Reviews tagging 'Grief'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

358 reviews

miller8d's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.0

I read this book a few months ago, so it isn’t super fresh in my mind, but my memory of it entails gorgeous poetic language, brilliantly detailed storytelling, and incredible nonfictional world-building.
Note: I vaguely pictured Edvin Ryding as Trevor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Car accident, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Deportation

_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

iirreeaadd's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring 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

Just a stunning and beautiful book. Each line is poetry in motion. It's sad and moving but in a way that is just honest, not draining. It's certainly intense at points. It's prose is deliciously thick in a chocolate cake sort of way where you want to reread what you just read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Abortion, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Homophobia, and Physical abuse

Minor: Racial slurs, Excrement, and Pregnancy

crdostaler's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual content, and War

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Death, Racism, and Grief

c_serpent's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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

This book has explicit sex scenes, graphic depictions of animal cruelty, and a lot of excrement. I did not enjoy every minute of it. But it is a novel that is a poem that is a song, and it is expertly, expertly crafted.

Five stars for Ocean Vuong. For how we see one another in the light of them, those bright dead things, and call one another good.

Total score: 5/5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Excrement, Grief, and War

Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Violence

roouija's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

mxajlikesbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , 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

what_lindsay_reads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? No

4.0

This is a poetic love letter to the “fruits of violence” who “didn’t let the violence spoil the fruit.” In a beautiful and fluid way, Vuong tells the adolescence of a Vietnamese son and his illiterate mother. Told through poetry and anecdotes, Vuong doesn’t hold back the love and vitriol of the othered life in Hartford, Connecticut. It read like a dream sequence, grasping from moment to moment but always visceral. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Drug abuse, Homophobia, Xenophobia, and Grief

ephemeralzen's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail