Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

255 reviews

lulaabees's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

presented as a letter to the author's mother, "on earth we're briefly gorgeous" is a deep dive into his experience as a vietnamese american gay man. i will be lucky to read another book like this in my lifetime. ocean vuong's masterful, raw prose does not let up, from the very first line and until the very last. this book reads like one long poem (i mean it as a compliment), one long confession, one long love letter. it is intense, incisive, and gorgeous in the painful way. it stays with you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, and War

Minor: Addiction

acacia_happy_hour's review

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and War

chaosbumblebee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• 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? Yes

5.0

Such a beautiful book it makes me want to go back and lower my rating of everything else so that this is the only 5 star read I have this year--or ever. Heartbreaking, poignant, perfect and imperfect, Vuong puts words to feelings I didn't know words could be put to. I need to call my mom.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, 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, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mishsofil's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Wow, not my usual style of book, but after finishing chapter 1 i knew i had to read the whole thing because of the writing.
I’m not a literature student at all but if i was, i swear i would be highlighting and analysing every single sentence. Every line is so beautiful and packed with meaning, its almost hard to wrap your head around it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Sexual content

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, and Death

Minor: Homophobia, Xenophobia, and War

vaykay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

hilary_h's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.0

It was sad how much I could relate to parts of this book and the narrators life. Although it is relatively slow paced, this book contains some of the most beautiful writing I’ve ever layed my eyes onand got me leaving anotations on every other page. Just a heads up as I wasn’t warned of this before, but there’s a lot of sexual content, just something to keep in mind.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Racism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Xenophobia

cmwilliams29's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

I tore through this one. Rather astonishing—and a bit of a thinker. I don’t entirely know what I’ve just read and somehow it’s ok. It’s beautiful and thought-provoking and I will be sitting with it for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, and War

ebrooker0103's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, and War

mahamsiddiqui's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This book just ripped my heart open. I felt the things I thought I would not feel again. Beautifully written, devastatingly sad. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Genocide, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and War

Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

dniespal's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Written exquisitely. Reads like poetry. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, and War