Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Brevemente risplendiamo sulla terra by Ocean Vuong, Claudia Durastanti

40 reviews

liagatha'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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Chronic illness, Cancer, and Addiction

kashby's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, and Xenophobia

Minor: Abortion, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Vomit

annaelisa's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Abortion, Car accident, Gun violence, Hate crime, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, and Cancer

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

dorothy_the_explorothy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

dominicangirl's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Sexual content, and Drug use

Moderate: Car accident, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia

Minor: Animal death and Racism

lilkstew's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

Wow, this might be the most beautiful book I have ever read. The blend of poetry and prose was masterful; nearly every page had a sentence that made me stop in my tracks. The whole book felt like I was watching the author toss pebbles into a pond one by one and counting the ripples on the surface. It was so meditative and emotional and intimate and heartfelt and bittersweet; my eyes stung for a good portion of this novel. I can't believe that Vuong was able to write about love, family, war, addiction, violence, identity, and loss with such great nuance in under 300 pages. This was fantastic. I imagine that I'll keep thinking about this book for a long time to come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Abortion, Alcoholism, and Animal death

viccnthicc's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Violence

teamoxfordcomma's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

It has to be said that Ocean Voung is one of the greatest wordsmiths of our present moment.

Read his poetry, this book, really anything he's had his fingers on, and you'll see. What he writes is pure literary and poetic gold. This novel (which is semi-autobiographical) is the exact same way.

I knocked it off a star because this took me a long time to get through... Sort of put me into a little bit of a slump. Not because it wasn't good, but because this is very much a character study. The events of the story (which I would argue are not arranged in a way in which you could call a plot) do not matter half as much as the images Little Dog uses to tell his mother about his experiences, and though those images are beautiful and jam-packed with meaning and gorgeous literary technique, it definitely made for a slow reading experience.

I love this novel for what it is – an impossibility – and I eagerly await more Voung books/collections/anything so I can once again gorge on his words.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Chronic illness

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Racism, Racial slurs, and Excrement

bibliogouine's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Violence

alisazhup's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cancer, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism