Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Di Semesta Ini Kita Pernah Gemilang

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Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Di Semesta Ini Kita Pernah Gemilang by Ocean Vuong

714 reviews

e_r_q's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

"because tenderness depends on how little the world touches you. To stay tender, the weight of your life cannot lean on your bones."

What Ocean Vuong has achieved here is insane.
The way he interweaves complex symbolism, through the dreamy non-linear structure and his hypnotically poetic writing, is just phenomenal. And it all comes together with that moving culmination at the end, where he poignantly ties the various animal symbols together.

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a gut-wrenching and melancholic meditation on immigration, the Asian-American experience, the American dream, war, trauma, grief, addiction, family and sexuality. But most essentially, it's a book about belonging: Little Dog feels irrevocably estranged from Vietnam, from America and even his own family (on account of his mother's abusive behaviour).
It's magnificent. I wish I could write something like this.

"I was a gaping wound in the middle of America and you were inside me asking, Where are we? Where are we, baby?"

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cmwilliams29's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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? It's complicated

4.0

I tore through this one. Rather astonishing—and a bit of a thinker. I don’t entirely know what I’ve just read and somehow it’s ok. It’s beautiful and thought-provoking and I will be sitting with it for a while.

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ebrooker0103's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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? It's complicated

4.5

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ghajk's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

1.0

Turns out poetic books without much of a plot really aren’t my thing

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shay_talksbooks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

Borrowed from my local library & the cjtalksbooks club pick for July (late reading)

I found it hard to rate this book knowing it's based on the author's real life. Some heavy topics, beautiful prose and a story about coming of age/coming to terms with your childhood & sexuality during a lot of turbulence.

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booksinherhead's review against another edition

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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

4.5

An absolutely STUNNING debut. Written from a son to his mother, this novel charts a young queer man's childhood and adolesance, his relationship with his mother, and his relationship with himself. An extraordinary examination of the mother/son dynamic and the plight of Vietnamese immigrants in the early 2000s, this novel is absolutely not one to miss. It's such a short and delicate little book I finished it wanting MORE. Perfect for readers who enjoyed Barabara Kingslover's DEMON COPPERHEAD.

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