Reviews tagging 'Murder'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

19 reviews

edgaranjapoe'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? Yes

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Excrement, Vomit, and Abortion

killeenm's review against another edition

dark 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

2.0

I wanted to like this book but I really didn’t. The first part was the best in my opinion, and I did appreciate the book’s exploration of war, immigration, parents, and queerness. Overall, I didn’t understand the sometimes overly metaphoric tangents, even though I wanted to understand what they were getting at, I didn’t. They didn’t flow well with the rest of the book and seemed like an author’s attempt to work in certain points without actually having to tie it into the story. As the book went on, graphic descriptions turned gruesome and torturous to read. I’m not one to shy away from reality or portrayals of it, but it was too much for me at times, and most of the time it didn’t seem to add to the point of the book. It was obviously written by a talented poet, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

reemoony's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

i used to be so pretentious when it came to giving books five stars. i thought they had to check this huge list of boxes, but they dont. if you enjoy a book, give it five stars. with that being said, i dont know if i enjoyed this book. it doesnt feel like a book you’re supposed to like, but you love it anyway. its gut-wrenching and hurtful and powerful and loving. it’s everything in the universe at once. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

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

sarahrosea's review against another edition

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? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Grief, War, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Transphobia and Murder

julia_rose's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Definitely the most beautiful prose I’ve ever witnessed in my life, I underlined so many incredible sentences. At one point he describes his language like a shipwreck very fragmented with pieces coming to the shore out of order and that’s a good description of how the plot unfolds. Occasionally hard to follow but not impossible and amazing portrayal of flawed but endearing characters. So sad and emotional with tiny sparks of hope. There was a scene of animal cruelty early on in the book which really turned me off for a while but the whole book is impressively unflinching. Will definitely be reading all Ocean’s future books. It’s just gorgeous, excuse the pun!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Homophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Murder, Toxic friendship, and War

Minor: Abortion

radfordmanor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

natb's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Abortion, and Murder

ocean's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, and Murder