Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

336 reviews

barath_6023's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A beautiful book that I can only describe as "intensely personal", which I found was a work of fiction after many pages in! 

It's a letter from the protagonist, Little Dog, to his mother, but it's also a letter to everything that has lead up to who he is, who they are in the world. 

The story of them and other different characters(Lan, Paul, etc.) , the events and countries they drift across lends well to the poetic and stream of consciousness style. However, I did find some parts of the book to get lost in metaphors and purple poetry. 



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sing_to_me_paolo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is beautiful and I understand why it's so beloved by so many. I just struggle with a book that has so little plot momentum.

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anna_whitehead11's review against another edition

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challenging emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes

3.75

 Beautiful, lyrical prose - at times slipping into poetry - as the narrator, ‘Little Dog’, writes a letter to his illiterate mother, telling his coming-of-age-story as he figures out what it means to grow up as a Vietnamese immigrant in Hartford, Connecticut - and explores his homosexuality. At times difficult to read as it discusses (occasionally quite graphically) the violence and trauma of the Vietnam War, and its lasting intergenerational impact, but overall sensitive and revealing. 

An important read to understand the Vietnamese immigrant experience in modern America - which raises interesting points of comparison to Cecile Pin’s Wandering Souls, in turn set in Britain. It very occasionally feels too rhetorical and creative-writing-student-y - perhaps heightened by the one-sided nature of the letter, which we know his mother will not be able to read - but this doesn’t detract from the overall force of the work. 

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melaeki's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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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iris92's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective 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? No

4.5

No me da para una review completa, pero: Va pasando de más narrativo al inicio a más poético al final. A mi es un cambio que me ha costado manejar un poco, pero es un libro magnífico en cualquier caso.

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gandalf_a's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

4.25


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autisticbucky's review

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emotional sad
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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hannahnadeshda's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense 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


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kelisabeth's review

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challenging emotional sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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chaosbumblebee's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Such a beautiful book it makes me want to go back and lower my rating of everything else so that this is the only 5 star read I have this year--or ever. Heartbreaking, poignant, perfect and imperfect, Vuong puts words to feelings I didn't know words could be put to. I need to call my mom.

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