Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

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

178 reviews

theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

2.0

This book was difficult for me to get into and I felt dumb quite a few times for not being able to follow the writing style. I didn’t always understand what was happening, when, where, and with whom. I wonder if reading the physical copy would have been better for my brain. 

Little Dog’s narration jumps around through the years and generations of his family, sharing the hardships of their survival. Parts of the story are upsetting. Even though I am an emotional person I did not shed a single tear while listening to this book. Probably because I didn’t get into the story or characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Excrement, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Grief, Racism, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, and War

oneiricgarden'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

5.0

CHANGED MY LIFE 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Gore, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Child abuse, Car accident, Racism, War, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Abandonment, Colonisation, and Alcohol

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

amberftz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

swifterel22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

5.0

It's written so beautifully and talks about many important topics. 
This book moves you, shows you a horrible but very real in this world reality. The sentences were written so gorgeously that I couldn't help but highlight many of them and I felt like in some parts this novel read more like poetry.
I am so glad I finally got to reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Drug abuse, Drug use, and War

Moderate: War, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Homophobia, Ableism, Physical abuse, Outing, Grief, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Racial slurs, Bullying, Racism, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Dementia, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Transphobia, Cancer, and Abortion

emrosch's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Hauntingly beautiful & raw with emotion.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Cancer, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Grief, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Racism, Addiction, War, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Death, Abortion, and Mental illness

csmoke85's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, Animal death, and Cursing

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Mental illness

kimisaboss123's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

Graphic: Addiction and Drug abuse

Moderate: Death, Grief, War, and Cancer

Minor: Homophobia, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Hate crime, and Gun violence

ennsez's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Homophobia, Addiction, and Suicide

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

jeddicat's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, War, Death, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Drug use

idk_indigo's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

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

2.0

I wanted to like this book, I really did. And some of it was incredible! I loved the unique formatting, a son's letter to his mother brought a very emotional approach to the writing, and also a perspective that is so interesting. Letters are very intimate, and that is definitely how the book presents, in emotion but also in what the letter-writer is choosing to share (especially with a mother). I also really loved the formatting, almost like a poem but in prose, and you can tell when you're reading that the author is skilled in poetry. So yes, I definitely think this book is all that people say it is: deep, emotional, tragic, and beautiful. 

That being said, I don't really think this is for me... it honestly felt a bit like trauma porn at times, which is probably an unfair thing of me to say because I understand that an entire facet of poetry is making tragedy beautiful (/s), but I found myself almost wanting to roll my eyes at times. Idk. Also, I know this is coming from the perspective of written correspondence, and that definitely changes how a person talks about themselves/their experiences/reality, but I genuinely just got very sick of the main character, Little Dog. And towards the end, the poetry-as-prose format got very old for me. There's not anything specifically wrong with it, per se, I just didn't like it. I think maybe it would've held up better if it was shorter, but I'm almost like there's a reason why poems are short. 

I may read something else from the author, maybe some of his poetry, because the content of this book was super interesting to me. I think I would have liked this better had I been in a different mood, but I am not, so... 2 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, and Homophobia

Moderate: Addiction, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Death, and Drug abuse

Minor: Xenophobia, War, Racism, and Sexual assault