Reviews tagging 'Murder'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

19 reviews

jade_smith's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.5

This was a gorgeous novel. Perhaps the first time I’ve felt compelled to use the word “luminous” as an adjective. Ocean Vuong’s writing is breathtakingly beautiful. This is exactly the kind of so-called purple prose that I love — it straddles the line between prose and poetry so deftly.

Part exploration of inter-generational trauma, part coming of age, part meditation on memory and the past, this is a staggering story delivered in immaculate style.

Content Warnings

tellatrix's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

𝐎𝐧 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬

𝙾𝚌𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚅𝚞𝚘𝚗𝚐

Disclaimer: I’m unable to write reviews without including spoilers, so please read this expecting some.

This is a book I know I’ll need to reread at least two more times to fully grasp all the layers of meaning and messages the author is trying to convey. While I understood the main plot, the metaphors, poetry, and deeper themes often felt elusive. The connections between scenes and ideas required careful attention, and sometimes I got lost in the beautiful, yet intricate, web of words.

Maybe after reading more books, learning new words, or gaining more life experience, I’ll be able to fully understand what Ocean Vuong was trying to say. Right now, I can’t. If someone asked me what this book was about, I don’t think I could give a clear, straightforward answer.

If I said this book was about a Vietnamese family carrying the violence and trauma of war within them—something that shaped them, tormented them, and yet also made them beautiful—would that make sense? Probably not, and even if it did, it wouldn’t come close to capturing the complexity of the story.

This is a book you have to experience for yourself. Even then, you might not find all the answers on your first read—just like me. But I know I’ll revisit it. Each time, I hope to uncover new layers, new words to explain what this book means.

For me, though, this book wasn’t as sad as some might say. I found it more hopeful. Others may disagree, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of hope running through it. Hope for what? I’m not sure. Maybe it wasn’t hope tied to action or outcomes—just hope as a feeling, a quiet presence.

I’ll end this review with a quote that stayed with me the most from my reading:

“I miss you more than I remember you.”

Content Warnings

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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vaykay's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.5

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crispycritter's review against another edition

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I kept seeing these beautiful quotes from OEWBG come up on the Tumblr-esque side of instagram, but unfortunately there’s no real narrative structure holding the occasional beautiful thought together.

I generally love 1st person stream of consciousness books with meandering or borderline non-existent plots. I don’t mind purple or highly lyrical prose. This book is basically a walking trigger warning, but even that didn’t make me put it down- because I thought the violence and horror were handled well.

This book just did not work for me. Poetry isn’t really my jam and this just felt like it should have been a collection of poems. I didn’t feel like there was much reason or justification for it being a “novel.” I dunno, perhaps auto fiction is just not for me and that’s the issue. It feels awful to say, given the heavy subject matter of this book, but it was boring. Boring and dark. And that’s not what I enjoy reading. Respectfully DNFing.

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branson03's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

A lovely and eloquent read.

Content Warnings

sierrajhansen'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

2.5

i don't think i chose to read this book at a time where i would be more receptive to it (i have enough stress in my life without reading about super dark topics), but i still generally don't click with books where i'm at a low-to-medium level of confusion the entire time. i can tell the writing is beautiful, but it feels really inaccessible (which makes sense because ocean vuong's poetry generally feels the same way to me).

and why did we keep breaking the fourth wall to talk about tiger woods???

Content Warnings