Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Brevemente risplendiamo sulla terra by Ocean Vuong, Claudia Durastanti

252 reviews

bookishlucy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? Yes

4.25

This was a devastatingly beautiful book. Ocean Vuong's prose and writing style really suit the story and tug on your heartstrings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Drug use, Death, and Addiction

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, War, Racism, and Physical abuse

Minor: Bullying and Cancer

grace_madeleine's review against another edition

5.0

I feel like my heart has been viscerally scooped out of my body and replaced except it wasn’t replaced correctly like there’s a deep ache there after reading this like it’s touched parts of grief I never expected would be touched by a book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, War, Grief, Drug use, Homophobia, Violence, Death, Drug abuse, Child abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Bullying

alexandra296's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

Written in first person with a vaguely epistolary framing but it’s not a distinct letter structure, rather a series of vignettes. The writing is simply gorgeous, very evocative.

There’s very little plot, largely a reflection on self and family, relationships, trauma etc. The lack of a strong plot through-line didn’t affect my enjoyment, especially because the writing is such expertly crafted poetry.
 
We follow Little Dog and his mother and grandmother who are immigrants to the US, which were compelling characters and also explore his relationship with Trevor. The characters are all complicated people and the dynamics between them and the narrator were definitely interesting.

Gorgeous imagery and structure, great use of motifs & juxtaposing 2 ideas that seem unrelated but are making a statement. The way people in Little Dog’s life are portrayed is at once tender & with deep pain. The language is beautiful though, so captivating. A very sad, melancholy type story but it’s so beautiful. Very reflective but brutal in parts. Definitely worth reading though, as long as you’re not looking for a distinct plot.

Only negative is I feel the tone got kinda almost TOO sad towards the third part and it felt a little tonally separate from the rest of the work to me in some areas. I guess with any body of work some parts work better than others though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Grief, and Drug use

Moderate: Bullying and Homophobia

mdavis26's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Racism, Car accident, Mental illness, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Excrement, Grief, Terminal illness, War, Sexual content, Death, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

a1exander's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Animal cruelty, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, War, Addiction, and Cancer

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Excrement, Sexual content, Animal death, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Car accident, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Violence, Racism, Alcohol, Bullying, and Mental illness

roseblossom999's review against another edition

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Death, Terminal illness, Drug use, Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Mental illness

dfram's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Addiction, Terminal illness, Death, and Cancer

Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Racism

maxthebeetlesheep's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A stunning book that i knew i would rate 5 stars from the very first chapter. absolutely captivating and such an important read. if i could only choose one book to read this year, it would be this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Grief, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Blood, Cancer, and Sexual content

Moderate: Car accident, Classism, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Medical content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Abortion, and Violence

Minor: Religious bigotry, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

starregulus's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Addiction, and War

Minor: Cancer, Bullying, and Abortion

alinabkl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Drug abuse, Abortion, Gun violence, Racism, War, Bullying, Drug use, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Grief, Mental illness, and Colonisation