many demons. She periodically appears in the lives of her children where, ‘she seemed happy enough for a heartbroken woman’ but then disappears for long stretches, leaving Mungo in the care of his older sister Jodie, a fierce and determined character who is desperate not to follow the same fate of many of the women around her.
Mungo meets and forms a relationship with James, a relationship deemed not acceptable on many levels. Firstly Mungo is a protestant and James is a Catholic. Stuart highlights the religious division within the society that has worked to separate so many people and cause so much anger and heartache. Secondly, James and Mungo begin to fall in love and we follow them through the trials and nuances of becoming aware of their own sexuality and societal discrimination so same sex relationships. The scenes documenting the growing intimacy between the two characters were beautifully done. James looks after racing birds and the two spend their time companionably by the dovecote thinking about how they may escape and move somewhere where they could be free.
Like with ‘Shuggie Bain’, violence seems to be insidious within the society Stuart writes about. Even moments of beauty and calm are pervaded by the threat of it, even whilst it is on the periphery. Mungo’s mother sends him away camping to a Scottish loch with two men she meets at an AA meeting and quickly this becomes traumatising and abusive. The passages in the Loch’s make for difficult reading. Mungo’s suffering at the hands of so many characters makes the book harrowing in parts and at points felt bleak. The inevitable violence and destruction works to foreground issues of poverty, homophobia and sectarianism. Despite this, the book does offer hope. Mungo’s relationships with James and his sister were often delicately portrayed and sensitively done. Heart-breaking and beautiful all at once. I know Mungo will stay with me, much like Shuggie has, for a very long time.

As in Douglas Stuart’s excellent first novel Shuggie Bain the backdrop for his second novel Young Mungo is set in the poorer part of Glasgow with an underclass struggling with poverty,high unemployment, trying to live on meagre benefits, the only escape, for some, from depression is at the bottom of a bottle. Mungo is struggling when deserted his alcoholic mother, bullied by his brother Hamish and cared for his sister Jodie; however, even she takes advantage of him.
The gentle Mungo forms a relationship with James who is also fending for himself as his father is away on the oil rigs.
The books grim themes of abuse, alcoholism and poverty are interweaved with touching moments of humanity which make it an excellent read.

I enjoyed Douglas Stuart’s first book, Shuggie Bain, and wondered how the author would follow such a successful debut novel.

Mungo is fifteen and a sensitive soul who seems younger than his years. His mother is often absent and an alcoholic so he’s mostly raised by his older sister, Jodie.
Mungo is in love with a Catholic boy, and feels he has to hide his true self. In an attempt to “make a man” of him, Mungo’s mum sends him on a fishing trip with two men from her AA group.

This book is well written and draws you in to the story. The descriptions are very evocative and you can picture the tenements of Glasgow and the Loch overlooked by Munros.
At times, the descriptions of abuse and violence are quite graphic.

The characters are excellent and I felt so sorry for Mungo. I wanted him to be accepted and be able to be himself.

I felt the pace of the story was quite slow but about halfway through it picked up.
The chapters alternate between the weeks leading up to the fishing trip, and the trip itself.

The book deals with so many issues, such as, alcoholism, addiction, homophobia and religious divides.
The issues are dealt with sensitively and although some descriptions are graphic, they aren’t unrealistic.

There are parallels between this book and Shuggie Bain, however I didn’t feel I was reading the same story again. Mungo is older and he seemed to feature more as the main character compared to Shuggie.

Overall, this is a tough and heartbreaking read, but I recommend it.

Thanks to Pan MacMillan and NetGalley for a copy to review.

As much as the summary sounded promising, I couldn't get into this book.
The beginning is very confusing. There is no explanation as to why the main character is being taken away be the two other men. It's very hard for me to follow the story when I don't know what is happening.
On second thoughts, I was listening to the audio version, so maybe it's my own fault and maybe I missed the explanation. Either way, it was very hard to get into.

What an incredible book.

Stuart is back with another mesmerising and beautiful novel; another one that will break your heart and leave you emotionally shattered. Please check trigger warnings before going into this one because it is incredibly intense.

Mungo is a 15 year old boy with a nervous tic, no friends and no time for school. He is bullied by his brother and looked after by his sister, as their mother suffers from alcoholism and often leaves the children for weeks/months at a time. This book follows Mungo in two different time frames; the past, in which relationships with other characters such as his sister are established, and the present, in which Mungo has been sent by his mother on a camping trip with two men from her AA meetings.

There were many similar themes in Young Mungo that were also in Shuggie Bain - a sensitive, young, neglected child with an alcoholic mother living in poverty in Scotland. However, I did find the way in which this novel developed to be much more purposeful and confident. I also feel like this book was a better balance of plot and description; Stuart’s lyrical prose was exquisite before but in this felt even better.

Overall, I did love this book but I also feel a bit emotionally shattered from it.

TW: alcoholism, drug abuse, neglect, assault, homophobia, rape, paedophilia

"Mungo’s capacity for love frustrated her. His loving wasn’t selflessness; he simply couldn’t help it. Mo-Maw needed so little and he produced too much, so that it all seemed a horrible waste. It was a harvest no one had seeded, and it blossomed from a vine no one had tended. It should have withered years ago, like hers had, like Hamish’s had. Yet Mungo had all this love to give and it lay about him like ripened fruit and nobody bothered to gather it up"

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

The tender love of a fifteen year old and how the society pressures him to be a different person.

Mungo lives in a housing scheme with his alcoholic single mom and older sister Jodie. His father was killed on the ongoing violent street war between protestant and catholic gangs. His mother is unable to cope on her own with three children turns to alcohol, leaving the kids alone from time to time at with no food, while she spends any money she has on some random guy. When the kind hearted Mungo falls in love with a motherless catholic boy, his perspective changes. Being forced to take a fish trip with strangers by his mother, makes his life worse.

Interweaving timelines, Glasgow dialect and bleak setting hooks you to the story. Young gay, artistic Mungo is faced with society's views of masculinity, fear of overbearing men, Traditionalism. Jodie works for college and respect. She guides Mungo and supports him as a mother. Hamish, the oldest brother wants Mungo to "Man up", Fight with his gang on streets. I felt like Mungo suffered more than necessary in the book!!

But don't give up yet!! The tender love between two boys,  Mungo and James finally gave a little hope!! Two boys from a broken family, abandoned and to be comforted only by each other.

“Ach, I lose birds all the time. That’s the game. When you let them go out on their own, they go as far as they want to go, you take a chance. If they want to come back, then they come back. If they don’t, then you lose them.”

I was so scared Young Mungo wouldn't live up to Shuggie Bain but I certainly wasn't disappointed. Another beautifully heartbreaking look at life in impoverished Glasgow with a cast of fantastic characters. Stuart has the ability to make even the most unlikeable characters so human that you can't help but feel for them. One of the best books I've read this year!

I read Shuggie Bain at the end of last year, after holding off for fear that it wouldn't live up to its hype. I loved it, and wish I'd read it sooner. So when I had the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Douglas Stuart's follow-up, I practically bit the publisher's hand off!

Mungo is a boy growing up in the East End of Glasgow in the early 90's. The youngest of three children, he is being raised mainly by his slightly older sister as his mother is often absent and struggles with alcohol dependency. Told over two timelines, both before and after a pivotal moment, the story is split between a fishing trip Mungo is sent on with two of his mum's AA acquaintances, and the development of a relationship between Mungo and another boy, James, on his estate. James and Mungo live on different sides of the Catholic/Protestant divide, but find friendship and connection in James' dovecot. But Mungo's gang-leader older brother is deeply entrenched in the sectarian violence between the two communities, and as the boys grow closer their feelings for one another put them at even greater risk.

There are many parallels that can be drawn between Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo, and at first I was worried that Stuart only had one story to tell. However, it quickly became apparent that this isn't the case, and I think it is more a case of Stuart having themes to explore and possibly things that he wants to revisit in different ways in his writing. And I am totally here for that.

This story is just as compelling as Shuggie...dare I say, more so? In fact, I do dare - I think this book is stronger. The dual timeline worked exceptionally well, and my heart was in my throat so many times. There is a beautiful but realistic tenderness to this book, but an equally realistic violence too, and it felt very authentic to the time and place. Every character is richly crafted, with all the shades of grey that make up a person so that the cast feels really vivid. The sub-plots were just as strong as the main story too, this is a book that is teeming with life.

I feel I'm going to embarrass myself if I keep on gushing like this, but I really loved this book and I think Douglas Stuart is an exceptional writer. I can't wait to see what else he brings into the world.

I loved Shuggie Bain by the same author so was beyond excited to read Young Mungo. I'm pleased to report that I was not disappointed. Young Mungo covers many of the same themes as Shuggie Bain: the legacy of Thatcher's policies in 1980s Glasgow, toxic masculinity and alcoholism. However, where Shuggie Bain had tenderness at its heart, Young Mungo is far more brutal. The more difficult subjects that Shuggie Bain chose not to address are laid bare in Young Mungo and placed under a glaring light

Some scenes are beautiful to read, in particular the moments of closeness between Mungo and his first true love James. But these scenes of nascent love sit in stark contrast to the raw fury, abuse and pain experienced by some of the novel's characters. As the reader, you can find yourself with a lump in your throat from witnessing the budding love forming between Mungo and James only for that same lump to become one of horror as scenes of child abuse are described in excruciating detail a few pages later. While this back and forth from joy to terror may be jarring to some readers, for me it is a sure sign of a truly gifted writer. If you can make me feel things with your words, you have my full attention and Douglas Stuart certainly has mine.

From a literary point of view, this prose was gorgeous - I saw and felt every description so vividly. The story itself was dark and devastating, moments of light quickly extinguished with the change of setting and time in the book. Well crafted, harrowing, important

Unfortunately this is a DNF at around 30% for me.

I have the utmost respect for Douglas Stuart as a writer and he does write beautifully. However for me this was going nowhere fast and whilst initially quite quirky and funny was descending into a tale quite similar to his previous novel (which did not live up to the hype for me).

This novel again feels overhyped but I'm sure it will do extremely well even though I know others who have read it and enjoyed it but not as much as Shuggie Bain.

My thanks to the publisher for the arc but I now realise after two books that this author isn't for me.

I didn’t get on well with “Shuggie Bain” and in fact put it aside. I think I’ll need to pick it up again as I got into “Young Mungo” very quickly and soon became totally absorbed into Mungo’s sad, hard, violent and sometimes funny life.

He and his family are vividly drawn as are the other individuals he encounters on his journey from teen to manhood. I’d love there to be a follow up so we can see how young Mungo develops … I think he’s a survivor.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

The big question on everyone’s lips - how can he top Shuggie Bain?
Well so much for “the difficult second novel” as he’s only gone and done it with the fabulous Young Mungo. There are parallels with Shuggie; both are young Glaswegians who are dominated by yet driven to mothering their alcoholic mothers. However there the similarities end. Mungo is violently bullied by his brother, the local gang leader, conversely he is doted on by his elder sister who herself is going through her own crisis. In his mid-teens Protestant Mungo finally makes a friend; James is Catholic and he is also gay – two of the worst sins imaginable to Mungo’s family. Anything else is a spoiler so I’ll keep quiet and will let you discover for yourself. It deals with difficult yet important subjects, but you’re routing for Young Mungo throughout.
An exemplary piece of writing.
How will Mr Stuart top this one?

Unfortunately I did not feel that Young Mango packed quite the punch that Shuggie Bain did. However, this was still a fantastic read. Heartfelt, bold, bleak and beautiful. I look forward to reading more from Douglas Stuart in years to come.