Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

42 reviews

jelliestars's review

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Cancer, Grief, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, War, Child abuse, Violence, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Xenophobia, Abortion, Mental illness, and Blood

Minor: Transphobia, Car accident, Child death, Alcoholism, and Gun violence

c_serpent's review

emotional inspiring 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

This book has explicit sex scenes, graphic depictions of animal cruelty, and a lot of excrement. I did not enjoy every minute of it. But it is a novel that is a poem that is a song, and it is expertly, expertly crafted.

Five stars for Ocean Vuong. For how we see one another in the light of them, those bright dead things, and call one another good.

Total score: 5/5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Death, War, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Excrement, Grief, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Homophobia, Drug use, Violence, and Transphobia

raiju's review

dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Addiction, Cancer, Car accident, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Abortion, Alcoholism, Death, and Colonisation

readbycarina's review

challenging dark reflective sad 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: Death of parent, Drug use, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, War, Child abuse, Death, Addiction, Physical abuse, Homophobia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Transphobia, Gun violence, Pregnancy, and Racism

Minor: Abortion and Abandonment

mmiirrpp's review

challenging emotional reflective sad

• 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

This is one of my favourite books of all time. Reading this book felt like I was being gripped by the shoulders and forced to look at my life up close through Ocean Vuong's poetic musings on his own. 

While this book did touch me deeply I would warn people, particularly survivors of abuse and POC, that this book can be painful to read at times and to check the content warnings left by other reviewers. I couldn't finish it the first time around, nor could the majority of my queer Asian friends that I recommended it to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Grief, Racism, and Child abuse

Moderate: War, Transphobia, Outing, Colonisation, and Sexual assault

novella42's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

5.0

I can still hear Vuong's gentle, relentless voice when I read quotes or pages from the hardcopy I finally picked up. Sometimes I read a little to remind the writer part of my brain how lyrical words work, and what kind of writer I want to be.

His author-read audiobook performance of this powerful book was nothing short of magnificent. 

A queer Vietnamese American man writes a letter to his mother, a survivor of the Vietnam War, who cannot read. His love for her, and hers for him, is ferocious and beautiful beyond words. Vuong is a poet, but strangely, I find his novel more compelling than his poetry. Tons of content warnings, to the degree I don't know when I will ever feel mentally resilient enough in my own C-PTSD to re-read it in its entirety, but if you're in the mood for a good cry, I can't think of anything more cathartic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Chronic illness, Blood, Homophobia, Car accident, Misogyny, War, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Self harm, Addiction, Sexual content, Animal death, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Cancer, Abortion, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Excrement, Cursing, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Gore, Pregnancy, Dementia, Suicide, Sexual assault, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Child death, Rape, Abandonment, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Deportation, Body horror, Sexism, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Torture, Cannibalism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Adult/minor relationship, War, Confinement, Fatphobia, Religious bigotry, and Murder

ichthusangel's review

challenging dark emotional 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: Gaslighting, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Abortion, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Violence, Racism, Transphobia, and Homophobia

luckyone's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, War, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Child death, Addiction, Cancer, Drug use, Car accident, Excrement, Medical content, War, Violence, Hate crime, and Racism

Minor: Transphobia and Cursing

readinghavoc's review

dark inspiring reflective 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? No

4.25

I’m having a hard time reviewing this because I think I need more time to digest it. Vuong’s writing is beautifully descriptive, and the juxtaposition of some more gruesome scenes with the most beautiful prose is really impressive! It struck a lot of emotional chords for me! But also, the most of the last 1/3 of the book sort of lost me. I’m not sure that that’s the book being bad though, I think it’s just a lot to process and a very stark style shift from the rest of the book that I wasn’t ready for. Overall I enjoyed it and am glad I read it. I think this is the type of book I’d enjoy more if reading with others who I could discuss with, though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and War

Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, and Death

Minor: Transphobia and Terminal illness

fviryshelves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective relaxing sad medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, War, Drug use, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Transphobia, Drug abuse, and Death