Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

8 reviews

marena02's review

dark emotional sad tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide, Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Abortion, Deportation, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Colonisation, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Vomit, Child abuse, Cursing, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Addiction, Medical content, Physical abuse, Animal death, Bullying, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Violence, Death of parent, and War

reemoony's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

i used to be so pretentious when it came to giving books five stars. i thought they had to check this huge list of boxes, but they dont. if you enjoy a book, give it five stars. with that being said, i dont know if i enjoyed this book. it doesnt feel like a book you’re supposed to like, but you love it anyway. its gut-wrenching and hurtful and powerful and loving. it’s everything in the universe at once. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Racism, Medical content, Terminal illness, Violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Hate crime, Sexual content, Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, and War

Moderate: Car accident, Excrement, Rape, Medical content, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Police brutality, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Sexism

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

thesecretsapphic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, Grief, Child abuse, Addiction, Drug abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Cancer and Alcoholism

sameehaha's review

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

good but wasn't for me. skipped through most of the end

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Homophobia, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Racism

tinyjude's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, War, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Genocide, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Cancer

333va's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

5.0

loved loved loved the writing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Car accident, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, War, Sexual content, and Domestic abuse

charlottes_library's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

truely a masterpiece. Every sentence is a work of art that i could go back and read again and again and still discover new layers of beauty. Vuong writes like a poet and brilliantly explores the complex generational trauma of being a child of the Vietnam war. He writes of his experience growing up as a immigrant in white rural America and the ostracization faced by him and his single mother and the depths of their shared relationship. He speaks of his mother tongue, his cancer ridden grandmother, his teenage job at a tobacco farm, poverty, addiction, isolation, heritage, belonging, tradition, loss, war, love. This is a coming of age story that cannot be missed. It is heart-wrenching and beautiful and disgusting and strong. If i could read any book again it would be this one. 100% recommended 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Car accident, Colonisation, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, and Xenophobia