Reviews tagging 'Grief'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

358 reviews

ladysanctuary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, and Death of parent

atsundarsingh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

I didn't know what to expect of a poet's first novel, but this is so lyrically written it hurts even when it's good. I love the epistolary format, and even more so because it's written to someone who may never read it. I was also really taken by the way Vuong writes about loving a parent who is violent but whose violence is understandable in a sense, since it comes from a series of overlapping traumas and still being angry or helpless with that parent. Really moving and bold novel, with some hard to read content. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

ajoyr's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Grief, Abortion, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

surelyinthefountain's review

challenging dark inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

There's not much else to say other than this book is gorgeous. I haven't oscillated between laughter and intense sobbing so much in...a long time.

The horse story still cracks me up.

And man, this novel's so deeply queer, both thematically and structurally: I love how you can see the sheer craft at play in sculpting the narrative, yet it's never trite or obvious -- more something that you recognize when it comes up and admire intensely.
It is a very heavy read, though. If you're not in the right space for that, I'd save this for another time. But it's absolutely beautiful and worth the effort, in my opinion. This has easily become one of my favorite books!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Death, Sexual content, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Medical content, Car accident, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

sara_n's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Blood, Excrement, Grief, and Car accident

natb's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Abortion, and Murder

annabella's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

3.25

I think I’m too impatient for slow paced books but there were some really great phrases through reading this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, and Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Excrement

flamingxgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, and Grief

bodiesinbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Dementia, and Grief

Minor: Bullying, Vomit, and Car accident

ci_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

"It's in these moments, next to you, that I envy words for doing what we can never do - how hey can tell all of themselves simply by standing still, simply by being."

I was so touched in a variety of ways by this book that my first reaction couldn't be formed in complete sentences: gorgeous, raw, haunting, shocking. Vuong's writing is very poetic, and may be too flowery for some, but I was extremely impressed by the true mastery of language and I loved how he incorporated the main characters feelings about language too, since as a linguist who studies language acquisition, it is abundantly clear to me that language and language ideologies are so integral to immigrant experiences ("One does not "pass" in America, it seems, without English.")

The book is written as a letter from the main character, nicknamed Little Dog, to his illiterate mother (with the assumption that she'll never be able to read it, which is why some parts are so explicit). It tells his story as a Vietnamese-American growing up in rural America, as well as interweaving the experiences of his immigrant mother and grandmother, and his complicated relationship to both women. The content jumps around a lot, but I didn't ever feel really lost. Rather the the quick movement from one anecdote to another felt like a natural expression of how one story and emotion leads to others in your mind. 

At times, the content was very graphic and I had to put the book down and sit with it for a while before continuing. But overall, this just lends to how present the emotion is in the writing. I had to double check that it was a work of fiction and not Vuong's auto-biography because it felt SO real. I do think that people will be divided on liking the writing style, but I do highly recommend this book as a wonderful exposition on immigrant experiences in America and the multi-generational effects of war. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent