Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

553 reviews

grace_madeleine's review

5.0

I feel like my heart has been viscerally scooped out of my body and replaced except it wasn’t replaced correctly like there’s a deep ache there after reading this like it’s touched parts of grief I never expected would be touched by a book

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, War, Grief, Drug use, Homophobia, Violence, Death, Drug abuse, Child abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Bullying

alexandra296's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

Written in first person with a vaguely epistolary framing but it’s not a distinct letter structure, rather a series of vignettes. The writing is simply gorgeous, very evocative.

There’s very little plot, largely a reflection on self and family, relationships, trauma etc. The lack of a strong plot through-line didn’t affect my enjoyment, especially because the writing is such expertly crafted poetry.
 
We follow Little Dog and his mother and grandmother who are immigrants to the US, which were compelling characters and also explore his relationship with Trevor. The characters are all complicated people and the dynamics between them and the narrator were definitely interesting.

Gorgeous imagery and structure, great use of motifs & juxtaposing 2 ideas that seem unrelated but are making a statement. The way people in Little Dog’s life are portrayed is at once tender & with deep pain. The language is beautiful though, so captivating. A very sad, melancholy type story but it’s so beautiful. Very reflective but brutal in parts. Definitely worth reading though, as long as you’re not looking for a distinct plot.

Only negative is I feel the tone got kinda almost TOO sad towards the third part and it felt a little tonally separate from the rest of the work to me in some areas. I guess with any body of work some parts work better than others though.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Grief, and Drug use

Moderate: Bullying and Homophobia

rumoursfromlnez's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

"Let no one mistake us for the fruit of violence - but that violence, having passed through the fruit, failed to spoil it.”

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Abortion, War, and Racism

Minor: Sexual content

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. 

---

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

tessa52's review

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Homophobia, Dementia, Excrement, Racism, Car accident, Alcoholism, Addiction, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Death, Animal cruelty, and War

sundayfever's review

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

Really beautiful writing style, I enjoyed it more than most authors style. Poignant and emotional. Lots of beautiful descriptions of trauma, family and love. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Death, Sexual content, Child abuse, Drug use, and War

Moderate: Excrement, Domestic abuse, and Addiction

Minor: Alcohol and Alcoholism

ewillreadit's review

challenging dark emotional informative 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? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Racism, Hate crime, Grief, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Child abuse, Cancer, Addiction, and War

mdavis26's review

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Racism, Car accident, Mental illness, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Excrement, Grief, Terminal illness, War, Sexual content, Death, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

kjofalltrades's review

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Cancer

Moderate: Gun violence, Xenophobia, Homophobia, and War

Minor: Vomit and Excrement

k_lenn's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Child abuse, Death, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, War, and Cancer