Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

18 reviews

aksmith92's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

The setup: 'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' is a unique novel, presented as a letter from a son to a mother who likely will never be able to read it due to her inability to read, especially in English. Our narrator, Little Dog, delves into his family's life - even before his birth - in Vietnam, during the infamous war there, and his own life, unearthing some traumas and revelations throughout his teenage years.

Much of the novel is about Little Dog's relationship with his mother, Rose, and her mother, Lan. There is an intricate discussion about their familial affairs and what it took the women to survive for Little Dog to be writing this letter. Then it's also a pseudo-love story about Little Dog and Trevor, a boy he works with on a tobacco farm during the summers. There is a little bit of grief, love, and hardship throughout this novel, and you can feel Ocean Vuong's poetic side coming out as he describes Little Dog's complicated life. Honestly, it's a story about nothing, yet about everything for someone like Little Dog. It intertwines addiction, violence, and a plethora of trauma into a novel that shares the story of a son and his mother.

What I loved: This book was a bit haunting AND lovely - somehow both, sometimes simultaneously (but not always). Vuong was a storyteller here. There were fantastic quotes and metaphors, and Vuong knew how to share philosophical thoughts and ideas. It was a sad story and one that encompasses survival. It takes a talented writer to make this type of art, and Vuong no doubt delivered a tremendous literary and contemporary fiction book. Honestly, at times, this felt SO real, to the point that it reminded me of a memoir (maybe that also had to do with a second person). Either way, you were submerged in On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous and felt all the feels.

What could have made it five stars: The common literary fiction conundrum - the intense effort to be overly profound. I felt this only initially, but Vuong seemed to try so hard. On page 4 or around there, one quote said something like, "We held nothing in our hands but our hands." And while I understood that it was likely that they were holding each other's hands, it just made me roll my eyes. 

My only other qualm was the structure. I know what Vuong was doing, and Vuong knew what Vuong was doing, as mentioned in the novel a couple of times in the letter - Little Dog knew his writing was a bit all over the place. However, it took a lot of work to immerse myself in the story because of the back-and-forth timelines, especially between paragraphs with no apparent cadence. Part II had more narrative style than the others; otherwise, linking story pieces took a lot of work. It made it hard to connect with the plot itself. 

Regardless, this book was undeniably moving, genuine, and wholehearted. The impactful pieces of the story, like the aftermath of war, an opioid crisis and addiction, and sexuality, were incredibly well done, and I think this book is an essential read. The structure makes it a bit challenging for a novel, but the storytelling is ultimately worth that brief confusion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Car accident and Classism

Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, and Transphobia

Rape is not discussed as a rape, but it is assumed.

zeldazonks's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.0

I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author which was genuinely an incredible way to take in the book. However it did mean that it felt like a 7 hour poetry reading, so I had to pace myself and probably listen in more instalments than if I'd physically read it. Not that that detracted from the book in anyway, but it's worth bearing in mind. Overall incredibly beautiful writing and a devastating story, very meditative and hops back and forth through time so it feels almost dream like or like memory. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual violence, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, and War

marena02's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

thesoftestcowboy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Grief, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, and Terminal illness

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Excrement, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

yummosocks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• 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 cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, and War

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Medical content

Minor: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Pregnancy

ieotter13's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

absolutely gorgeous writing - truly poetic at times. loved reading it again for a friend (love u soph) and had sm fun annotating the prettiest of lines.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, and Classism

gabriella_'s review against another edition

challenging 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

4.0

His prose is beautiful and reads like poetry, it is recommended to read this before Night Sky with Exit Wounds, it adds so much more context to that read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Classism

masucolmusings's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.5

this made me simultaneously hopeful about life and despair my existence

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Dysphoria, and War

jarif_hasan's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Hear me out....! it's a really good book, this write is god gifted. The only thing I didn't like that much is LGBTQIA. Yes I no it's his own life story and I really didn't have any problem with writer . The thing is I don't support LGBTQIA but that doesn't mean I hate them. But yeah don't hesitate after seeing my review and highly recommend to read this book it will be really good thing to consume 🙂✨

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

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