Reviews with content warning for Dementia - On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

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Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

60 reviews

yolie's review against another edition

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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

4.25

This book needs you to take your time. Although the novel appears slim it is quite dense in terms of the content and Vuong’s prose. Some chapters read more like short stories and long form poetry than a linear account. The book has moments of absolute hopelessness, you’re shattered by Little Dog’s accounts of growing up an Asian immigrant in America, gay and poor. His one-sided and ill-fated relationship with Trevor makes me cautious (and sad) to say he is Little Dog's 'first love'. So much of their relationship is marred by Trevor's homophobia and recklessness.

I wish less time was spent on that relationship and more weight was given to the other significant relationships in his life and the milestones he achieves in his adulthood.

But there’s beauty in it too - a nod to the book’s title. Vuong/ Little Dog is able to hold so much compassion for people, he chooses to see them in their gorgeousness - irrespective of the brevity of that moment. Long after the novel is over you’ll keep coming back to certain phrases, marvelling at how stunning and lyrical Vuong’s writing is.

One of my favourite passages from the book reads:
“Because the sunset, like survival, exists only on the verge of its own disappearing. To be gorgeous, you must first be seen, but to be seen allows you to be hunted.”

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gone_awry's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

4.5

An incredible and poetic work of creative non-fiction. Sad and joyous in unequal yet equally significant measure. The author pushes you to question how the lives we lives and the family dynamics we exist within, are formed by the narratives we tell, retell, and edit as we live our lives.

Content Warnings

dustghosts's review

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challenging dark hopeful 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

5.0

Content Warnings

martapsalvado's review against another edition

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sad slow-paced

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

2.5

I'm... very disappointed. This book was on my tbr for so long and I thought it was going to be emotional, sad, beautifully written and a just a little challenging to read because of the poetic writing and the fact that english is not my first language.
Well, it was definitely sad and indeed challenging to read, but the beauty of the writing, while it was there, seemed forced. As for the emotions, it didn't really give me many.
Vuong writes in a very lyrical way, and while that is not necessarily a bad thing, I thought it was too much more often that not. Some metaphors, comparisons and substituions of one perfectly suitable word or expression for a more "poetic" one were totally unnecessary. On other note, some descriptions were so unnecessarily graphic, almost forcefully graphic (which reminds me to warn potential readers to check the trigger warnings).
Also, I found myself infinitely waiting for the plot to develop, the characters to develop and... it just never happened (?) The characters lacked depth, at least from my point of view.
The good:
• The cover is gorgeous;
• The title is stunning;
• I liked the idea of writing a story in the form of a letter to the main character's mother (with the twist that the mother can't read);
• The writing was indeed beautiful in some parts;
• It covered some really relevant topics.

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cryptidcas's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Despite the heavy content in this book, the way Vuong communicates the trauma of his life experience has made me reread this book several times (an accomplishment for my short attention span).

Content Warnings

alyssadavis's review against another edition

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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

3.5

The children, the veal, they stand very still because tenderness depends on
how little the world touches you. To stay tender, the weight of your
life cannot lean on your bones.

Content Warnings