Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

so super applicable to the immigrant experience and being othered and having yourself other yourself; just the style made the book for me hard to follow at points but it was structured like a faulkner book and it makes sense!

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maxthebeetlesheep's review

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A stunning book that i knew i would rate 5 stars from the very first chapter. absolutely captivating and such an important read. if i could only choose one book to read this year, it would be this one.

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nessreadsalot's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Written in the form of a letter from a Vietnamese son (Little Dog) to his mother who cannot read, this book is beautifully poetic.
Little Dog grew up with his mother and grandmother in America. He brings us through the difficulties faced by the family as refugees with very little English.
He details the constant abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother and also brings us through the story of the traumas faced by both his mother and grandmother which have influenced his life.
Little Dog also struggles with his mother's reaction to his sexuality and the joys and heartbreak he finds in his own relationship.

This was a heartbreaking and beautiful story and had me crying within minutes.

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fluciferbeingabstract's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.0

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alinabkl's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

3.0

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chrisljm's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Ocean Vuong writes so beautifully and so poetically. I felt I was able to enjoy this book because I saw it less as a novel and more as a poetic memoir in the form of vignettes, which he uses to narrate his experiences growing up as a child in the United States as a Vietnamese immigrant post-Vietnam war to a parent with PTSD. Vuong's writing is so vividly melancholic and haunting, and these feelings follow even during the soft vulnerability of his childhood and youth. There's so much introspection but also a stillness as if no matter how far time and space takes you, you will always be haunted by this current time, place, and feeling.

I want to include one of my favorite quotes from the book: "I know you believe in reincarnation. I don’t know if I do but I hope it’s real. Because then maybe you’ll come back here next time around. Maybe you’ll be a girl and maybe your name will be Rose again, and you’ll have a room full of books with parents who will read you bedtime stories in a country not touched by war. Maybe then, in that life and in this future, you’ll find this book and you’ll know what happened to us. And you’ll remember me. Maybe."

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