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chaoticnostalgia's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Racism, and Excrement
Moderate: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Car accident, Toxic friendship, and War
reemoony's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Car accident, and Toxic friendship
hunterlovesneilperry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Xenophobia
Moderate: Homophobia
line's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, and War
Minor: Excrement
bisexualwentworth's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
The use of the second person was striking and affecting. The novel is written as a letter from Little Dog to his mother, Rose, but the overall effect is basically a dual narrator situation. It works beautifully.
The content is difficult. I knew it would be. It's very much a mommy issues book, which is what I expected from Vuong based on his poetry collections.
It would be wrong to say that I enjoyed this. I didn't. I appreciate Vuong's craft. I was deeply moved by many aspects of the story. I was triggered and brought to tears. I thought a lot about family and identity. But it's not an enjoyable book. It's deeply harrowing.
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is also autobiographical enough that I would feel weird about giving it a star rating, so I'm simply not going to at this time.
NOTE: This book does contain sexual scenes between teenagers. These scenes are not written for the titillation of readers and are instead in service to the characters' development, but I still think it's wise to warn readers of this going in.
Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, and War
I'm sure there are a lot of other content warnings that I'm missing, so please proceed with caution and care.vrcreads's review against another edition
- 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? N/A
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Violence, and Xenophobia
purplemuskogee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
There's a lot to like about this short novel. The narrator, who writes to his mother - who, incidentally, cannot read and will never read his letter - remembers growing up with his mother and his grandmother, who nicknamed him Little Dog. Having left Vietnam after the war, his family tries to recover but still suffers from the trauma of the war. I liked his retelling of growing up marginalized, exploring his sexuality, listening to stories his grandmother tells him, his white grandfather. I felt though at times that it was trying too hard to be clever, and to be literary: the fragments, the ellipsis, the short sentences. I also could have done without his graphic depictions of animal cruelty, which I didn't think brought much to the story and were here for shock value.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Violence
ohnoitsbrio's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Racism, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, and Physical abuse
jaymacg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Car accident, Abortion, and War
giulia_rossi's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Grief, Abortion, and Colonisation
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment