Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

371 reviews

chellieya's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

katy_heath's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

2.5

It was beautifully written but I just didn’t like Trevor, and Trevor is half the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Sexual content, and War

Minor: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

xmoondustx's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Absolutely magnificent, breath- and heartbreaking but oh so very gorgeous. Everyone should read this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

martasshelf's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

I enjoyed this book a lot. I feel like it took me a little to get into it at the start, but it slowly grew on me and broke my heart in a million pieces, just like I like it.
Vuong delivers exactly what he promises at the start: this book is a letter and it's perfectly shaped as one. From the memories not always in cronological order and with different levels of depth to the contemplation and reflections made along the way. 
A beautiful love letter to a mother ho can't read, it reflects on family, war trauma, e/imigration and identity, homosexuality and homofobia, drugs, language and politics. 
It is beautifuly writen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Homophobia

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Violence, and War

radiating_jackalope's review

challenging dark emotional 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

3.5

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a very brutal novel, which describes what it means to grow up as a poor, queer immigrant of color whose father doesn’t exist and was therefore raised by war traumatized woman. 

The emotional themes of the book are impressive, the way the author wants to convey them... less so. The book begins with the protagonist writing letters to his mother, who cannot read (which we also learn in the book). The language is beautiful but sometimes loses itself in its beauty. I sometimes struggled to understand what the author was trying to say… I would have also appreciated if I could have gotten more time to process what the protagonist lived through, but the story kept going and giving and there was no break. Yes, I know, sometimes life just keeps giving and people don’t get the privilege of getting a break, but this is a book and the author wants to tell a story… so maybe one should adjust the narrative because otherwise, it gives the impression of simple trauma dumping. 

I also don’t really see the point of creating a fictional character and writing a fictional story if the character is just going to be exactly like him and goes through the same things the author as a person went through…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Outing, War, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual violence

neida's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad

• 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

5.0

A beautiful reflection on what it means to have loved and lost but find yourself. Vuong does an amazing job capturing the complex interpersonal relationships that shape our worldview. To grief is a constant thing, to love is even harder.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Abortion, and War

tumiysabelly's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Medical trauma, Colonisation, and War

marmel11's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, and Physical abuse

Minor: Abortion

jade_smith's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

This was a gorgeous novel. Perhaps the first time I’ve felt compelled to use the word “luminous” as an adjective. Ocean Vuong’s writing is breathtakingly beautiful. This is exactly the kind of so-called purple prose that I love — it straddles the line between prose and poetry so deftly. 

Part exploration of inter-generational trauma, part coming of age, part meditation on memory and the past, this is a staggering story delivered in immaculate style.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Vomit, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

Minor: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Rape, Blood, Excrement, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

wetzelartz's review against another edition

reflective 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War