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allym's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Drug use, Toxic relationship, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Homophobia, and Abortion
Minor: Excrement
persipha_books's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Abortion
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Excrement
Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, Car accident, Outing, and War
nialiversuch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, and War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Pregnancy
bites_of_books's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Little Dog is a young man who is writing a letter to his mother, telling her about many aspects of his life that he'd never told her before. We learn about his family's story in Vietnam as well as what happened as he grew up in the US. This is all told in snippets that jump back and forth between memories, almost like a structured and poetic stream of consciousness. While it was beautiful it was also violent and raw and simply overwhelming at times.
I so wish that the structure of the novel had been a bit more linear, adding that to the poetic writing made it quite difficult to fully appreciate everything that was going on in the novel. If anything, I think this is one novel that I'll get a lot more out of upon re-reading it.
I'd recommend it but definitely check the trigger warnings before reading, be patient, take your time, and keep an open mind for a novel that is blurring the lines between novel and poetry.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War
strawberrysheepie's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, War, and Injury/Injury detail
yeuniversse's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Racism, Abandonment, and War
sir_ren's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
This book also made me genuinely laugh aloud a couple of times, sometimes due to the line itself and sometimes due to all the tenseness and heaviness that you let go of, with the laugh, that Vuong had been building up.
The writing shifts from personal essay-type prose to formal serious report-type factual writing. Then it switches to lyrical fiction and Vuong writes all of these styles really well. Some sections are written like poetry- line breaks and all-and it builds and sounds good read aloud. So poetry then.
There are a lot of themes full of richness that was explored which feel really vulnerable and gripping - the kind people would say is important, even if it gets a little uncomfortable. The "real" feelings evoked and insight shared remind you of Hemingway- sit at a typewriter and bleed.
The details and content give the novel the kind of verisimilitude that reminded me of Murakami.
I advice going through some content warnings for this one as it contains a lot of dark/heavy topics.
I would recommend this for slightly experienced readers and not young teens, not just because of the content, but also the style of writing.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol
__manu___'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Racism, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Grief, and Abortion
Minor: Cancer, Sexual content, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War
lenni_sc's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Das Grundkonzept des Romans ist meiner Meinung nach großartig: ein Brief, der von der Empfängerin nie gelesen werden wird, erzeugt eine emotionale Tiefe, die anders vielleicht nicht möglich wäre. Aber Umsetzung na ja.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War
Moderate: Terminal illness and Vomit
borninexile's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.75
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death and War