Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

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

175 reviews

nicnevin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-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? Yes

5.0

Poetic and raw, it's honestly beyond words for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Classism

gizzylove's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

I DNF'ed this book the first time I began to read it. It is a heavy and convoluted read that I found hard to get into at first. I picked it up again months later and though it was still a slow read, it was truly beautiful. Words can't express the heartache I felt reading this epistolary. Vuong's writing, while a bit confusing and complex at times, is otherworldly. His use of ongoing metaphors and symbols throughout the book are some of the best I've ever read. There are so many quotes that tug at my heartstrings, and so many lines that are poetry at its finest mastery. The story is a genuine and heartbreaking depiction of so many heavy topics such as being an immigrant, the generational trauma stemming from the Vietnam War, homophobia, sexuality, etc. Vuong explores these topics beautifully, with such great attention to language. I truly applaud his writing style

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.75

while the plot was good and the writing was lush and poetic, i did not realize there were such graphic depictions of sex and abuse. I do not think anyone really talks about this and it was a little startling. please check the trigger warnings!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

insanebookperson's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Abortion, and War

niaaaaa's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective sad slow-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Car accident, War, and Classism

fengxin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

leoniekross's review against another edition

challenging 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? N/A

3.5

Took me a month to read, partially because the subject matter at times was very challenging to read through and partially because of the ebb and flow of how much the book sucked me in. The author is know for a writing style bursting with metaphors and imagery which I found well-done throughout most of this book but veering into bloated towards the end. I didn't vibe at all with the last 30 or so pages but the beginning is wonderful. As you can see, I find it truly hard to make up my mind about this book in its entirety but I will say that my mom enjoyed it, for what it's worth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Car accident, and War

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, and Blood

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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? Yes

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Excrement, Vomit, and Abortion

cobwebshelves's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, and Excrement

Moderate: Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

serinereads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War