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Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Di Semesta Ini Kita Pernah Gemilang by Ocean Vuong
41 reviews
annaelisa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, and Death
Moderate: Abortion, Car accident, Gun violence, Hate crime, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, and Cancer
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
llj's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Ableism, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Hate crime, Grief, Genocide, Excrement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Colonisation, Child abuse, and Addiction
dorothy_the_explorothy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
davidbythebay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The writing is absolutely beautiful and poetic. Striking language is used and really deep themes are explored. Among the themes explored are: race, being gay, drug use and abuse, mental health, death, love. The perspective is equally interesting and nuanced.
However, I had significant issues with the overall writing style. The “pop culture” references were a lot of the time out of nowhere and fell flat for me. I call them “pop culture” in quotations because they are really more references to people and things we all know of in some way, like Tiger Woods. But there are also references and commonly known research into the despicable practices of pharmaceutical companies in marketing and pushing opioids. These factual tidbits fell flat. They seemed out of place even though they were concerned with the story being told.
The book is written as a letter from son to mother. I just don’t see telling my mother stories she told me and events she and I lived through in an extended letter. Nor do I really see ever telling my mother about my first boyfriend or the first time I had sex with a guy or since then. But the author does do that, though he admits his mother will likely never read this.
Parts one and two were good and kept my interest - though the more experimental and poetic stanza-type sections in part two felt gimmicky and didn’t fit or work for me. Part three is where I lost interest and grew impatient with the style and the story. It felt as though the story stalled.
My biggest issue, which is incorporated in the above issues, is that the story being told had no real plot, no real character study with how disjointed and erratic the pacing and topics could be, and felt empty. For example, his mother and grandmother both have (it seems completely untreated) PTSD that pops up several times in parts one and two, then disappears (more or less) as if they never had those issues and visions.
I’m glad I read it for its beautiful language at parts and it’s perspective, but I didn’t like the style and flow. It just wasn’t for me, despite a lot of the contents being interesting.
TW: Death, Drug Abuse, Drug Use, Underage Sex, Abuse, Racism, Graphic Animal Death/Abuse
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Abortion
ladysanctuary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Bullying, Homophobia, Grief, and Sexual content
Moderate: Xenophobia, Violence, Terminal illness, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Medical content, Homophobia, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Child abuse
atsundarsingh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia
bencaroline's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Homophobia, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Vomit, and Xenophobia
Minor: Infidelity, Religious bigotry, and Transphobia
War, sex workteamoxfordcomma's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Read his poetry, this book, really anything he's had his fingers on, and you'll see. What he writes is pure literary and poetic gold. This novel (which is semi-autobiographical) is the exact same way.
I knocked it off a star because this took me a long time to get through... Sort of put me into a little bit of a slump. Not because it wasn't good, but because this is very much a character study. The events of the story (which I would argue are not arranged in a way in which you could call a plot) do not matter half as much as the images Little Dog uses to tell his mother about his experiences, and though those images are beautiful and jam-packed with meaning and gorgeous literary technique, it definitely made for a slow reading experience.
I love this novel for what it is – an impossibility – and I eagerly await more Voung books/collections/anything so I can once again gorge on his words.
Graphic: Addiction and Chronic illness
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness
Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Racism, Racial slurs, and Excrement
orchidd's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Animal death, Violence, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, Racism, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Car accident, Cancer, Addiction, and Abortion
mandkips's review against another edition
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Cancer, Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Racism, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders