Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

378 reviews

tellatrix's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

𝐎𝐧 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬

𝙾𝚌𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚅𝚞𝚘𝚗𝚐

Disclaimer: I’m unable to write reviews without including spoilers, so please read this expecting some.

This is a book I know I’ll need to reread at least two more times to fully grasp all the layers of meaning and messages the author is trying to convey. While I understood the main plot, the metaphors, poetry, and deeper themes often felt elusive. The connections between scenes and ideas required careful attention, and sometimes I got lost in the beautiful, yet intricate, web of words.

Maybe after reading more books, learning new words, or gaining more life experience, I’ll be able to fully understand what Ocean Vuong was trying to say. Right now, I can’t. If someone asked me what this book was about, I don’t think I could give a clear, straightforward answer.

If I said this book was about a Vietnamese family carrying the violence and trauma of war within them—something that shaped them, tormented them, and yet also made them beautiful—would that make sense? Probably not, and even if it did, it wouldn’t come close to capturing the complexity of the story.

This is a book you have to experience for yourself. Even then, you might not find all the answers on your first read—just like me. But I know I’ll revisit it. Each time, I hope to uncover new layers, new words to explain what this book means.

For me, though, this book wasn’t as sad as some might say. I found it more hopeful. Others may disagree, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of hope running through it. Hope for what? I’m not sure. Maybe it wasn’t hope tied to action or outcomes—just hope as a feeling, a quiet presence.

I’ll end this review with a quote that stayed with me the most from my reading: 

 “I miss you more than I remember you.” 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Outing, and War

melaeki's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Racism, Terminal illness, Grief, and War

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, Excrement, Car accident, and Abortion

iris92's review against another edition

challenging 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? No

4.5

No me da para una review completa, pero: Va pasando de más narrativo al inicio a más poético al final. A mi es un cambio que me ha costado manejar un poco, pero es un libro magnífico en cualquier caso.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Abortion

gandalf_a's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

perth_is's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

autisticbucky's review

emotional sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Sexual content, and War

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Racism

Minor: Abortion

pigeonsarecool's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Deportation

Minor: Cancer

hogwallet's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug use, Terminal illness, Dementia, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

astridrv's review against another edition

I am so curious about the author's poetry now. This was a mesmerizing, gorgeous book, born from the five senses, a detailed attention to the world, an ear to the heart and beyond. I did feel it had the pitfalls of its daring: a lack of structure despite a love for patterns, parts that didn't fly despite most of the prose soaring, an occasional cliché despite such fresh and vivid images, too many rhetorical questions and aphorisms when everything is already there. But I loved it.

"And like a word, I hold no weight in this world yet still carry my own life."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Violence, Grief, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Alcohol

hannahnadeshda's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War