Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

59 reviews

carolinacortez's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.0

"what I left behind becomes exactly what I'm running toward -- like I'm part of a family." 

Tengo que ser honesta, es un libro complicado de leer, no es una lectura que se lea en una sentada (aunque es cortito), es prácticamente poesía en forma de novela, entonces mi recomendación sería que se lea despacito, disfrutando cada palabra de Ocean. 

"The wound is also the place where the skin reencounters itself, asking of each end, where have you been? 
Where have we been, Ma?" 

Cada párrafo, cada capítulo, cada oración, son hermosos, yo no podía dejar de decir 'no puede ser' de lo bello que está escrito y se ve el amor que hay detrás de cada palabra, que pensó la mejor manera de mostrar una parte de la vida de mucha gente. 

"Ma. You once told me that memory is a choice. Buy if you were god, you know it's a flood."

En cuanto a las relaciones (tanto con su mamá, abuela, como con Trevor) están súper marcadas las diferencias, como la personalidad de little dog se moldaba según con quién estaba, según lo que la otra persona necesitará de el (muy mirrorball de su parte) 

"You once told me that the human eye is god's loneliest creation. How so much of the world passes through the pupil and still it holds nothing" 

En resumen es una novela preciosísima, solo hay que tener en cuenta que requiere su tiempo para digerirla bien. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Medical content

Minor: Death and Abortion

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

thestarsaresad's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

This book was good, but honestly I feel like I'm just too dumb to truly comprehend and appreciate it. I'm sure someone smarter than me could read it and come up with a bunch of important meanings, but for me, I just read it as a letter from a son to a mother. It's not that this book was boring -- it's not, I loved reading about his experiences -- but the reflection and different metaphors in the book honestly flew over my head. I've read a lot of fantasy books recently, so this book was a much needed breath of fresh air, of reality, of the human experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Abortion, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Excrement, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

mirandyli's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Beautifully written and will probably make you cry. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, War, and Classism

yetanothernastya's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This is a great book, however, the reason I didn’t give it 5 stars has nothing to do with the book but me – books that are a bit too poetic is not exactly my cup of tea. That being said, it is a beautiful yet dark read. Would definitely recommend to anyone who is not bothered by the style

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Abortion, and War

notartgarfunkel's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Abortion, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Transphobia, and Deportation

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

_bailey_reads_'s review against another edition

emotional 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

This is the most well written book I have ever read. It is powerful and beautiful and gut wrenching. I am in love with Ocean Vuong’s master ability to write and articulate what it means to be human and to suffer and feel pain and loss. This is masterful! My favorite book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and War

bashsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

This book is DENSE. I had to really turn my brain on to read it, which was not a bad thing, but it did make me take much longer to read it than I expected. Like in his poetry, Vuong's descriptions are vibrant and original. My favorite aspect of his writing is I can see exactly what he is describing, even though his manner of description is unique. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Moderate: Cancer, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Cursing, Gun violence, Vomit, and Abandonment

Uses of slurs against LGBTQ+ folks

anton13's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Beautiful. Just beautiful. Seriously the way Ocean writes is so poetic, I love it! And just the way he’s able to intertwine everything he’s been through with well placed facts and anecdotes is amazing. I always love finding good writing and this truly is as good as it gets. I love everything about it. I’d truly recommend it to anyone and everyone!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Alcohol