Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

368 reviews

idk_indigo's review

emotional sad fast-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

2.0

I wanted to like this book, I really did. And some of it was incredible! I loved the unique formatting, a son's letter to his mother brought a very emotional approach to the writing, and also a perspective that is so interesting. Letters are very intimate, and that is definitely how the book presents, in emotion but also in what the letter-writer is choosing to share (especially with a mother). I also really loved the formatting, almost like a poem but in prose, and you can tell when you're reading that the author is skilled in poetry. So yes, I definitely think this book is all that people say it is: deep, emotional, tragic, and beautiful. 

That being said, I don't really think this is for me... it honestly felt a bit like trauma porn at times, which is probably an unfair thing of me to say because I understand that an entire facet of poetry is making tragedy beautiful (/s), but I found myself almost wanting to roll my eyes at times. Idk. Also, I know this is coming from the perspective of written correspondence, and that definitely changes how a person talks about themselves/their experiences/reality, but I genuinely just got very sick of the main character, Little Dog. And towards the end, the poetry-as-prose format got very old for me. There's not anything specifically wrong with it, per se, I just didn't like it. I think maybe it would've held up better if it was shorter, but I'm almost like there's a reason why poems are short. 

I may read something else from the author, maybe some of his poetry, because the content of this book was super interesting to me. I think I would have liked this better had I been in a different mood, but I am not, so... 2 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Racism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and War

ewillreadit's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, and War

mdavis26's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and War

poindextrix's review

emotional reflective

3.5

Apparently I read this in 2019, but that was a lifetime ago. Hard to imagine I’d forget something with such distinctly poetic language.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

ienbdri's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Excrement, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, and War

a1exander's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Grief, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Excrement, Car accident, and Alcohol

yulecai's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual content

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Violence, and War

roseblossom999's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Dementia, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

carmenlavillaa's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

so super applicable to the immigrant experience and being othered and having yourself other yourself; just the style made the book for me hard to follow at points but it was structured like a faulkner book and it makes sense!  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, and Alcohol

maxthebeetlesheep's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

A stunning book that i knew i would rate 5 stars from the very first chapter. absolutely captivating and such an important read. if i could only choose one book to read this year, it would be this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Self harm, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy