Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

9 reviews

kelisabeth's review

challenging emotional sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

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

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

thesecretsapphic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism and Cancer

sameehaha's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? No

3.0

good but wasn't for me. skipped through most of the end

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, and Police brutality

tinyjude's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Cancer

333va's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

loved loved loved the writing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Car accident, and War

charlottes_library's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

truely a masterpiece. Every sentence is a work of art that i could go back and read again and again and still discover new layers of beauty. Vuong writes like a poet and brilliantly explores the complex generational trauma of being a child of the Vietnam war. He writes of his experience growing up as a immigrant in white rural America and the ostracization faced by him and his single mother and the depths of their shared relationship. He speaks of his mother tongue, his cancer ridden grandmother, his teenage job at a tobacco farm, poverty, addiction, isolation, heritage, belonging, tradition, loss, war, love. This is a coming of age story that cannot be missed. It is heart-wrenching and beautiful and disgusting and strong. If i could read any book again it would be this one. 100% recommended 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Car accident, Alcohol, and Colonisation