Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

624 reviews

figz's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

tbh not my type of book - super wordy, not heaps of a plot, quite graphic. I think it touched on some important subjects I just didn’t enjoy reading his writing style :(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Racism, Violence, 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

buffy87's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

This is not a casual read that you can just blow through. This is a book that you tear chunks from, chew on, break it down, let it sit then swallow it. 

I think this book is for someone who wants to take the time to make the connections, analyze the structure and writing. If you're not that personality then this novel might just piss you off and come off obnoxious. 

Spoilers ahead.

I find it hard to rate this book as well. It is complex on purpose. As if it is meant to be inaccessible. I think that's where you start to get into pretentious/obnoxious vibes that other readers have mentioned. There's a lot of recurring themes and motifs, tied in with extended metaphors. The table metaphor at the end I'm still struggling to really understand. Part of me is defaulting to that's lame, but another part is thinking it's probably beyond me.

I'm most confused why the gritty sexual details needed to be included in a letter to his mother. It didn't seem to fit the relationship that he was building throughout. And in fact, there was a middle section where it was mostly focused on Trevor which felt out of focus for the book. There was a lot of content shoved in the story and I feel like it overcomplicated something that didn't need to be. However, I think the point is that by writing to his mom about the things he loves (Lan, her, Trevor, writing, Hartford) they are all acts of honour because he loves her. Writing about love to someone you love, demonstrates how deep the love you have is. I'd say the scene where they confess parts of themselves to each other is what this whole book is.

What's interesting is I feel like the reader is deprioritized in this book. We don't really matter. Whether we get it or not doesn't matter. We're just voyeurs - and it really felt like weird trauma porn voyeurism. This book that is apparently a letter to his mom, where he lays out all the shitty things that have happened to his grandmother, mother, Trevor, and himself and somehow it has to do with love. 

There's a small part of me that is judging the content as quite exploitative. 

All that aside? There is no doubt that Ocean can write. He can WRITE. There were a lot of lines I highlighted in my mind that really made me think. I thoroughly enjoyed the actual words and way the sentences were built. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and War

kelisabeth's review

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

chaosbumblebee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Such a beautiful book it makes me want to go back and lower my rating of everything else so that this is the only 5 star read I have this year--or ever. Heartbreaking, poignant, perfect and imperfect, Vuong puts words to feelings I didn't know words could be put to. I need to call my mom.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

vaykay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

maria_mccoy's review

emotional

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Death

Moderate: Child abuse and Drug abuse

kain47's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

halloumaki's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.25

effectively disorienting and terrifyingly beautiful, this book will touch you. so many beautiful images and scenes that feel almost biblical in their omnipotence and truth they reveal. marks deducted because the disorientation was a bit too disorienting at points.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and War