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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
4.5
As usual, Ocean Vuong builds a world poetically. Such a mundane setting, but built in a way that’s so deeply human and shows the raw experience of a simple but complicated life.
As usual, Ocean Vuong builds a world poetically. Such a mundane setting, but built in a way that’s so deeply human and shows the raw experience of a simple but complicated life.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This worked really well as an audiobook. More than once I had laugh out loud moments. Some of it is absurd yet believable.
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s certainly interesting as a coming of age tale, and exploring how shared experiences and realities define a part of our purpose as people. Despite actively trying to not compare this to On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, I can’t help but feel the divide in the beauty of each of these. Ocean seems to have an incredible capacity to explore a rich internal experience so deeply, and seems to have done a great job with exploring the experiences of a larger cast of characters but it just hits different. Both are notable reads. One is extra ordinary. And this is great but not that. I cared about the characters which will always be my most important metric.