Reviews tagging 'Mass/school shootings'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

4 reviews

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

ptitirodactyle's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Blood, Dementia, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Excrement, Mass/school shootings, Colonisation, and Classism

clemrain's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I was not expecting sex scenes let alone the ones as graphic as the ones in the book. Beautiful writing that sometimes goes too long. But makes me excited to read the author’s poetry. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Mental illness, Racism, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Domestic abuse, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

The sex scenes are not in there for fun. Nothing romantic about it. I skimmed or skipped over them because they were just hard to read.

the sex scenes portray internalized homophobia and really are on thin ice about consent.

vici_loves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Grief

Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, and Mass/school shootings