Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

10 reviews

michaelapr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

3.75

This was a beautifully written book that was heartbreaking in some moments, hard to read in others, and poignant throughout.
I was under the impression that this was nonfiction but it's actually fiction. I read it as more of a lyric essay with some parts prose, other parts poetry, and parts that still feel very true even after knowing some parts are fictional. All of these parts were connected through a process that seemed to appear on paper even when I know that the words only sound the way they do through a lot of editing.
This is essentially an exploration of identity, of an intense parent-child relationship, of the opioid epidemic through the eyes of someone who's friends keep dying, and of an ever present grief caused by trauma from wars of multiple varieties. Ocean Vuong does these explorations well by reflecting in a way that feels true. 
The reason why this book falls just short of a 4 for me is hard to explain except it's probably mostly because of the end. The very end started to feel... looser to me than the rest of the book. The connections not as clear to me, the meaning of the table metaphor (was it a metaphor?) just out of reach, and the ending lines not clicking with me. This might've just been me - maybe if I read this again down the line I'd understand that part better. There were also parts of this that were hard to read. This isn't necessarily what made it not a 4 stars or above because these parts felt necessary, no matter how painful or cringe worthy. It's just worth noting to check triggers if you need to.
Overall this was a well written book that wants to make you think about important aspects of the American experience that many hate to acknowledge exists and Vuong succeeds in this mission.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Body shaming and Emotional abuse

tellatrix's review against another edition

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.” 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Outing, and War

kelisabeth's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

luliloveslulo's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

The tone of this book is so poetic, it can guide you to flow through even the most difficult passages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Excrement, Abandonment, and War

fernreads42's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

bethmalena's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

The writing was really beautiful at times. Poetic. But it wasn’t my kind of memoir… some of the reflections and metaphors felt forced, and some of the stories felt too raw and graphic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Excrement, Death of parent, and War

gabriella_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.0

His prose is beautiful and reads like poetry, it is recommended to read this before Night Sky with Exit Wounds, it adds so much more context to that read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Classism

giulia_rossi's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Grief, Abortion, and Colonisation

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

paperbackpotables's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

If I could rate this book as 10/5 stars, I would. This book was beyond perfect. I savored each page, each word. The beauty of this work is without measure. I cried, multiple times. I smiled, I cringed, I was uncomfortable, I was horrified, I was elated. I felt what the author felt, understood a life I would never live on a level I’d never known existed. You can tell the author is a poet with the beauty of these words, but it was much more than just beautiful writing. There was pain, real pain, behind this book. But also joy and love and truth. It was raw, and emotional, and unlike anything I’ve ever read. I can’t recommend this book enough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Grief, Car accident, and Cultural appropriation

charity1313's review against another edition

I gave up around 50% of the way in. It was too graphic, too emotional, too one-note. At first, I took on too much of the character's emotion for myself and I thought I could continue but in smaller chunks of time spent reading, but when I went back to the book I found I just really didn't want to listen anymore. It felt like it was all the same emotional story over and over but with different people. I was tired and frustrated by his relationship with Trevor. I can see why the author chose to make a more in depth study of that relationship but I just wanted to move ON... I might still pick it back up but mostly I feel done with the book, even though I didn't "finish" it. I'm finished with it. 

Language was beautiful, poetic - as expected - and made for some good quotes. Made a stark contrast to the graphic nature of much of the content.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence