Reviews tagging 'Rape'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

34 reviews

leoniekross's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-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? N/A

3.5

Took me a month to read, partially because the subject matter at times was very challenging to read through and partially because of the ebb and flow of how much the book sucked me in. The author is know for a writing style bursting with metaphors and imagery which I found well-done throughout most of this book but veering into bloated towards the end. I didn't vibe at all with the last 30 or so pages but the beginning is wonderful. As you can see, I find it truly hard to make up my mind about this book in its entirety but I will say that my mom enjoyed it, for what it's worth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Car accident, and War

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, and Blood

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Excrement, Vomit, and Abortion

apintch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Rape

killeenm's review against another edition

dark 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

2.0

I wanted to like this book but I really didn’t. The first part was the best in my opinion, and I did appreciate the book’s exploration of war, immigration, parents, and queerness. Overall, I didn’t understand the sometimes overly metaphoric tangents, even though I wanted to understand what they were getting at, I didn’t. They didn’t flow well with the rest of the book and seemed like an author’s attempt to work in certain points without actually having to tie it into the story. As the book went on, graphic descriptions turned gruesome and torturous to read. I’m not one to shy away from reality or portrayals of it, but it was too much for me at times, and most of the time it didn’t seem to add to the point of the book. It was obviously written by a talented poet, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

chiaracerniglia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and War

reemoony's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

i used to be so pretentious when it came to giving books five stars. i thought they had to check this huge list of boxes, but they dont. if you enjoy a book, give it five stars. with that being said, i dont know if i enjoyed this book. it doesnt feel like a book you’re supposed to like, but you love it anyway. its gut-wrenching and hurtful and powerful and loving. it’s everything in the universe at once. 

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Content Warnings

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

novella42's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-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

5.0

I can still hear Vuong's gentle, relentless voice when I read quotes or pages from the hardcopy I finally picked up. Sometimes I read a little to remind the writer part of my brain how lyrical words work, and what kind of writer I want to be.

His author-read audiobook performance of this powerful book was nothing short of magnificent. 

A queer Vietnamese American man writes a letter to his mother, a survivor of the Vietnam War, who cannot read. His love for her, and hers for him, is ferocious and beautiful beyond words. Vuong is a poet, but strangely, I find his novel more compelling than his poetry. Tons of content warnings, to the degree I don't know when I will ever feel mentally resilient enough in my own C-PTSD to re-read it in its entirety, but if you're in the mood for a good cry, I can't think of anything more cathartic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, 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, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Fatphobia, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Murder, and War

aprilinao's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? No

5.0

This book is so beautifully written, and as a queer person raised in a Viet immigrant family, it was a very emotional read. I would love to read it again and again. I hosted a book club through my campus library on this book, and it was difficult to narrow down discussion questions: A high number of lines are filled with meaning, and the book is told in unconventional manners. We could have made the meeting so much longer and would have loved every second of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

laurenkimoto's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I don’t really read poetry but I have now put Vuong’s works on hold at the library. The writing of this is incredibly lyrical almost dreamlike (or nightmare?). 
I also don’t annotate books but I want a physical copy of this book to annotate because there are so many wonderful lines and quotes and more

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

litpikachu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Rape, Xenophobia, and War