Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

346 reviews

peter1rose's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? No

5.0

You can tell this book was written by a poet. It's beautiful and tragic. There was so much love in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Homophobia

Moderate: Drug abuse and Sexual content

Minor: Drug use

scarybirdsread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

caregorman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-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

I’m going to think about this forever 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abortion

alyxinthestars's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

anitaxlit's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• 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

3.75

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous completely captured me from the very first page. I feel I could have gone through it in one sitting if it hadn't been for the dark topics it deals with, which made breaks to assimilate what I was reading necessary. The author opens a window (or rather, a wound) and bares his vital experience and family history for us to examine. Vuong does so with exquisite prose and no reservations, not once masking their ugly realities, and yet his words convey incredible tenderness and vulnerability. As a reader I often felt uncomfortable, choking back tears, unable to spill them.

My only critique is that the stark rendering of heartbreaking scenes and anecdotes was woven through with poetic digressions that sometimes felt empty of content to me. There were lines I would read over and over, incapable of understanding what they were supposed to mean. I guess one explanation could be the highly personal nature of this work and how removed my vital experience is from the author's. It didn't really take away from my enjoyment of this book though, Vuong's writing is that good.

A must read for people interested in themes of family, immigration and the queer experience in America, and maybe for those who are curious about poetry but perhaps don't dare venture into a full on poetry work yet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Abortion

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Excrement, and Car accident

rackoonetheclown's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

5.0

Beautifully written

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Alcohol, and War

selissa's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Violence, Abortion, and War

eelthul's review against another edition

dark funny 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Miscarriage and Abortion

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Excrement, and Car accident

libbymoony's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

The first 2 parts were just beautiful and I was sure it’s going to be a 5 star read. But part 3 got too metaphorical and in some places random, I had no idea what was happening. Also there were some VERY disturbing scenes that haunted me for days. Overall the writing is obviously gorgeous and the book gives you a lot to think about, but it’s heavy and sad and graphic. 
I don’t know how to rate it to be honest, I loved it as much as I wanted to unread some parts. I guess the first two parts were 5 stars, the third one was 3. So.. I rate this 4, but I have no idea if that’s what I really think. 
Updt: it’s been 2 weeks and I’ve been thinking about this book every day.. so I definitely loved it way more than I thought I did 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Toxic friendship, and War

janisa0120's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, and War